Happy Wednesday everyone! Since Halloween was last week I was unable to post the normal "Workout Wednesday." All last week I was thinking about what this Wednesday should be about, and couldn't come up with anything! While I usually keep my blog scheduled out it wasn't until Monday that I finally found my inspiration. Recently at work we started running a living social for 2 weeks of unlimited Pure Barre, and I have been getting lots of new clients in class. After class my new clients will come up to me and ask me about terminology that I use in class. Eureka!! I have found my inspiration!
Pure Barre is such a different workout than anything I have every tried, and comes with it's own definitions. For those of you new to Pure Barre or considering trying it here are some definitions that will help you get the most out of your workout.
Tuck: This is a term you will hear the most throughout class. A tuck is a slight rotation of the hips forward. Think about pulling your abs in and up while simultaneously dropping the tailbone. In simpler terms think about tilting your pelvis forward so you have that flat neutral spine.
Tuck Side to Side: Since you know what a tuck is lets deepen our knowledge. During thigh work you will hear tuck side to side meaning alternating tucking your hips right and left. Instead of pushing your hips straight out to the sides think alternating pushing your hips forward. By alternating tucking your hips forward you are going to feel the burn a lot more on top of the quad.
Hold: What a hold is what it sounds like. We use the term hold throughout class to have the client hold a contraction (usually for 4 counts) to deepen the work. Hold can be used as squeeze in hold, lift hold, press up hold, tuck hold, ect.
Freeze: This is the same thing as hold just a different word so the teacher isn't repeating the same thing.
Pulse: A pulse is a really small movement to isolate the muscle without bouncing. This is usually a term used within thigh work.
Down Inch Up Inch: Literally think inches. This is usually done during thigh work. During the movement of "down inch up inch" the movement is small to isolate the muscle, and avoid bouncing.
Turn Out: This can be seen during thigh and seat work. What a turn out is during thighs is when you turn your whole leg out starting from your hips, and ending at the foot. This is going to help you target the inner thighs. A turn out during seat work is a slight rotation and opening of the hips to put work into the outer seat.
Heels Together Toes Apart: We use this term during thighs and seat work. Think about making a narrow v from toes to heels creating an imaginary slice of pie. You want to keep the v narrow, and toes should be about 2 inches apart.
Hip Width and Parallel: This is the typical stance you do throughout all of class. Make sure your feet are directly under your hip bones vs outside the frame of your body.
Wide 2nd: This is a position we use during thighs and warmup. Bring the legs wider than the hips with toes turnout slightly. Try to keep your seat in line with the knees for the deepest work in the inner thighs.
Bend Stretch: When you hear bend stretch think tiny bend and mile long extension. All the work is going to be in the stretch, and the bend is a tiny release. During thigh work we use bend stretch during a thigh extension. By keeping that bend small (think flicker behind the knee) then you maintain the tension throughout the thigh. With seat work same concept, but you keep the tension with in the seat.
Straighten Tiny Bend: This is essentially the same thing as bend stretch just a different tempo we use in class. With bend stretch the tempo is going to be faster, but with "straighten tiny bend" the tempo is going to be slower. Still keep the work in the length, and minimize the bend.
Base of the Seat: The is the area between the seat and thigh creating that smile line. We work this area to lift and tone the seat.
Outer Seat: This is the outer hip region we work to tapper in the hips.
Lift-Tuck: We use this term during seat work. When we work the seat the movement is going to stem from squeezing the muscle. Whenever the teacher uses the term lift up, think squeezing from the seat muscle to lift the leg. When you hear "lift-tuck" think about squeezing from the muscle while simultaneously tucking your hips under. By tucking your hips under at the same time this is going to create opposing forces, and help work deeper into the muscle.
Back Inch up Inch: This term is herd most often during ab work. By the time we make it all the way to the ab portion of the class the form is to have your body in a c curve on the floor allowing you to pull your abs in. When moving "back inch up inch" during ab work think about using the contractions of the waist band to move you. Another way to think about it is contracting on the back, and contracting on the up.
LTB: Lift Tone Burn. The Pure Barre motto.
Happy tucking to all my barre-istas!
No comments:
Post a Comment