Barre-gains: Fitness on the Cheap!

Over the past nine days I have taken three live barre classes. And I paid absolutely nothing. That's right--nothing. I think I've shared with you how cheap I am... cheap. And that my barre habit can be... expensive. So I've made it my mission to troll around and find the best deals on classes and video workouts, and now I'm bringing this veritable treasure trove of information to you. FREE!

You're welcome.

Of course, I should mention that I live in a pretty happy place for barre accessibility. The Boston area has lots (and I mean LOTS) of barre classes available. I've only begun to scratch the surface. And lots of choice means lots of competition which means DEALS.

Here are a few ways to get your lalalas for less:

New Client Deals

Everyone knows the hardest part is getting people in the door, so most studios offer deals for new clients. Physique 57 has a buy-one-get-one for newbies, Pure Barre in my area offers new clients one month unlimited for $100, but some studios give you your first class FREE. Last Saturday I took a BarFusion^tm   (yes, it's trademarked) class which is offered at a local pilates studio. FREE!

New Studios

Scout out new gyms and studios--they usually offer enticements to get the word out. I have a week at a new Equinox gym near me. FREE! Tonight I'm off to a pre-opening special at a new Pure Barre studio. FREE! Last weekend I took a Bar Method class taught by a trainee instructor. FREE!

Did I mention these were FREE?!

How do you find out about these sweet deals? Research--scour the studio's website. Sign up for email alerts, 'like' their page on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and Instagram (follow me while you're at it--@stephaniehsiang on Twitter and @momsatthebarre on Instagram.)

Ask -- nicely

I've mentioned before the value of ask-and-you-just-might-receive. Last fall I asked the nice lady at Core Fusion if she'd please-oh-please revive a long expired sweet deal... and she said YES! So it's always worth it to ask. Politely. I've gotten all kinds of perks in life from asking nicely. The worst they can say is 'no.' And they just might say 'yes!' And that is money in your pocket.

Contests!

This is a viable means of supporting your habit. I posted about entering contests back in December. I had won second place in a Physique 57 Instagram contest. They were going to give me a portable ballet barre, but I wrote and asked if I could have some free classes instead, since I already have a barre. They said YES! So those classes I mentioned over Christmas? FREE.

Oh yeah, I also won the Ballet Physique contest I mentioned in December--no classes since they're out in Colorado, but they gave me their awesome video downloads and a bag of treats!

Look! Cute t-shirt, headband, yummy barre bar and... grippy socks!!



On Superbowl Sunday I entered a couple more photo contests with my darling children.

I had to pay DS1 a quarter to cooperate, but it was well worth it, because I won one of them. Now I have a week unlimited pass to a local Pure Barre studio. FREE! (Oh yeah, and since I won, I gave him a $1 bonus. So I guess it wasn't exactly free, but still... Having cute children in photo contests really helps, so it's important to keep the talent happy.)

FREE is awesome, but at some point, you have to pay something. This is when you turn to Groupon, Gilt City, Rue Lala, Amazon Local, Classivity and the like. I'm kind of new to these types of promotions, but a woman was just telling me she tried a class at a local studio for peanuts, so this is a great way to get in door. I just bought a Groupon for Barfusion^tm classes--a steal at $5.50 per class.

I should mention that many of these deals require you to be a new client. There's only so much milk you can get for free before you have to buy the cow. But while I have my favorites, really, I've never met a barre class I didn't like, so I can go for a while on newbie deals.

But what if you're not in such a plush environment for live classes? The same rules apply to online classes. I'm not a huge fan of streaming classes, simply because I find my internet connection sometimes freezes, and if the small people are around, they like to push buttons and that's just not helpful. But if you have decent internet and don't need to wrestle your device from hot little hands, streaming classes are a great option.

The same rules usually apply--there are free trials on a number of sites for new clients. Yogavibes.com has live Core Fusion classes and they offer the first two weeks for free!

Youtube has tons of free classes. Not all of it is on the up-and-up so I'm not going to post any links, but some are entirely legit. Like Jessica Smith. Try her out.

