New to Barre?
Here’s everything you need to know.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Barre?
Physique 57 is an ultra-effective exercise method that is accessible for everyBODY.
Benefits include:
- Sculpt and tone – build long, lean muscles like a dancer. Improve your body alignment and posture to exude strength, grace, and confidence.
- Caloric burn – cardiovascular exercises combined with increased lean muscle boost your metabolic rate. Benefit from an accelerated metabolism up to 72 hrs after your workouts with strength training afterburn.
- Core strength – develop your deep abdominal muscles, obliques, and back muscles to support your daily activities, keep your spine healthy, and improve your balance and posture.
- Bone density – improve overall bone health and build bone density with weight-bearing, strength training exercises.
- Endurance + stamina – increase your overall fitness level through high-repetition movements and strength and cardio intervals.
- Mental strength – boost your mind-body connection and your mood! Flex your resilience muscles and get empowered with our exercises while getting uplifted by invigorating beats, our inspiring, supportive trainers, and our welcoming community
Barre and Pilates share common principles of proper body alignment and posture, controlled movements, and mental focus. There is also crossover in exercises done on the floor.
While Pilates exercises are traditionally done lying on a mat or using specific resistance equipment such as a reformer, Barre exercises bring it to the vertical. Most often, barre incorporates the use of a wall-mounted ballet barre for participants to use for support and stability while standing, along with exercise balls, resistance bands, and hand weights.
Barre classes rely less on resistance equipment and instead use your own body weight. Barre also includes more vigorous intervals and higher repetitions to get the heart pumping and challenge muscles to their point of fatigue, making barre more cardiovascular.
No, previous dance experience is not required for barre classes. Barre workouts are designed to be accessible to people of all fitness levels and backgrounds. The exercises can be modified based on individual abilities, so beginners can participate and progress at their own pace.
While barre is inspired by ballet and dance, barre is a workout, not a dance class. Your instructor will cue the positions and movements in the moment to keep you moving. You will not be required to memorize any choreography so you can focus on refining your form, moving to the invigorating music, and relishing the results that await. Barre is less about how you look and more about how amazing you feel.
Barre workouts are appropriate for people of all fitness levels, just be sure to pace yourself as you build up your strength.
The beauty of barre workouts is that you can feel them working – you may notice muscles you never felt before and you’ll feel the burn in your muscles which is a sign of your body changing. Most importantly, find a well-trained, knowledgeable instructor, start with a beginner level class when available, and listen to your body and shake it out as needed. You’ll be amazed with how you get stronger with each session and how quickly you see results.
It’s always recommended to consult with a healthcare professional before starting a new exercise program if you have health concerns or injuries. They can provide personalized guidance based on your medical history and can advise about any movements or positions that should be avoided.
In general, barre is a low-impact workout, and modifications can be made to accommodate various conditions or injuries. Informing your instructor about specific limitations or injuries before class is essential, as they can provide appropriate alternatives to ensure a safe and effective workout.
Core strength and balance are top benefits of barre. With a full-body, 360 approach, barre has a unique way of creating balanced strength. Life and daily habits cause muscle imbalances, and barre helps restore balance as you work meticulously through your body. This will make you more stable on your feet, as will having a stronger mid-section. The abdominal, back, and hip muscles are recruited and challenged throughout every section of a barre class, which means you get a serious, centering workout.
While you’re perfecting your alignment in your barre classes, you’re building habits that will carry on throughout your day. Elegant, powerful posture never goes out of style!
While stretches are incorporated throughout most barre classes and are part of the cooldown, the flexibility factor doesn’t stop there. The elongated positions and full range movements during every section of class will leave you feeling supple and will sculpt your muscles. And because barre builds flexibility and strength simultaneously, it means that you’ll have strong muscles to support your lithe physique.
Barre is a form of strength training that builds lean muscle mass. In addition to developing functional strength and having a sculpted physique, having more lean muscle will also rev up your metabolic rate. 1 pound of muscle burns 3 times as many calories as 1 pound of fat. And you won’t bulk up! Barre uses your own body weight and small hand weights for resistance, which makes it easy on your joints and a super effective way to build muscle.
In class, we’re always reminding our clients to breathe! The more oxygen you can take in, the more energy you will have for the workout. Generally, we inhale as we lengthen the muscle and exhale as we contract the muscle (exertion). For example in our ab work, you want to exhale on the curl-up and inhale on the way down. Being attentive to your breath is a powerful way to focus your mind, deepen your movements, alleviate unnecessary tension, and increase your results.
