barre or yoga?

atrebor18

I really want to add a scheduled work out activity to my life and my downtown has a really great yoga studio and barre studio. I can only afford membership to one and I was wondering which would have better fitness benefits? I'm really just looking to lose a few pounds and tone up (I know thats super vague annoying term haha) and want to make sure I get the most out of my time!

ninerbuff

You don't need a studio to do either. Most fitness centers will offer both along with access to a gym.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
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sbrophy1990

I personally love Barre classes. I bought a living social deal for four classes - now I am hooked! They are fantastic for toning and strengthening. I love them because they are low impact yet highly effective!

cafeaulait7

If your knees are bad at all, remember that ballet-focused classes will have a ton of plies I just releve instead, but that is a little embarrassing in a class setting. Imho, Barre is better than most all yoga classes in working the booty. It's more like weight lifting for the legs all over compared to yoga, imho.

Yoga, OTOH, has this wonderful calming and energizing effect that outlasts the workout. It's amazing. It is better (most classes) at strengthening the upper body than Barre, by far. The effects on the spine are much greater and helpful, too, I think. It definitely improves overall flexibility more than Barre.

I do both!

edit: oops, I don't know if that Barre class throws in extra exercises for upper body, etc, though. I'm thinking of ballet-based classes in general, so someone else will have to say what extra might be added in that specific one

yogicarl

Why not do both!

I do yoga every day and a full bodyweight strength routine 3 x week and I find the two really compliment each other.

As Cafeaulait7 said, not sure how much the Barre workout would do for your upper body strength (I have no experience of it).

BinaryPulsar

I'm a dancer, so I have friends that teach and do Barre classes. I've never tried it. If it's like ballet then that's good and helps with form and basics that can often fall by the wayside.

I like my flow yoga classes because of the body/mind calming effect. I also love that we do balancing while having our legs lifted very high and gracefully moving from one balancing pose to the next, changing the orientation of our bodies, without putting our foot down, and with nothing to hold onto for balance. This is a wonderful feeling and is very excellent for my dance training practice. It is even more challenging when you are standing on your mat because it is a less stable surface and works your standing leg even more. Balancing is good for strengthening the muscles that support the knees (I have long term knee issues also from a condition I was born with and serious car accidents).

celtbell3

I went to barre when I hurt my shoulder and really found it a great alternative to yoga - personally, though, I love yoga. It is a complete compliment to all workouts - barre really focuses on the lower body and core.