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I love barre class. Hot barre, specifically. It’s super low impact, a great workout, and utilizes ballet moves that bring me down memory lane to when I was in legitimately good shape from dancing six times a week and not binge drinking on a random Wednesday night.
Every class is fun and follows the same basic formula: a handful of female 20-somethings, all clad in Lululemon file into the room, the instructor cranks up the heat and flips on the purple mood lighting, and after 55 minutes of Nicki Minaj remixes, you leave drenched in sweat and feeling accomplished.
I thrive on this kind of predictability after the work day. Is it the epitome of basicness? Sure. But I choose to embrace it because to me, there is nothing better than ending my Monday with a tiny blonde woman yelling at everyone to point their toes. I know exactly what to expect and how to do it—a luxury that certainly isn’t extended in the workplace.
That is, until this week.
Decked out in a South Carolina sorority formal t-shirt, basketball shorts and a Washington Nationals baseball hat, a guy walked into our barre class. I assumed he was lost or maybe trying to bring a forgotten water bottle to his girlfriend. But instead, he pulled out a mat and a pair of pink weights, ready to go.
Needless to say, I was shook. My predictable little world went up in flames and for the next 55 minutes, I stared in amazement at this poor man attempting to kick his leg above his head and go deeper in his squats.
Don’t get me wrong—we’ve had guys join our class from time to time. Hell, I’ve even had a male barre instructor. But they’ve always been more of the “Yaaasss Queen” type of men. It made me wonder, what motivates a presumably straight guy to spend an hour of his time subjecting himself to J Lo and Pitbull mashups and isolated hip thrusts?
Obviously, my first guess would be some sort of weird couple’s activity with his girlfriend. But since he showed up alone, that pretty much ruled that scenario out. Perhaps it was an especially brutal punishment for the loser of his March Madness group? But there was no photographic evidence to document the occasion, so that seems unlikely as well. Or maybe he just wanted to switch up his usual workout routine.
First of all, props to this man for being very secure in his masculinity. Barre is the best, but it takes a lot to walk into that room on Day 1, even as a woman. I would be petrified to venture over to the weight-lifting area of the gym alone, and I imagine the feeling is the same.
Being intimidated at the gym is the absolute worst and a big reason why a lot of people never go in the first place. At the end of the day, we’re all working out to look and feel better. The pressure of swimsuit season is upon us and with the warm weather making it impossible to say no to day drinking, it’s a lot harder to drag yourself to the gym when everyone else is having 2-for-1 margaritas on a rooftop. Making that experience as fun as possible is important, and if that means more guys start showing up to barre class, I say the more the merrier.
So shout out to you, random guy. If you decide to come back (and I hope you do) be sure to bring a few friends and snag the spot next to me..
Image via Business Insider / YouTube
Respond
It’s not that hard to figure out, he’s trying to slay.
If you want to slay a dragon you have to go to their lair.
This guy looks at the dudes hanging out at the smoothie place across the street from Barre and says “you guys are amateurs.”
Sutton’s Law
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton%27s_lawhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton%27s_law
The law is named after the bank robber Willie Sutton, who reputedly replied to a reporter’s inquiry as to why he robbed banks by saying “because that’s where the money is.”
This seems like something that would be in your Playbook
Can’t wait for next weeks article “thoughts I have on the guy I banged from my barre class”.
100% guarantee if this price was written by Quinn Truflais
This guy must have the balls of an elephant. I’m not sure I could mosey on into an all female workout class that involved ballet moves. Respect.
He’s probably doing it to recruit for his Satantic cult because they tend to love women who can bend over backwards and are flexible to have their heads spin a full 360 degrees arou……lol
Respect to this guy. I thought I was ballsy going to an all girl yoga in college that was led by a guy who took Tony Horton yoga and amped it up. This guy just took it to a whole ‘notha level
Props to this guy for real. Someone who doesn’t feel intimidated by likely being the least flexible guy in the class and therefore the worst in class is pretty impressive. Guys, barre is an amazing work out. You don’t know what you’re missing. Also, there tends to be an “introduce yourself to your neighbor” bit at the start of work out classes so if hot yoga didn’t make a girl look so red faced and sweaty it would be a good in.
I’ve thought about doing this at yoga classes as a way to pick up women. But I always chicken out because I have zero flexibility, also I’d feel really awkward being there. Props to this guy for giving zero fcks.
Just do it. I’ve dated a yoga instructor and barre instructor. Just take different classes until you find a good looking teacher, chat her up after different classes, then ask her out for drinks one night. Literally, not figuratively, no single guys take those classes and they love it when one does.
While I’m not the guy in this story (Dawgs > Cocks) I have been to a barre class. For the better part of two years I thought a barre class was a bar workout, as in a workout involving a metal bar with plates on either side, instead of doing the intelligent thing and check to see if thats what it was I just went and signed up for a class. By the time I figured out I was incorrect I was way to far down the rabbit hole to turn tail and run.