Top 10 active wear purchases this year

I bought way too much active wear this year. I did focus more on good pieces that I would actually wear—and tried to buy less that I'd never wear. Here are some of my favorite purchases of 2015—based on how much I like them and how much I wear them.

1. Lululemon Run Stuff Your Bra.
This sports bra is cute, comfy and it has pockets for your phone and keys. I like to keep my iPhone with me when I run so this is perfect. I'd get three more if I could—but Lulu isn't selling them in the U.S. Every other country, but not the U.S.

Think I'm wearing Stash It crop, the Run
Stuff Your Bra and the UA tank in this photo.

2. Lululemon Stash It Crop.
I bought these in Lululemon's online warehouse sale this summer. I wear them once or twice a week because—THEY HAVE POCKETS high on the hips. I've gotten others with lower pockets and then your phone just knocks against your leg.  And when I run trails I need to keep my phone and keys on me.
I need 2 more pairs of these.

3. Werkshop dragon crops
These are my badass crops. I usually wear them to flying trapeze. They're just awesome.
(I need more Werkshop in my life in 2016. They have the best designs.) Still available. Werkshop panther is next on my list.

4. Lululemon Wunder Unders
I got a pair of plain black Wunder Unders for my birthday and I just love wearing them. They're so soft and I look forward to wearing them and always feel like a million bucks when I wear them. I have a black and regal plum print that I love and a grey jacquard pair that I wear weekly. I love these. Especially the ones that feel like cotton.

5. Lululemon neck warmers
I'm asthmatic and keeping my airways warm and happy is a big part of my life. Cold constricts my airways so I need to keep my throat warm—and my nose and mouth covered when it's especially cold. These neck warmers are amazing. They're soft and lightweight and exactly what this cold sensitive girl needs. They're like a fashionable version of a neck gaiter. They have a drawstring where you could keep it above your nose if you wanted.

Think I'm wearing it this photo. 

6. Victoria's Secret Seamless Long Sleeve Tee in green space dye.
I have a soft spot for green and I love this long sleeve T. I bought it New Year's 2015 so it barely makes the cut. I wear it all the time and would get more but I bought it on clearance and they don't make it anymore.

7. Lululemon tracker shorts
I don't like shorts. I didn't wear shorts for years because I'm WEIRD about my thighs. I have huge quads (running, barre, trampolining you name it) and most shorts make my thighs look like tree trunks. These are the shortest shorts I've found that work. And they're super soft and comfy. Even better than the Nike tempo short.

8. Lululemon Jet Crop Slim
I saw these pants in the Lululemon show room and thought I could dress these up for work. They're super soft and passable for work with heels and a flowy top. Love. I wear them on the weekend after working out. They're a dressier version of a sweatpant.
I'm not crazy about the baggy crotch, but I still tend to wear these pants ALL THE TIME. Every weekend.

9. Lululemon Cool Racer Back in Raspberry Glo Light
I wasn't originally a fan of Lulu's CRB. They just made me look like I had a muffin top. I dropped three pounds from running and the size 6 looks much better on me. This neon tank is amazing. I want to wear it all of the time. I can't wash it often enough. I know I'm super late to the neon party—but this made me like neon—for runs when the sun is setting or to just feel like an athlete. I since went out and bought more neon.

10. Under Armour Fly-By Stretch Mesh
I have a few of these because they are so awesome. The back is mesh—they're light and perfect for sweaty workouts. I like that they're long too. I wear my purple and black ones the most, but also have hot pink and probably a few more colors.

Yes, there's a lot of lululemon on here. I promised I tried other brands. These are just what I LOVE most.

Honorable mentions from other brands
• Athleta Ponte pant. Dress pants made of yoga pants material. I bought these in December and think I'll wear them a lot in the coming year.
• Glyder Cardio Freek Crop. I LOVED these for about two months and now that they're broken in, I'm not crazy about them. They showed some crotch sweat at tumbling one night and I haven't like them the same since.
Brands I tried: Rese, Beyond Yoga, Alo Yoga, Splits 59, Onzie, Trina Turk
I continue to loathe Fabletics.