Women should wear comfortable workout attire that allows for a full range of motion. Typically, this includes leggings or fitted exercise pants, a supportive sports bra, and a comfortable top. Men can wear what they would wear to a yoga or other group exercise class.
Socks are usually worn during barre classes, and some studios (including Physique 57!) may require specific grippy socks. It’s also a good idea to bring a water bottle to stay hydrated and perhaps a small towel to manage your barre glow.
What is Physique 57?
The class begins with a series of dynamic movements, upper-body strengthening exercises with hand weights, and push-ups and planks to warm the body up and raise your heart rate. Participants then use the ballet barre for thigh and glute-focused sets, which are a main focus as your major calorie burning muscle groups. The class culminates with comprehensive abdominal sets, a cool down, and final stretch. Lively, fun music helps participants stay focused and work even harder.
Results. Efficiency. Innovation.
We’re dedicated to delivering the most effective exercise program and believe that working out shouldn’t feel like work. That’s why we developed the most rigorous instructor vetting and training program in the barre industry. We hire dynamic, charismatic, talented dance and fitness professionals who are passionate about bringing you an uplifting, one-of-a-kind experience.
The Physique 57 method combines small, pulsing movements (customary to barre techniques) with full-body dynamic exercises to create a standout fitness experience and cover all your fitness needs – cardio, strength, and stretch. Leveraging the experience of teaching clients across the globe since 2006, our trainers offer personalized instruction to improve posture and body alignment and encourage you to work at your optimal level to achieve your best results.
We have clients who have taken 3-6 classes a week for over 15 years – they never get bored. Get ready to fall in love with the results!
We offer 5 class formats in-studio to provide a variety of levels and options to fulfill your fitness goals:
SCULPT – START SMART A great place to learn our lingo and set you up for all of our class offerings! The focus is on learning fundamental movements, positions and methodology to provide a deeper understanding of our exercises for the most effective workout. We suggest 4-6 Sculpt classes to build your foundation.
POWER SCULPT – READY TO TURN IT UP? A step up from Sculpt, you will be provided opportunities to tailor the class to your own fitness level. Want more cardio? Want to challenge yourself to the next level? We’ll give you that and more.
BACK BODY SCULPT – ARMS AND GLUTES GALORE Back Body Sculpt is a sizzling, non-stop class that brings extra focus to your arms and glutes. We keep the sequencing tight to ensure maximum calorie burn and muscular overload which yields quick results. Back Body Sculpt will leave you feeling fierce, fit and fabulous.
ADVANCED POWER SCULPT LAB – NEED A GOOD SWEAT? This is a non-stop, fast-paced, high intensity interval training class that will keep you & your muscles guessing. In this Physique Lab, our top trainers create & design new formats weekly. Get ready for sweat-infused, calorie-scorching, and body-toning sequences.
CORE – PILATES PHYSIQU-IFIED Core is an ab-focused class that will target & tone your entire body. This upbeat format (think Pilates energized & intensified) seamlessly weaves together ab-centric exercises sans barre. Using light weights & a ball, you’ll feel (& see) muscles in your midsection you didn’t even know existed.
PRIVATE TRAINING Physique 57 offers a comprehensive menu of private training. For more information see the Concierge Team or contact us at [email protected]
We maintain the structure of the class formats so that you know what to expect, but the variations, choreography, and playlists change every class. This allows the instructors to teach a high quality class and gives clients a consistent experience no matter what time of the day you come to class.
For best results, we recommend taking class at least 3x a week. The good news is that Physique 57 provides total body sculpting and conditioning, so you don’t need to cross train once you begin a consistent Physique 57 program.
Some fitness studios offer only cardio workouts, others offer only strength training. But when you can combine the two in one class, it’s magical. That’s why we created a one stop fitness shop that offers all the elements of a well-rounded fitness regimen.
Studio classes offer the full barre experience. Leave your to-do list at the door and immerse yourself in an inspiring, dynamic environment. With access to all the equipment, get energized by moving to the beat at the barre with tailored instruction, a fierce community, and max motivation. Find a studio.
Virtual classes allow you to access Studio classes from anywhere. Tune in at the time of class and turn on your camera if you’d like to receive personalized feedback. Close your eyes and you could practically imagine you’re at the barre. Stream Live classes.
