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!)