Read Nathalie's 'Perspective' and answer some of your questions...
Taking up Ballet Barre is definitely the answer to a more chiselled and toned body, and a more energetic and injury-free lifestyle, but there are many other benefits you can get from barre.
Here are my top 3:
1/ You might find it surprising, but at the top of my list is positive mindset and energy. Barre is a high intensity and low impact fitness exercise and like most fitness classes, it will give you an incredible boost of energy and will switch your mindset and possibly turn you into a more go-getter person. Let me explain. Doing barre weekly is a challenge in itself, learning new moves, breathing through the shakes and the burn, this is all very intense. My experience has shown that people excel when they are challenged and a class that lets you win all the time, is not the class you should sign up to. Most people need to attend a class that is letting them have “a win” only 70% of the class, the rest of the class should either be too hard or too fast or make you burn too much that you have to reset in the middle of the routine. That difficulty creates a different mindset, it gets you used to not always winning, but always persevering and working harder to get closer to what you wish to achieve. This is what barre is, a never ending challenge. wait… and so is life, right?
2/ Barre will chisel, strengthen, lengthen and tone up with your entire body. Don’t believe anyone who says that barre is only for girls and that barre is basically just some graceful ballet moves. Barre is tough and all my barre students are so balanced and have such strong legs and core, it’s impressive. Every time I have a ‘ barre virgin’ in the class, the strength that my regular customers have under their belts is a testament to barre and to their perseverance. At that point, I really see the results of the work that we do together and they can also see how far they have come. At the barre, you will work your feet, ankles, calves, quads, hamstring, glutes, entire core, chest and arms in a very specific way that will help tone up each muscle group and elongate your entire figure.
3/ My final top 3 benefit of barre has to be the posture and flexibility you will acquire during classes. It will be hard at first, but after 1 month or two, you will notice a real change in your posture. You will find yourself correcting your spine and pelvis position in your every day life. Most of my clients started with me, not being too sure what being straight meant. They thought their spine was in a nice straight position when actually they were slightly tilted. This is what barre is, it’s a mix of a lot of information, knowledge and experience being passed from the instructor to the student.
I hope that these main benefits will convince you to come and try barre soon.
Read more about Nathalie Errandonea-Mewes below and in our ‘Meet the Experts’ channel. Also featured in our Barre Providers channel.
When did you start doing Barre? What did you enjoy most?
I started Ballet at the age of 3, but I have been working, exercising and training at the barre for as long as I can remember. I took a break of dancing and came back to movement, Pilates after having my children and then certified in barre training
and launched NRG barrebody 6 years ago. I love the specificity of barre to engage and activate the right muscles with often small and focussed movements.
Who inspired you?
I am in awe of so many people in this industry but I tend to concentrate on my own goals and not look too much at what everyone else is doing as it might influence my goals too much. In general, I like people who go for it and take risks. I love to see positive attitudes in life towards challenges, and both successes and failures alike.
Has your approach to Barre changed over time?
My approach to barre has always been pretty much the same. My background and training is very classical, and my classes are driven by this ballet fundamentals. Over time I have added more fitness in my cardio classes, but I always find myself keeping the basis of the classes to the ballet roots.
Barre is getting super popular now. Do you ever hear or see people making mistakes with it?
Technically barre is ballet barre, and often I see barre classes missing the ballet elements. This can be disappointing as I believe this is the most valuable part of the discipline. However, any structured movement for the body is great and as long as people are moving and getting stronger, that’s all I hope for.
Why would someone choose Barre over any other on-demand fitness?
It’s the most affective fitness classes around in my opinion. Strength, posture and mobility should form the basis of a persons fitness lifestyle and opens doors to add more types of exercise and sport on top. The NRG barrebody classes will change your figure and make you stronger and leaner if you are consistent with it. I am 40 years old, stronger and have more energy than ever. Barre also has positive impact on your mindset. Completing difficult movements release lots of positive endorphins and can drive your day forward with momentum. It’s especially great for mothers, to regain their strength and their body confidence.
Why did you start your on-demand service for people?
A lot of my community had been asking me for some workouts they could do online. My husband, whom I now work with on the platform, had already started talking to me about a platform and then the demand was there. So we started developing this in our own time outside of work. We launched during the pandemic after 2 years of hard work and it paid off. Our platform is now growing globally, and we offer more than 250 workouts, with 2 workouts added weekly and it’s only £4.50 per month. We had a plan of being able to offer the highest quality of barre workouts for an affordable price, so there would be no barriers for people to be able to workout, get stronger and feel their best.
Finally, what does NRG stand for?
Nathalie my name, Romy my daughter’s name and Gabriel, my son’s name. My husband didn’t mind getting left out lol. Also NRG sounds like Energy, which is exactly what the platform and the workouts will give you.
Kommentare