Weight Off My Shoulders

I went back for more torture ... haha just kidding ... I went back for my lifting, toning and burning! :) I was wicked anxious before my first class at Pure Barre in Burlington on Friday night!

BUT, after the initial soreness wore off I was ready for more...

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Now before I go into how class went yesterday morning, I want to give you a little story on my surgically repaired back.

In December 2010, I was told I had a herniated disc in my back. I tried PT, but it didn't work so on January 28, 2011 I went under the knife and had a microdiscectomy in the L4-L5 region of my back. I was banned from all activity from December 2011 through May 2012 (besides some light walking). I was finally able to return to full activity in June 2012 and haven't looked back.

Occasionally my back can get some discomfort after I sit in a chair for too long (think long car ride, airplane ride or a movie), but other than that I am pretty much back to normal. But, I am always weary of certain exercises that may flare up some back pain so that is another reason why I am cautious about trying out new activities...

But, thankfully the girls at Pure Barre Burlington couldn't have been nicer. During my first class on Friday, Jess (who knows about my back issues) gave me an extra Pure ball to use in the small of my back during the "ab" section at the end of class. I didn't use it, but it was great to know they were ready and willing to help me modify the ab work to fit for me.

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Now, yesterday morning, I hit up the 7:10am class with Dana. It's funny how I grumble at having to get up early for work, but I sign up for a 7:10am class and I jump out of bed in excitement. Anyone else do that too? :)

I hadn't met Dana or Becca (another Pure Barre instructor) before, but both were so welcoming when I walked in the door.

Since it was my second class I was a pro and knew exactly what to grab before class ... okay, I still checked with everyone sitting around me to make sure I didn't miss anything. Check!

I even recognized a couple faces from the Friday afternoon class - I love seeing regulars at a studio! :)

So it was time to start, we started with the warmup/core work again. Since I had done Body Pump the day before, I went lighter on the weights, but still felt quite a burn ... especially during the bicep portion. Pure Barre keeps the intervals short, but you are working the entire time.

We followed that up with some chair work along the barre, but it was different than the moves done on Friday. I love variety. We worked the same muscles, but switched up the specific moves.

After a brief yoga/stretch, it was time for some "seat" or booty work, but instead of doing it along the barre (like I did on Friday) Dana had us working it on the floor. I wasn't sure how we would get the same burn, but my thighs let me know they felt it - and then some.

I am not so good at the self portraits ;)

One wouldn't think such tiny movements of the leg could lead to so much muscle work, but since they are wicked precise they do.

After the seat work, we set our mats up against the wall so our backs were against the wall and our heads were under the barre and it was time for more core work. Boy did my abs and legs feel that. At one point, you held one leg up towards the bar, while the other was pointed straight out off the floor - and moved both in small circles at the same time.

WOW! I didn't think I would be able to do it, but I did. During this portion, there were a couple points where I took a break, but thankfully I saw other people periodically take breaks or stretch out the legs or back so I didn't feel out of place at all taking a moment.

And before I knew it class was almost over, which meant it was time for seven minutes of abs.

Again, Dana had slight variety of ab work, but it was great. My back wasn't sure at all. Instead of doing more crunches on the ground, we did them while sitting up. I had the extra ball next to my mat just in case, but I didn't even need to use it.

With my abs on fire (in a good way), it was time to end class with some stretches. As I was doing the stretches, Dana actually walked over and helped push my stretch even deeper. I really appreciated the help and love the hands on approach of the Pure Barre class.

Overall, my body was feeling the lifting, toning and burning, but I can say I wasn't as sore as Class One. That has to be a good thing right?

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As I noted in my post following Class One, Pure Barre says members start seeing results in just 10 classes. Well, Friday will be Class Three and I'm bringing my girl Lindsey with me.

Pure Barre Burlington is offering a special Black Friday deal, where any client can bring a friend to a class for free!

Hopefully someone will be around to help me out with pics at Class Three since clearly I can't tone and take pics at the same time. :P