Pure Barre Tribeca

This was a small, intimate class in the still-new Pure Barre Tribeca outpost. We liked instructor Katrina’s music and attitude and would absolutely take her hard class again as a toning addition to our existing workout routine. We love the location and think that as more people find out about Pure Barre Tribeca, this studio will be hopping with people in no time.

RUNDOWN

WORKOUT

Every Pure Barre class, regardless of studio, follows the same formula: standing warm-up punctuated by planks, then moving into arms with weights. This is followed by thighs, then seat, then two separate ab sections: one at/under the barre and then a section on mats on the floor.  

Despite the formula, this class felt especially challenging, probably due to instructor Katrina’s hands-on corrections, insistence on making planks unstable by lifting our feet off the ground one at a time, and strict attention to detail throughout the arms section. Our arms were burning before we even got to hammer curls, which we thought would feel like a rest. Our legs section included a pretty unique segment where the whole class was hanging off the barre by one arm and drawing a number of increasingly painful circles towards the center of the room with our outstretched leg. Seat section included foldover, where instead of the standard leg lifts and circles we had to draw our knee into our chest with the toes pointed and kick it back out straight with our toes flexed. Katrina’s abs section was also harder than usual, due to a long segment where we sat straight-backed against the wall and did oblique crunches – we felt our obliques the next day for sure! Class finished off with a two minute series of bridge lifts for a chance to work on our lower back, hip flexibility, and seat toning.

Other classmates included several women who looked to be Pure Barre regulars with branded gear, and the crowd skewed older than at many fitness classes we have been to. The music that Katrina selected reflected that not everyone listening was a millennial and included some great remixed 90s jams and lesser–remembered pop hits.

INSTRUCTOR

Katrina Bertrand led a really strong class which felt really hands-on and well put together. There was a subtle focus on obliques throughout, which we appreciate as these muscles too often get left behind in favor of more obvious larger muscle groups. She played good music, catered to her audience, and offered a number of hands-on corrections as well as enthusiastic and genuine praise when we got the choreography and positioning just right. She has a promising future at Pure Barre and we’ll seek her out for a good class in the future.

SPACE

Tribeca is quickly becoming a hotspot for fitness studios and Pure Barre has snagged a great location right off the subway stop at Chambers Street. Across the street, there are multiple places to find green juice and gluten-free baked goods and other healthy treats, and we’re sure there’s a lot of weekday foot traffic on this block.

The studio has a small but well-stocked storefront with coconut water, regular water, and barre leggings on sale. Bathrooms and cubbies are downstairs and are clean, but lack showers like other Pure Barre locations. The studio itself is fairly small and features no windows, which works just fine for us but could feel a little claustrophobic in a class with many more students. The people working the front desk mentioned as we were leaving that they’ve been having issues with soundproofing in the studio and had to reduce the bass used in class as a result – otherwise they’ve been waking up their upstairs neighbors in a mostly residential block! We didn’t feel the class suffered as a result – the music was plenty loud – and we were glad that Pure Barre Tribeca is trying to establish good relationships in their area. We will definitely come back.