Pure Barre Platform Review

Today I survived Pure Barre Platform. I did not fall on my face.

Verdict: This class torches a ton of calories. This is what I need to take after going on a cupcake binge.

It really wasn't like traditional Pure Barre classes at all. Where Pure Barre is about small movements—this class is about big movements. And there's a definite adjustment needed.

I took a Wednesday night class. It was a small class of 7, including an instructor who was taking. There was another lady's her first Platform class.

I felt like a little lost sheep in the class. Like in my first class—when I just didn't know what to expect at all. I was looking around to see what others were doing a lot. And there weren't that many people to look at. I was more lost in this class than I've been trying new classes in awhile. That said, I think I'd do better next time.

The class starts with a step on and off the platform warm-up. I was the worst at this. I was also bad at the Pure Barre warmup. So this is expected. I'm so bad at choreography.

There were similar sections to Pure Barre: Warmup, obliques, leg work at barre, ab work, and cool down. And the floor work toward the end definite felt like Pure Barre so I wasn't as lost. There were lunges with pulses, familiar weight work, bring your knee to your chest, seat work. It's a full body workout.

Highlights:
• Pushups with toes on the platform. At some point over the years, I started liking pushups. (And vainly how my arms look in the Pure Barre mirror.) These were great.

• The flying leaps that are in all the ads. These are fun. (I struggled with them in general, and could do the left side better than the right, but I'll get it.)
• All the big kicking—bringing your leg from the floor to several feet up in the air. This is fun!

Low points
•  At some points it was hard to see the instructor and what I was supposed to do.
• How long we worked the right and left thighs. Way too long. Dying. I thought I'd done a leg twice by accident.
• The motions do look really crazy. This could be amusing to watch. I also don't have those fast twitch muscles you must need for this. Not sure I work at that speed.
• And ha ha. I did fall off the platform once. But not on my face. Just during leaps I missed my footing. No big.

Sweat was dripping down my arms for the whole class. I did bring a towel. And sipped on my water a lot. At the end of class, I just chucked my wet tank in my bag and put on a long sleeve shirt for outside over my sports bra. That shirt was too gross to wear home.

The class was surprisingly low impact. There wasn't too much jumping. I was worried about box jumps—like in the Body Shred class I went to. But no the leaps off the box are controlled (lock out those arms on the barre.)

I got a few corrections. I won't beat myself over this. It was really different from Pure Barre. And I think I will go again a few more times to see if I like it. Or just if I overeat and need to burn 500+ calories.

Seriously, the calorie burn was the best part of this class. My Apple Watch is super stingy with calories burned. It gives me 100 calories for a pilates class. Maybe 280-300 for a barre class, and a little less than a 100 calories per mile for a run. I burned a ton of calories in this class. (More than an hour of trampoline fitness.) And I'm confident I'd do a better job next time.

If you go:
1) You will sweat. I wouldn't recommend a cotton shirt. Wear something sweat wicking. I wished I had worn crops—but couldn't remember if you were supposed to wear full length leggings for this class.
2) Don't worry about looking stupid. I was too busy watching my feet and trying not to fall off the platform to worry about what anyone else looked like.
2) Just when you think you can't do another rep—it's time for stretching. (I love stretching breaks!)

Nerdy Girl's Guide to Pole Class

Looking nerdy on the pole. 

I finally tried a pole class! It was fun. I like learning tricks. The teacher was super nice.

My friend from work and I went. We were the only two in the class. The instructor started the class by telling us all about the poles (brands, heights, widths. Didn't mean anything to me. Not sure I plans to have a pole in my house. Just wanted to try the class.) And she cleaned the poles. (Apparently this is important.)

We moved on to sassy walking around the pole (I felt very self conscious) and getting used to grabbing the pole. She called the different positions by the poles by their positions around the clock: 12 o'clock was the mirror (the audience), 3 o'clock was right of the pole, 6 o'clock directly behind it, and 9 o'clock to the left of the pole.

I think one of the first tricks we learned was called opening a book (something like that). It ended up being my favorite. You stand at 9 o'clock almost in position for a jumping jack (holding the pole with your right hand) and use your momentum to to swing across the pole and to the opposite position on the other side of the pole. I liked doing this one super fast. (I wanna go fast!)

We worked on pirouette with your hand above you on the pole. It took me a few tries to figure out how to switch your hand on those. The teacher came over and man handled me into position. It worked. I needed a few extra tries on this one. But story of my life. I always feel like I need more practice.

We worked up to sassy walking and swing around the pole. (Finally!) I totally jumped onto the pole and swung around super fast. I actually had trouble stopping. And no, you're not supposed to jump, so it took me a few more tries to get up without jumping. I couldn't figure out how to stop spinning. I mean obviously you can just jump off. I couldn't figure out how to exit gracefully. I need 20 more minutes to work on that.

We put those elements together, walking around the pole, opening a book, half pirouette and swinging. And then we switched poles. One was a little wider than the other.

Then we worked on another sequence from the beginner's routine. So if you take the 9-weeks class, you'll learn it.

There was crawling, booty-popping squats holding the pole, a move called the princess.

We ended class climbing the pole. Note: This is not like climbing a rope. (You should have seen the instructor's face when I muscled up to the top of the pole). I love climbing things, but that's not sexy, is it?

Was I good at it? ::laughs::The teacher's eyes did bug out on occasion. I think that says it all. She said I had power. No coordination and I can't remember a routine.

What to wear: short shorts (the shorter the better), and a tank. Don't put on lotion that day if you can help it. The workout is barefoot.

Would I go again? Yes. I'd like to try a more fitness based pole class. I'd like to learn tricks more than a routine. I'd love to try another instructor too. This instructor was a dancer (and I just don't dance). She was soo nice and enthusiastic. But my lack of coordination might not be fun for her. My friend and I debated on taking the 9-week series. I ended up bruising the back of my knee so I couldn't pop in the next week. Then I had a bad experience with Canopy and decided against the session. I'd go again, maybe drop in after the next 9-week session is through or see if another studio offers it.

I like the athleticism of it and would love to learn some cool tricks. We'll see if this is next summer's obsession.