Lulu honorable mentions
1) My reversible black and white stripe bikini. Someone invite me to a pool party so I can wear it.
2) Runderful half zip. I need colder weather so I can wear this again ASAP. (Love my think fast pullovers from 2014.)
3) Running socks. I've been all about fancy running socks lately.
4) 105 singlet. This top is so soft. But they stopped making it :(
5) Align pant. Super soft. Love wearing these.

Joining the Pure Barre 100 club

We had sparkling grape juice for my 100. Thanks Rachelle! 

I've joined the Pure Barre 100 club. In a little over 5 months I took 100 Pure Barre classes.

In a large studio, it's nice to have the recognition and something to work towards. And free socks! I like that they do this. And I like the social media posts. It helps me learn the other regular's names.

And it's been a long journey.

Officially, I took 100 classes in a year and a week. I took my first Pure Barre class May 30 last year. It was free friend Friday. I met one of the instructors at the local trampoline gym. She invited me to try a class and was surprised when I actually showed up.

I liked my first Pure Barre class. It was challenging and well organized. But I wasn't sold, frankly because Pure Barre is expensive. And it's not as fun or adrenaline pumping as some of the other fitness classes I've tried.

I took another free class that fall. It was hard. And Pure Barre was filed away in my list of workouts to try when I get tired of my current gym/when my contract runs out.

And in December my gym closed to move to a bigger facility. Their lease ran out and there was some gap time. So I went to Pure Barre. (Also, it was one of the only fitnesses places open over Christmas break in my college town.) I took a class. Decided I'd give it a whirl and bought the one-month new client special.

At $100 for a month, it was the most I've ever paid for a gym membership.

I went to the classes. My metabolism reved up and I was hungry all the time. My calves were cramping. And finally my body got used to the new workout routine.

Did Pure Barre transform my body or make me lose weight? I'm not one of those people

Two years ago I started working out. I'd lose weight and gain muscle. Eventually, I dropped one pant size, settled at a few pounds less than my pre-workout weight and I've plataeued there. I'm happy with being an athletic size 4. Sure, I'd like to drop 10 pounds, but think I'd have to diet miserably for months to get there. I'm at a happy, healthy weight. I'm lean and toned, but was before I started going to Pure Barre.

But instead of workout out two hours a day, I only have to do 55 minutes at Pure Barre. I've tried to go crazy and run on Pure Barre days, but I don't think it's good for me.

I'm currently battling an overuse injury in my knee from trying to balance running, Pure Barre and everything else I want to do. My knee definitely limits what I can do.

I try to take 4 pure Barre classes a week, do two alternate workouts and take one day off.  I miss climbing ropes.

Will I join the 250 club? I'm not sure yet.

Workout Review: Above Barre

Where's Waldo? You can barely see me in this photo.

With Pure Barre ever so popular, a second barre studio opened up in Athens. My interest was piqued. Would the classes be smaller? The  memberships less expensive?

Above Barre is located next to the Omni on Atlanta Highway. It opened in late December so it hasn't even been open a month. And they're offering your first class free so I decided to try them out. The plan was to go with my sister, who took ballet in college.

I get to the parking lot and text my sister "I'm here" in case she has trouble finding it. She's not coming. Her toddler threw up in the car. Groan. So perk of Above Barre: Childcare is provided.

I go into Above Bar solo. The reception area is pretty and well lit (not a lot of chairs or space to wait). The staffers are nice. I buy a pair of Sticky-Be socks. They say "Be Calm," something I struggle with. Maybe the socks will help?

There's one lady waiting for the next class. I worry that the class will be too small.

Then the class before mine lets out. It's Barre-lates. Barre meets pilates. A few college age girls show up for the next barre class and I enter the studio. It's nice. There are two barres.

I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. No one told me. I look and see that everyone has a black mat, black ball and weights. I see the teacher at front and ask her. She says to get all of those and the two--pound weights. She repeats herself several times as about half the class is new.

Even before class begins, I can see that the women who come her are almost exactly the same clientele as Pure Barre. It's mostly sorority type thin, beautiful girls, with a few older women. I'm the odd one out, a little too old for college, but not 40s.

