Xtend Barre Tribeca

Xtend Barre classes incorporate a little more movement than traditional barre classes. Expect some jumping, and some choreography, and a lot of curtsies and lunges. This was our first time at this newish studio in the heart of Tribeca but not our first visit to Xtend Barre. We loved the airy white feel and how all the instructors welcomed us with open arms. We got our moneys worth with a great workout, no complaints here.

RUNDOWN

WORKOUT

This Xtend class started out with a dance-y warmup to warm up each body part. Unlike some Xtend classes, we didn’t keep weights in our hands as we practiced our little jumps and our turnout in second position, but we were sweating pretttttttty quickly anyways! The arms section, which quickly followed the warmup, was tough and kept us holding an exercise ball between our arms for the entire time, which made our hammer curls and bicep curls tremendously difficult. We loved that we were trying new moves we’ve never yet seen before in barre class and instructor Phoenix checked in with the class frequently to make sure we weren’t going to pass out.

The legs section of class included a lot of isolated leg work, which mostly means standing on one foot with the heel raised while we burned out our thighs with slow lunges, fast lunges, single legged chair, and more. Our calves were killing us by the end of class! As we moved on to working our glutes, we did the traditional fold over series with a number of diagonal leg raises, which really caused us to feel the work in our side seat. After this we got on the floor and worked our inner thighs and outer glutes with some resistance band exercises on our side, including “clamshell” raises where we hinged our knees up and out. Class concluded with abs on the floor and some really difficult crunches and raises targeting the lower abs. Overall we were very challenged by this class and appreciated all of Phoenix’s encouragement! It was a good mix up from a more traditional, slower burning barre class and left us feeling sweaty and toned.

INSTRUCTOR

Phoenix was a very hands on and enthusiastic instructor, which we could tell from the time we walked into the studio! She introduced herself to us and asked if we were comfortable with hands on corrections. She then checked in individually with everyone in class regularly, calling out praise and corrections to everyone with impressive frequency. As we mentioned, this was a hard class, and Phoenix helped everyone stay upbeat while we might have otherwise given up. She asked us to shout “hell yeah” whenever we were particularly feeling it, and her enthusiasm was infectious. She will earn even more of our praise next time by giving more specific instructions for brand new positions and moves, given this choreography-heavy class. You’ll love Phoenix if you love personalized encouragement and a “cheerleader” style instructor.

SPACE

This is a nice new spot in TriBeca with a really airy big studio that faces right onto Warren Street. The high ceilings, dark wood paneled floors, and frosted windows make the space feel enormous, and the props on offer (balls, resistance bands, hand weights, mats) are all squeaky clean and brand new. When we walked into the studio, we noticed the chic gear on offer on the left side – it seemed more like street wear or athleisure with leather accents, rather than the sports bras & tees we saw on class-goers in the studio itself. There is a second studio downstairs and spacious locker rooms, though no showers.