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Angie Omata

Co-Founder / Creative Director at simplyWORKOUT

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Boutique fitness studios are oftentimes our havens, our second homes, our happy places.  Especially during unprecedented times like these, when we are unable to head to the barre, mat or bike, we recognize the importance of our fitness communities and studio cultures so painstakingly created by our favorite instructors and owners.  

Here is an interview with Michelle Keraus – owner of Pure Barre Zona Rosa.  (Please note that this interview was conducted prior to recent events).

Congrats on opening your studio! What led you to this point of starting your business?
I started Pure Barre as a client back in 2013. I was obsessed. I also couldn’t afford it… so I became a teacher. Becoming a teacher quickly transpired into wanting more. I could see the transformations that were happening to clients all around me – not only physically, but mentally. I wanted to share this transformative workout with the world! The best way to spread the word was to open a studio of my own! I couldn’t wait to watch a new community embrace barre as it’s new favorite {healthy} addiction.

Community is so important when it comes to boutique fitness. What type of culture are you looking to establish, and how do you set the tone?

This is maybe the coolest part of boutique fitness that I wasn’t even ready for. These women show up day after day after day… sometimes not even because they want to, but maybe because another client – who is now a new friend – is celebrating a milestone or just needed a buddy to meet them there for motivation. Our community is one for the history books – I’m sure of it. We share the good, the bad and the ugly. We sweat together, we celebrate together and we cry together. Every one of our clients knows that there is a safe space inside of our studio that is available for whatever they need it to be on any given day. Pure Barre is more than a workout. It’s a community and it’s therapy. Drop your day at the door, and maybe (most likely), you won’t need to pick it back up on your way out.

Barre is all about form and the signature move, “the tuck”. How do you describe this movement, and what are the benefits?

Ooh. The {ever-elusive} Tuck. New clients often ask if it’s a Kegel exercise. So, I mean, it can be. If you want it to be. But not really LOL! We like to say that a tuck is bringing your hips up into your ribs. Contracting your core and working down into your inner thighs. It takes the arch out of your lower back and creates a neutral spine (which also protects your back from injury!). It’s also known as a “heavy tailbone”. Think about pointing your tailbone down to the floor…. now contract your abs while doing so. There you have a tuck! You can literally tuck anywhere… I usually do it while I’m driving and a great song comes on 😉

In your opinion, with so many workout options out there, why barre?
There are SO many workouts out there. So, so many. So I say, find something you love and go all in. If you’re looking for a low-impact workout that delivers quick and real results – then barre is your gal. Pure Barre has created a 50-minute workout (actually, now 3 different workouts) that get these results. It’s almost instant really, if you think about the mental strength that you need to focus on you and only you for almost an hour. It’s almost impossible to think about anything else while taking a class – focus and body awareness are a must to get the most out of each and every class. If you go all in – you’ll see changes in your body by class 10. I always encourage everyone to take measurements after class one and then again in 30 days. Lost inches is what we look for in barre. Get off the scale. Look at how your jeans fit. How that little black dress fits. How you feel in your skin. That’s what we focus on and celebrate in barre. The mental toughness and confidence boost is an added perk that no one even realizes they needed – until they have it. I can honestly say that I’ve watched Pure Barre change lives. I know it’s changed mine.

What do your new clients need to know before they walk into their first class?
1. Don’t be nervous. So many people are afraid of group fitness classes. I can promise you with the utmost certainty – no one is watching you. And as teachers, there’s never any judgement. We’ve already mentally applauded you for just showing up for yourself. By doing that – you’ve already won the day.

2. We have everything you need for class. All you have to bring is yourself. And your favorite pair of leggings because muscles like to stay warm throughout class and no one needs to see what you’re sporting under your shorts (barre positions can be quite revealing sometimes! LOL!). We also workout in socks – we prefer the sticky bottomed kind (and sell them in the studio’s boutique) but really, any socks you have will be fine for your first class.

3. Shaking legs are changing legs! LOL! We embrace the shake around here. We tend to work one muscle group at a time during class. We work that particular muscle to the point of exhaustion – this often causes shaking muscles! That’s the goal! That’s the end game! Once we have exhausted an entire group of muscles, we will break to stretch them all out – working to create those long, lean muscles that you are looking for.

4. We don’t expect you to be perfect. Or good even. That’s what your teacher is there for. Pure Barre teachers don’t workout with you – this is so we can focus all of our energy on you and your technique. We want to make sure that you get the most out of your workout and also don’t want anyone injuring themselves. So we will demo every exercise and give you verbal cues as we circulate the room with hands on corrections and modifications – because one size does not fit all in exercise.

5. Speaking of modifications, you do you boo! Something isn’t working for your body or doesn’t feel right? You do what feels good. Work to your own level. Take breaks when you need them – do NOT try to keep up with the veteran clients on day one. Again. No judgement. Never criticism. Just encouragement to do your best and keep pushing past your comfort zones.

Special Thanks to Michelle Keraus, Founder of Pure Barre Zona Rosa!

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