Kate Arnold (center) teaches a Bar Method class in the Bar Method studio she opened in downtown Washington D.C.
[See Are You Sitting Yourself to Death?]
Other Beyond Barre classes more closely resemble ballet. Molly Shutt, another teacher at Potomac Pilates, says she designed her class around the classical ballet she grew up practicing. And in Shutt's class, I actually began to feel like a ballerina: We spent nearly a half an hour at the barre, lifting our legs in and out of first and second positions, doing pliés and demi-pliés—while focusing on good posture and balance. "The idea of ballet is to never be off center," Shutt explains, adding that her class builds the inner thighs and lower abs, while strengthening the spine and shoulders—especially good for people, like myself, who sit all day in office jobs. I've definitely found my new fitness fix.
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