Suzanne Bowen is another barre instructor with a huge library of workouts with a free trial offer. If you like it, the monthly fee is very reasonable. I found them a wee bit dry, but Suzanne is lovely. The workouts are solid, and Suzanne is big on stretching. What's not to love about that?

Another great site I found is booyafitness.com. Booya offers a new workout each day from different boutique studios in New York City. You can sign up for access to the daily workout for free, or for a small fee, you can tap into the entire video library.

Really, the options online are practically endless. May your thighs burn... and not your wallet!

In It to Win It

I've started entering contests. Barre studios, fitness-related businesses, blogs more famous than mine, they have contests. I've typically not bothered because really, I never win anything, so why try? But of course, if you don't try, you're guaranteed never to win anything. So I'm trying.

Usually these contests involve sharing something on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. You know, you promote them, they reward you with the lure of free stuff. Well, I'll play the game. I need to find a way to support my habit, so sure, I'll retweet something for ya.

Here's what I'm in the running for at the moment:

• Two months of unlimited classes at my local Pure Barre. (Can you see the drool? Yes, that's drool, not sweat.)

• Five free classes at Physique 57 and a portable ballet barre. (Oh please. How fun would this be?? I'm driving through NYC at Christmas time. If I win this, Darling Husband is going to actually have to buy me a Christmas present.)

• A bag of treats from The Ballet Physique, a boutique studio in Colorado that put out a couple of fine barre DVDs last year. I'll review them one of these days. I'm hoping I'll win and get some cute BP grippy socks. Surely a bag of treats from a barre studio would include grippy socks?

A lot of these contests are just luck-of-the-draw, which means I can't rely on my wit and charm. Though some of the contests have required some degree of effort. For the Physique 57 contest, I had to take a picture of myself doing one of their moves during my Thanksgiving travels. I dragged the boys downtown to the Public Garden and made them kneel down on the cold, hard ground by the Make Way for Ducklings sculpture. It was quite literally freezing and they were thoroughly confused as to why we were kneeling and cheering by the ducks. "We're trying to win a contest! Yay!" Darling Son #1 loves winning, so he was in. Darling Son #2 was just along for the ride.

 They're good sports, my boys.

  

In the past I never would have entered contests because I just didn't air my workout for everyone to see. I was a workout-behind-closed-doors-with-the-shades-drawn type of person. I was afraid I'd look stupid or people would make fun of me. I was afraid, and it just wasn't my schtick to be really out there about my workouts. Or other things, for that matter. You have to remember I'm not from the generation that tells the world what I'm having for breakfast, what I just bought on Amazon or see how long my toenails have gotten? Here's a picture on Instagram!

And that brings me to the hardest part of this contest entry--Instagram. I had to figure out how to set it up and post pictures and what on earth does the hashtag do?? I still don't know, but I did it and now I'm on Instagram. #howcoolamI? (You can follow me @momsatthebarre. Or on twitter @stephaniehsiang.)

So now my blog is two months old. If the blog were a person, it would lift it's head off the blanket for a few seconds and plunk it back down again, but I've learned a lot in the past two months. Honestly, it can be hard to put yourself out there. I push 'publish' and have a little panicky moment... what if people think it's stupid? What if it's not funny? What if it's funny when it really shouldn't be? What if people see that picture of me and wonder why, with all the exercise I do, are my thighs not thinner? And so on. And so forth, etc.

But really, I'd say the blog has been worth the trouble so far. Even if no one reads it, or finds it helpful, or funny. Because I've realized there are sort of two kinds of people. There are those who go out and do things, and there are those who sit on the sidelines and whine about never winning anything. I've often been among the latter, but with my blog, I'm entering the world of the former. It's just my little blog, but I'm doing something, my own little thing that's fun and entertaining for me. And I'm entering contests, not to mention the 21st century of social media.

