San Francisco 5-Star workout: the Bar Method

June 17, 7:03 PMSF Healthy Living ExaminerLani Muelrath

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The Bar Method signature seat work

by Lani Muelrath, M.A.

If you haven't had a chance to belly-up-to-the-bar Bar Method style, then grab your socks, simple stretchwear and water bottle to get yourself into one of Burr Leonard's studios for a workout experience unlike any other.

OK, I'll admit it, I've the soul of  a dancer and the Bar Method tickles all those fancies.  It's a workout that's as tough as an hour in Navy Seals boot camp yet has the uncanny power of leaving you feel centered, graceful, and exhilarated from the process. 

Bar Method Basics

The Bar Method™ ...combines the muscle-shaping principles of isometrics, the body-elongating practice of dance conditioning, the science of physical therapy and the intense pace of interval training into a powerful exercise format that quickly and safely reshapes...

Favorite Features:  Go for the burn

Getting a lot done in a little time is big on my list of what a good workout must do. The Bar Method workout builds intensity in a way that catches you by surprise quite early on.  

Targeting large muscles and their friends in compound movements, your body quickly warms and you can almost see the steam rising off your quads as you go for the quiver in thigh work. 

Which is soon followed by seat work.  

And upper body (weights, pushups) is not neglected.

Another favorite feature is the emphasis on building flexibility via stretching throughout the workout.   It has long been known that stretching a muscle after deep work accomplishes three things: 

1)  increases strength

2)  assists in shaping the muscle

3)  develops and maintains muscle elasticity and joint flexibility

Not one, but TWO Bar Method locations in San Francisco

In the Marina,  and downtown at the Embarcadero Center.  There are also studios in Marin (Greenbrae), San Mateo, Walnut Creek (where I lost my Bar Method virginity a couple of years ago), and San Ramon.  And that's just in the Bay Area.  For other studio locations nationwide, go to the Bar Method website.

None of these studios in your neighborhood? 

Get over it and find your way to one anyway.  It's worth the trip.