The Christian Gray Workout: The PilatesBarre

Tried-It Tuesdays: I have to start with this - "Pilates: I love drinking those!" 
[First off, for those of you that got that reference, give yourself two points before we begin this week’s discovery down uncharted fitness territory. My husband reminds me of that commercial anytime I mutter the word pilates, so I had to include it in this week’s post!]
Anyhow... I’m all for finding new things to keep exercise exciting, that’s the reason I created Tried-It Tuesdays. It’s given me a reason to get out there and explore while losing weight as well informed others about what other interesting things are out there and can keep you fit. From pole dancing and now to pilates, it’s been lots of fun AND I feel great.

This week I found myself at the PilatesBarre in Dallas. I had heard that Gap Fit was paying for the class and if you tried on a pair of their activewear line, you got to take it home with you for free. (Double-whammy!) So I signed up like a champ and got ready to burn some calories. I mean, how hard could it be…
When I arrived, I realized that this place wasn’t the Pilates that my Y offered, but the real-deal holyfield with the latest and greatest REFORMER machine called the Megaformer. This was the class that stars like Jennifer Aniston do once a week to look like a million bucks. Unfortunately, since my abs look more like the Marshmallow Man, I was starting to rethink my latest challenge. Especially if I had to take on the Reformer machine. (If you haven’t seen one of these before, it resembles something I imagined out of “Shades of Gray.”) But I couldn’t back out now. I had put on the grip socks and put on the Gap pants, so I had to work for these babies. All I can say now is Gap, thanks for the pants and thanks for making my body ache and shake like it never has before. But to be honest, isn’t that the point? I get why they call it PilatesBarre now – I felt like I needed to hit the bar when I was done. Maybe order up that ‘pilates’ they keep talking about. Anyhow, I wish I had brought a photographer to see me do all the wild exercises we did. While relatively simple moves, they made my body burn like never before. I worked muscles I never knew I had and honestly, I now understand why people say it makes their body feel longer – because my body was stretched WAAAAAY out. I did have to look around to figure out if I was doing things correctly. I admit many times I was so involved in making sure I was doing things right, I didn’t listen to the instructor and just let my body do what made sense. The instructor was calm, helpful and never made me feel out of place, although I know I was (I was wild on that machine!) While I wasn’t a pro from the get go, the 50-minute class included everything from core strength training, cardio, and overall body conditioning and stretching—everything I need to work to achieve a lean physique - the "Pilates Body.” At this rate, watch out, Jennifer Aniston.

Photo from Google+

The PilatesBarre 2 locations in Dallas University Park 6915 Hillcrest Avenue University Park, TX 75205 214.706.9988
Preston Forest 11909 Preston Road, Suite 1412 Dallas, TX 75230 972.239.2626
http://www.thepilatesbarre.com
DISCLAIMER:
I received one or more of the mentioned products for the sole purpose of this review. No other compensating was given and all opinions expressed are 100 percent my own. (Accordance with FTC's 16 CFR Part 255, "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.")