On Demand offers full flexibility and easy-to-follow programs if you love a plan. Choose the level (beginner to advanced), duration (5 to 57 minutes), format (10 options including Barre, Pilates, HIIT, Dance Cardio, Prenatal), and trainer – available anytime, anywhere. Work out On Demand.
It’s addicting! Clients feel empowered by the workout and see their bodies change almost immediately. It’s a sense of accomplishment and a victory getting through each class. Clients also love that the classes never get easier, so they don’t plateau. The unparalleled results, combined with an uplifting community, is what keeps them coming back year after year.
We have the perfect formula: a combination of strength training and interval training which includes cardio and stretching.
You can see & feel results in just 8 classes. Learn more about the science behind our brand guarantee in our blog. For optimal results, classes should be taken three or more times per week.
Stretching muscles in between intense muscle-building sets is an important part of a Physique 57 workout. In our classes, your muscles are targeted and overloaded to the point of fatigue, then stretched for relief. This allows your muscles to extend to full length and elongate to create that long lean beautiful physique.
But don’t worry, you don’t need to be flexible to find success at Physique 57, though many of our clients see increased flexibility after just a few classes. Flexibility can help increase your range of motion, and the deeper you get in the exercises, the more effective they will be. At Physique 57, the very nature of our strength training exercises allows the muscles to lengthen and strengthen at the same time.
Physique 57 keeps equipment to a minimum: we use hand weights (we love heavy weights for max efficiency!), playground balls, resistance bands, and the ballet barre for support.
Our workouts fire up your body’s own natural strengthening and weight-loss mechanisms, kick them into high gear, and ultimately supercharge them so they become more powerful and efficient than ever before.
Yes! The increased flexibility, core strength, and low-impact strengthening movements of Physique 57 help prevent injury and improve endurance for all other forms of exercise. You will feel stronger and healthier wherever you need to take on a challenge.
Of course! The Physique 57 technique was designed for women, but it is effective for everyone. We have a wonderful mix of Trainers, demonstrating how our method works for all.
Named the “Best Prenatal workout” by New York Magazine, Physique 57 is a safe and effective option for prenatal and postnatal women. Due to the low-impact, form and control-focused nature of our method, Physique 57 is a gentle way for pregnant women to stay healthy and strong and prepare for labor and delivery. For the same reasons, our exercises help postnatal women rehabilitate their bodies after childbirth.
Always consult with your doctor before starting a new exercise program.
Studio Visits – What do I need to know?
Tips for Your Best Physique 57 Experience:
- Arrive 10 minutes early We are excited to give you a warm welcome at our barre. Take a studio tour, chat with our Concierge Team, and feel free to socialize with other Physique 57 clients.
- Connect with Your Trainer Your Physique 57 trainers are invested in you. Share your fitness goals so they can empower and motivate you to succeed. Also, please let your trainers know about any injuries and modification needs. We have your back!
- Grippy socks! Please wear full coverage socks. Grippy socks are available for purchase at the Physique Boutique.
- No Phone Zone Please leave your cell phone in your locker or with our Concierge Team. Savor your self-care & relish in the results.
- Stay hydrated Only water is allowed in the studio. No food or colored drinks please.
You can bring a water bottle and perhaps a small towel. All required workout equipment, including mats, is provided.
We love your motivation and recommend that you book in advance, especially for prime-time classes.
Sculpt is the perfect introduction to our barre workouts as a slower paced (though still super effective) class that breaks down our movements and positions.
Core is our open-level, Pilates-inspired workout, and is a great place to start if you’re looking for an ab-venture.
Power Sculpt is our signature barre class. Faster paced than Sculpt, you’ll be provided options to tailor the class to your level.
Once you’ve completed 10 classes, level up with Back Body Sculpt, a non-stop sizzling sequence that focuses on your most neglected muscle groups.
Power Sculpt Lab is our ultimate challenge. This advanced class is reserved for Physiquers who’ve taken at least 20 classes and features our most intense exercises, delivered at lightning speed.
Physique 57, an independently owned, female led studio, has developed a lifestyle brand that represents service, quality, expertise, innovation, attention to detail, market leadership and results. In fact, we are one of only a few NYC boutique studios to earn 5 stars from The Fit Guide, an international rating system celebrating the world’s leading fitness clubs, gyms and studios. We had a perfect score in almost all 200 metrics.
Even more exciting, based on recent data from August, 2023 – Physique 57 ranked #1 for Barre worldwide, #4 overall out of approximately 150 studios worldwide for all concepts!
https://thefitguide.com/cities/new-york-city/studios/physique-57/overview