WELLNESSWEDNESDAY: Best Barre In The Hamptons

By Jessica Mackin

Everywhere I turned this summer there was another barre class compelling me to give it a try. A barre is the stationary handrail that is used during ballet warm up exercises. These workout studios have incorporated the techniques used to train ballet dancers into a workout that tones and sculpts the body and offers quick results. I’ve done the leg work (and ab work, and arm work, etc.) to bring you the best studios for barre in the Hamptons. Here are my recommendations along with the class descriptions. No dance experience required. Just grab a pair of no-slip grip socks and get ready to feel the burn. Elements Fitness Elements Fitness Studio, founded by Andrea Fornarola Hunsberger, has brought the barre to the beach with its beautiful new studio location in East Hampton. Elements Barre Fitness fuses principles of ballet conditioning, yoga and Pilates. This 60-minute group fitness class is a revolutionary conditioning system that reshapes and reforms the body by coupling isometric exercises and interval training. The class is choreographed with a series of exercises linked together strategically to follow ballet barre conditioning and principles of muscle overload to increase the metabolic rate and melt away fat. After one class you will feel lighter, leaner, sculpted and toned. 66 Newtown Lane, East Hampton www.elementsfitnessstudio.com Exhale Hit the barre for Exhale’s signature full body workout, Core Fusion Barre, designed to give you chiseled abs, toned legs, cut arms, and a high, lifted butt. This ballet-inspired, core-centric class focuses on isolated exercises, alignment, flexibility and posture as you work through targeted mindful muscle movements. Push yourself to the limit — and then find balance — as every hard worked muscle is followed by a deep, relaxing stretch. 2415 Main St, Bridgehampton www.ExhaleSpa.com Physique 57 The Physique 57 workout blends a barre-based workout with intervals of cardio, strength training, stretching and recovery. Arms, thighs, seat and abs get sculpted in the form of long, lean, gorgeous muscles. The interval sets use your body’s own weight as resistance. Muscles are targeted and overloaded to the point of fatigue, then stretched for relief. Interval Overload, includes muscle-defining arm exercises, intense thigh and seat sequences, waist-chiseling ab moves and fluid stretches. It’s not easy, but that’s precisely why it works. 264 Butter Ln, Bridgehampton www.Physique57.com Pure Barre In just 55 minutes you will achieve a full-body workout concentrating on the areas women struggle with the most: hips, thighs, seat, abdominals and arms. The Pure Barre technique is low-impact, protecting your joints by avoiding any bouncing or jumping. Each strength section of the workout is followed by a stretching section in order to create long, lean muscles without bulk. The technique works to defy gravity by tapering everything in and lifting it up. The concentration involved while taking Pure Barre allows you to block “life” out for the hour, creating the mental benefits similarly obtained by the practice of yoga or meditation. A transformed body and a clear head in just one hour—it doesn’t get much better. 5 Windmill Ln, Southampton www.purebarre.com

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