The studio seems smaller too. Pure Barre maxes out at 29 in a class. My class had about 16 and I felt the barre was pretty full. There are two barres, possibly longer than Pure Barre, which has four bars. The space is a little longer.

And class begins with marching in place. There's some arm work with the ball. And then the instructor says to do something in first position.

First position? I have no idea what this is. I've never take a dance class.

She explains it briefly as heels together toes apart in a V. She says first position a lot in this class. And second position. Which I guess is like first but more turned out? And she also calls out releves, which means something on your tip toes, she also calls out some plies, which I know vaguely what it is but not what I'm supposed to do. What are my knees doing? What are we working?

I've taken a month of barre classes, but the terms were confusing to me. I don't know what they are. Not everyone has taken dance.

The class had an arm section, which I really liked. We used the stretchy bands to work biceps, and did some arms with lunges and curtsy (does anyone know how to curtsy these days?). There were sections on the barre—seat work, which I always hate, and some open hip, toes to ceiling thing where I had no idea what to do. If your hip is open your leg is to the side not ceiling. There was the usual ball behind your knee part, where everyone drops the ball. I wasn't that impressed with the ab section. It was ball between your thighs, and lower and up with straight legs, that type of thing.

I got only one correction in arms. I needed to move my arms out with the band. So not so bad. The lady next to me seemed to be a new mom and she was really struggling with the workout. Really. She had Pure Barre 100 club socks on and I later heard her say she'd done a year at Pure Barre.

The class ended with some yoga style stretching. She called out some yoga style poses that I wasn't familiar with. She did call out Happy Baby, which I've heard of but don't quite know how to do.

Then class was over. I perused he boutique, which was nice, and ended up buying a top. (If I get a free class I usually feel compelled to buy something.) They were out of Sticky-B socks. I bought their last pair. I was really looking forward to those.

I wasn't completely wiped after the class. I ran errands for two hours, went home and walked my dog and then ran to stretch my legs out.

Pros: 
• Good arm section
•  Cute boutique
• Nice staff
• Childcare provided
•  Lots of parking (though you might have to hike)

Cons:
• I generally felt like more explanations were needed, but it's new and I've seen this happen with a lot of new instructors. (It's a new boutique. This will get worked out in time)
• I was hoping for it to be cheaper than Pure Barre, since that would be a big draw.
•  Above Barre also offers far fewer classes, 4 classes a day on most weekdays, 2 or 1 class a day on weekends, or about 20 classes a week. (Pure Barre offers 8 classes on weekdays, 2-3 on weekends, for a total of 43 classes a week).
Want a class before work? At lunch? Later than 5:30 p.m. so you don't have to rush like mad out of work and then get stuck in tragic? Above Barre doesn't have those offerings.

The instructor should explain things more. If she wants to appeal to dancers, the ballet terminology is great. If she wants a broader appeal, she should drop the ballet terminology. I wasn't that lost in the class—but I take a ton of classes. And I feel like she was teaching to someone even more hardcore than me. I'd be worried about novices.

Price comparison: Above Barre's pricing is almost identical to Pure Barre.
(Above listed first then compared to Pure Barre)

Single Class: $19 vs $21.
One month new client special, $99 vs $100.
Above Barre is currently extending this to six weeks unlimited to celebrate their grand opening. Pure Barre is doing 5 weeks for January.
Contracts: Pure Barre will occasionally offer 10% off their contracts

Three month contract:  $165 a month vs $170 a month

Six month contract: $160 a month for both
12 month contract, $150 a month for both
20 classes, $340 vs $320
10 classes, $180 for both

My Pure Barre membership is up Monday, so it would make a lot of sense to try this place out for six weeks. It would save me $75 or so. Maybe it's loyalty, but I just like Pure Barre better. They take you aside before class to make sure you know how to tuck, they tell you great job! when you leave. They try to learn your name. They explain more, which I'm realizing the importance of now. They tell you what body part you're working, explain the movement and give clarifications (don't move your knee across your chest, keep your head straight etc.) Also, I have more class options at Pure Barre.  If I did sign up for an AB membership, my only options would be 5:30 p.m. (which would be super stressful to get over there on time) or weekends.

