FlyBarre Sport 60 is NOT your average barre class. We went in expecting a “pretty girl” workout, you know the ones that won’t mess up your bun or only force you to break a teensy sweat. But damn, we were so WRONG!!! Apparently next time we should be going all in and hitting a double. The class drew a large crowd straight out of spin studio who were looking for a great stretch, and intense arm and and core work.
Tie that ponytail tight girls because this class has cardio – jumping jacks and squat jumps in addition to sit-ups, pulses on our push-ups and slow movements with 3 and 5 pound weights. We squatted and pulsed until we literally could not take anymore. All while pumping beats (again not your average barre class). We have to admit, at times we laid down and on our mat when the instructor wasn’t looking, but no such luck she was on top of her sh**T and caught us, stopped us and pushed us through.
Stephanie is perfectly toned everywhere and now we know why. She does the majority of the class with you and this class is HARD. We figured that maybe if we fought through all this cardio and strength work we might end up looking like her at the end of the 45 minutes (sadly we didn’t). Stephanie had a clear voice which meant there no confusion in the movements we were supposed to be doing. The tone in which she delivered was so positive that we figured we might as well try to keep on going. Plus, Stephanie keeps her eyes on EVERYONE. If she catches anyone doing a move even slightly incorrect or thinks that they could be performing it better she will come over and correct you. Watch your back.
FlyBarre operates out of the same studio space as FlyWheel. Which means there are amenities and long shower lines. The studio has everything you’d need to shower and head straight to work or head out on the town. Two women’s showers, two men’s showers, and two bathrooms. They also provide deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, dry shampoo, hair dryers, mints, Q-tips, cotton balls, tissues, and towels. Be warned: in the mornings when two classes (barre and wheel) get out at the same time, the shower line can be long and sloooooow, so plan accordingly.
The barre studio is in the back of the space and feels a little like a dungeon. It’s a small room with dark wood floors, floor to ceiling mirrors, and no windows. There is space for 18 students and the room is a small rectangle with all the mats lined up against the wall facing the middle.
800 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02199 Back Bay Barre $$$
Flywheel Sports Precision Training Back Bay
Back Bay Barre, $$$
800 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02199
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The class was structured similarly to most, if not all, barre classes. We started off with a dynamic warm-up to the beat to get the juices flowing. The warm-up was followed by a 10 minute core series, which incorporated planks and ab work using the barre and resistance bands. Following abs, there was a long arm section where the instructor advised that we all grab for 2-3 lbs. weights. Arms lasted 7-8 minutes with movements including small pulses and shoulder presses, lateral raises, and bicep curls. We didn’t lower our arms once, and we were happy to hear the end of “Uptown Funk” which signaled it was time to drop the weights.
What’s left? Onto glutes and thigh work! This is where we found Flybarre set itself apart from other barre classes. The first leg section was not at the barre and consisted of body weight squats and lunges. It felt more like a bootcamp class than barre class, which was a welcomed change in our eyes. The second thigh stint was at the barre “on your highest high heels” (ughhhh) and was similar to what we’ve experienced around town in other barre classes. We capped off class with more abs and were on our way out the door 45 minutes later.
Leanne was not only the strongest and fittest barre instructor we’ve worked with yet, but she was also authentic, which goes a long way in our book. She came around and introduced herself to everyone at the beginning of class and was friendly and warm. She taught the class with confidence and cued seamlessly into the microphone over the blaring top 40 remixes. Although we have a hunch that she isn’t doing just barre every day to look like she does. @leannes6, what’s your secret?
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FlyBarre Sport is NOT your average barre class. We went in expecting a “pretty girl” workout, you know the ones that won’t mess up your bun or only force you to break a teensy sweat. But damn, we were so WRONG!!!
Tie that ponytail tight girls because this class has cardio – jumping jacks, squat jumps, box jumps in addition to sit-ups, pulses on our push-ups and slow movements with 3 and 5 pound weights. We squatted and pulsed until we literally could not take anymore. We have to admit, at times we laid down and on our mat when the instructor wasn’t looking, but no such luck she was on top of her sh**T and caught us, stopped us and pushed us through.
Stephanie is perfectly toned everywhere and now we know why. She does the majority of the class with you and this class is HARD. We figured that maybe if we fought through all this cardio and strength work we might end up looking like her at the end of the 45 minutes (sadly we didn’t). Stephanie had a clear voice which meant there no confusion in the movements we were supposed to be doing. The tone in which she delivered was so positive that we figured we might as well try to keep on going. Plus, Stephanie keeps her eyes on EVERYONE. If she catches anyone doing a move even slightly incorrect or thinks that they could be performing it better she will come over and correct you. Watch your back.
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First of all, Alex’s playlist – we can’t EVEN. So on point. Go follow him on Spotify. Now that that is out of the way, onward to the workout. Alex used his upbeat playlist to set the tone for the class. Each exercise was set to the length of a song, we thanks him for that as it helped get us through most of the exercises. Alex demoed every exercise and noted to others to pay attention to the regulars who were on their “A” game. Alex made sure to work our core throughout the entire class. Even when we weren’t pulsing our abs, he reminded us to pull our core in tight to get the full returns on each exercise. We completed tricep and back exercises with the flybarre band pulled off the actual bar. He then proceeded to burn us out on arms, back and glutes. And then just like that, back to abs. No rest for the weary. Definitely a solid workout that made everything shake, the perfect combination with a good cardio session.
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If you’re looking for an upbeat instructor to take you through a pulsating barre class, Claudia is your girl. You know that overly energetic cheerleader that is often emulated in movies jumping around with a high ponytail and a huge smile on her face regardless of what’s going on around her? This is Claudia. Claudia started the class by making sure she knew everybody’s name and gave shout outs to those doing the exercises correctly (we got a shout out, NBD). The size of the room and the small class size allowed Claudia to give each person tons of individualized attention. Her adjustments were crazy helpful and made us feel the burn in places we didn’t know existed. Claudia definitely knows what she’s doing, but we wish she used more props. Other instructors that we have had at FlyBarre made better use of the ball, stretchy ropes, and ballet bar. A lot of the exercises were ones that we could do on our own at home, without paying for the class. However, if we had done this at home we would definitely not be smiling through each exercise and feeling like we made a new friend in our instructor!
