Two weeks ago, I was invited to a barre class at my school's wellness center. I had no clue what to expect. Maybe we would gracefully move our bodies and act like dancers? I had no clue that the next 55 minutes would be the best and worst of my day.

First things first, you're probably wondering what the heck barre class is! Well, Sadie Lincoln, founder of barre3 fitness says it best: "Most barre-based classes use a combination of postures inspired by ballet and other disciplines like yoga and Pilates. The barre is used as a prop to balance while doing exercises that focus on isometric strength training (holding your body still while you contract a specific set of muscles) combined with high reps of small range-of-motion movements."

So for the most part, you see everyone else doing these workouts and you probably wouldn't even call them a workout...until you get behind the barre. My first class was the most painful and grueling experience ever. I used muscles I didn't even know I had and worked out forgotten ones as well. Quickly into the class, I started to feel "the shake." This term is used by just about everyone who is a barre regular and it literally means that your legs, arms, or entire body begins to shake due to the amount of exercise you are performing. You start to feel like spaghetti and Jell-O, but it's just a short amount of time left so you decide to push through. In the moment, you may feel like you may not make it to then end of the workout, but I promise you will.

After my first barre class, I couldn't walk normally for three days. My legs, my glutes, my arms, my abs, my everything was sore. And that's when I knew I was addicted. Most people say they start to see results in eight days, and I believe it! Technically I've only done five so I can't attest to that, but I plan on doing barre all throughout the summer!

Still not convinced? Some of the benefits of barre workouts are weight loss, improved posture, muscle definition, increased flexibility and can reduce stress. It's low impact so if you have an injury, your barre instructor will work with you to find the best barre exercises for what you need! Another awesome thing about barre classes is that you don't have to be a dancer, flexible, or even physically fit! I've seen such a wide variety of body types and ages at the barre, from 12 year olds to 60 year olds!

So get off your butts and get to the barre. Take a friend, your mom, grandma, daughter, husband, and/or boyfriend; it's always more fun that way! It only takes one class and you're hooked, so just try it out! And if you want to see what a barre class looks like before you show up for your first day, check out this YouTube video by clicking the picture below!