Verdict: Great arms section. I could see myself going once a week for conditioning in addition to my running, climbing and tumbling and various other pursuits. But there's no real deal in going once a week. If I ever get tired of Pure Barre, I'd consider this.

There's definitely room for two barre studios in Athens. Pure Barre classes are always jam packed.

10 things I've learned after 10 classes of Pure Barre

1) Grippy socks are important. Wear them.

Pure Barre sells $12 black socks with colored grips on the bottom (pink, grew, purple, yellow, turquoise, blue)

It's hard to hold plank on carpet in normal socks. Wear the grippy socks and you've got a better chance of staying up.  Also, you can tell the new people by who wears their own socks. All the pros will be in black pure barre socks.

2) Everyone wears LuluLemon.
Pure Barre's unofficial sponsor of overpriced barre classes. Seriously, everyone wears Lulu. I see a girl in a super cute girl in a top that fits her perfectly and sure enough I see the little horseshoe. It's great advertising and the clothes are ridiculously cute.

3) Chair position while holding on to the barre is the worst. 
Okay, everything on the barre is the worst. The mirror might be there so you can see your grimace of pain.

4) Calf cramps are real. 
This is normal after your first few classes.
(Trick: You can roll out your calves with the red Pure Barre ball. Sit on the floor, weight on your hands, and place the ball under your calves and roll on it.)

5) Get to class early if you want a specific spot, in the back or in a corner. Usually the front has a spot or two, but the classes are full or close to it.

6) Seat means butt or ass.
The instructors won't say that a movement should come from your ass, she'll say seat. It's more zen that way, I guess.

7) They really want you to have fun with the hip thrusting at the end of class. And it gets really dark in the evening classes when the turn the lights out.

8) Pure Barre is full of pretty young things. The girls are (mostly) all 20-something, perfectly put together and beautiful. The instructors are all former dancers or cheerleaders and are drop dead gorgeous.  I don't know why more guys don't go just to ogle the girls in lululemon yoga pants.

9) It's a 10 count, not 8 count for a lot of the exercises. And I have never been so glad to get to 10 in my life.

10) It's OKAY if you get a correction from a teacher. That way you can do it better next time. It is not the end of the world. You want to get corrections so you do the exercise right and work what it was intended to work. 

Pure Barre Socks—best socks ever

The first time I went to Pure Barre I was pretty turned off by the socks. Ugh! I prefer to work out barefoot. It was also summer.

Now it's winter and I hate being cold. I'm starting to see the appeal of working out in socks.

I bought a pair of Pure Barre socks. It was kind of the lemming effect. Everyone in the class wears them and I didn't want to stick out. AND they were black and pink. My favorite color combination. So I spent $12.84 and worked out in Pure Barre socks.

They are pretty much the best socks ever. They are soft and warm. And if I work out in the morning I wear them all day. I quickly bought a second pair (in black and turquoise.) And then I wondered how many socks should I have to do Pure Barre?  Do people that go 5 times a week have 5 pairs so they only have to wash them once a week? I have some other grippy socks for other classes and I've been thinking about getting a few more pairs. I'd like the black in green, black and purple or black and white.

But I haven't been the only one mildly addicted. The stock of socks have been really low. A few days ago, there was just bright blue and yellow left. Last night when I went there were no socks left at all. The performance socks, which are $15, had been replenished, but I haven't actually asked what the difference in those socks are.

I do tend to slip on the socks when holding plank, so if they're stickier I might consider.

And apparently the socks are really a thing. You can tell the older members because they have colors not available anymore. Also, apparently when you finish 100 classes you get socks with red grips. You have to earn the red socks.

Also, the socks are so thick they take extra time to dry. Seriously, I had them in a load of laundry and everything was dry but my socks. I had to take all the laundry out of the dryer and just stick the socks in so they'd be dry enough in time for class.

The other downside: toe lint. These socks are so fluffy there's always lint on my toes afterwards.