Find barre fitness classes in NYC and learn about the benefits of barre

The pain: After a two-month hiatus from exercise, I stretched out on my designated mat surrounded by classmates who seemed much perkier than I felt at 7am. Since I’d tried a few other barre classes, I knew I was in for a relentless series of tight, focused movements that look innocent but leave your muscles wailing louder than a baby on a red-eye. Liotta led us through a rapid sequence of bicep curls, shoulder presses and tricep extensions with one- and two-pound weights (sounds innocent enough, right?) followed by a brutal stint of ab work. As I sat facing the mirror with my feet hooked underneath the wooden bar, I huffed and cursed under my breath as I felt my obliques and upper abs beg for mercy. I thought the exercise gods had heard my plea when the lights dimmed and we moved to the center of the floor to stretch, but that was only a brief respite before we continued to the seat and thigh portion of the hour. The most challenging maneuver required me to kneel on all fours and perform dozens of mini pretzel lifts and donkey kicks (raise knee, move leg to opposite side of body), all with a squishy ball tucked precariously in the crux of my knee. I noticed soreness starting to set in around my midsection and in my triceps by the time the class ended, but I was already plotting my return.

The gain: “We take a fast-paced, music-driven approach designed to create the sculpted look of the ideal ballet dancer—long and lean, without being bulky. The class involves high repetitions at little to no weight; the maximum in ours are three-pound weights. The major differences people see are in terms of inches lost, especially in the arms and around the core. During our six-week challenges, where people take class four times a week, the average inches lost is about seven or eight. Most Flyers come three times a week, though, and they can see a change in their bodies after two weeks.”—Kara Liotta, 27, West Village, master instructor and director of training for FlyBarre at Flywheel Sports