Ever since the frozen ducks photo shoot, Darling Son #1 periodically asks, "Did you win?" You know what? I just received some happy news! I didn't win the Physique 57 grand prize. (The winner got her whole family in the mix, including her husband who I'll admit had a very funny look on his face. I should have made DH get down with the ducks.) But they liked my picture so much they're giving me a prize, too! I'm getting a portable ballet barre! I actually already have a ballet barre, but that's ok. The point is I entered! And I even won something! From my happiest place on earth! Yay! 

What about you? Are you a sideliner? Or are you playing the game? Winning has turned me into such a deep thinker...





Barre Crawl: Core Fusion

Back in July, I took my first class at exhale Core Fusion (yes, the lowercase 'e' in exhale is how they write it. Very e.e. cummings, no?) Core Fusion was founded back in 2003 by Elisabeth Halfpap and  Fred DeVito, a wife-husband duo who worked at the venerable Lotte Berk Method studio in New York for many years, along with my girl Tanya Becker from Physique 57. The Lotte Berk studio was dying on the vine by that point, so Fred and Liz branched out to join forces with exhale spas to offer barre-fusion classes based on the Lotte Berk technique.

Fred and Liz putting CFers through their paces



Going downtown to Core Fusion is a bit of a schlepp, but once you're there, it's a lovely experience. It's an event--something for which I feel I should don a pillbox hat and white gloves, except that is obviously not the most functional garb for working it.

One of the nice things about Core Fusion is they offer different types of classes. In addition to traditional barre, they have classes called 'cardio,' 'sport,' 'bootcamp' and a variety of yoga options (things called 'chill' and 'power yoga.') They also have specialty classes like 'thighs and gluteals' and advanced barre.

Back in July I took a barre class while DH brought the small people over to ride the Swan Boats in the Public Garden. Everyone was happy.

The class was traditional barre, no surprises in terms of types of exercises. It didn't produce a huge cardio effect, but it was excellent strength training. The class was led by Back Bay studio manager Denise, whose cueing and instruction were excellent. The class was small and they had a floater along with Denise correcting form and offering encouragement, so there was a lot of personal attention. The other women in the class were very friendly and the whole place had a lovely vibe. I left with the major post-workout 'lalalas.'

About a week later, I received an email from Denise with a limited-time offer. Oh my, holy sweet deals, Batman. (You know how I feel about a deal.) However, you may have heard my primal scream when I realized DH was going to be out of town for the duration of the offer, along with all our babysitters. I hate to beg favors off friends and neighbors unless it's for a doctor's appointment or an emergency trip to the Children's Hospital.

I was tempted to do it anyway, and just send the small people to the Public Garden with a wad of cash for Swan Boat rides and ice cream, but given that they were only five and two years old, it seemed like kind of a bad mother thing to do. So, I had to let this beautiful deal pass me by.

Just the other day, I decided to send Denise a could-I-still-get-the-deal-pretty-please-with-sugar-on-top email. Couldn't hurt to ask, right? And guess what?! She said YES! One-time-special-favor type offer. I'm filled with warm, fuzzy feelings towards Core Fusion, and I have exciting new classes coming my way. I can feel the lalas setting in already....

Core Fusion's home base is New York (of course), but they also have two locations here in Boston, as well as several other cities, including one on the resort island of Turks and Caicos. (All very posh locations--welcome to the wonderful world of barre.) If there isn't a CF near you, they have a number of DVDs. I have done a few of them and honestly, they don't quite light me up. There are some on hulu.com, so you could try them out and see what you think.

Alternatively, subscribers to yogavibes.com can access not only lots of yoga 'practices,' but also some live CF classes! That's money, people. The live classes are great. I subscribed to yogavibes a few months ago to do the CF classes alone and they were awesome. Yogavibes offers a free 15-day trial, so you can check it out risk-free, AND they offer subscribers a FREE class at an exhale Core Fusion studio.

On Friday I'm scheduled for a Core Fusion Cardio class. I'm not going to lie--I'm a little scared, especially since I'm bellying up to the Pure Barre bright and early tomorrow morning. Basically, I'm having my turkey sandwiched between two barres. I can't think of anything better. Lalalala.....