7 November 2013 Raising the barre: Lincoln University offers new exercise programme

If you like the idea of training like a ballet dancer without all the stress, drama and back-stabbing of the Bolshoi, and if you’re feeling a bit too physically (yet not at all emotionally) attached to some inconvenient cellulite, then a new kind of exercise regime for ‘losing this’ and ‘tightening that’ might be just the answer.

In a New Zealand first, the Lincoln University Recreation Centre is offering Booty Barre classes, with last week seeing two taster classes run in the Centre’s fitness studio.

For the uninitiated, Booty Barre is a new form of group exercise that has seen significant success throughout the world with New Zealand now the 15th country to get the programme. It’s an upbeat kind of ballet that utilises the stationary handrail used in ballet warm-ups (the barre) and includes a wide range of techniques from pilates, dance and yoga.

The classes are being offered through the University’s Recreation Centre courtesy of Lyndal Woodham who spent time in Brisbane to qualify as New Zealand’s only certified Booty Barre instructor.

According to Lyndal it’s a form of exercise that caters to a wide range of fitness levels: “Booty Barre is open to almost anyone – from those new to exercise to the super-fit. It’s a fun workout that makes you feel like a dancer even if you’ve never danced in your life. Everyone will be challenged,” says Lyndal.

“The short, fluid movements you do throughout the workout help improve muscle tone, flexibility and balance. The class also involves using one’s own body weight, free-weights and resistance bands on the barre to build muscle. To get the heart-rate up, there’s some cardio blasts in there too. It’s fun, but be prepared to sweat and hurt!” she said.

The creator of the globally successful Booty Barre programme, Tracey Mallett, designed the programme in part to help busy mothers lose weight and increase fitness with simple, practical exercises. As a mother of four herself, Lyndal can vouch for the benefits of the programme: “The one hour classes particularly target abs, legs, back and butt. It’s an especially good form of exercise for women after childbirth.”

Anyone interested in joining a Booty Barre class can contact the Lincoln University Recreation Centre at (03) 423 0550.