Okay…so mentioning that I don’t exercise much would be an understatement. I do walk every day with George but not far enough or often enough to really be considered exercise. I blame it on being too busy which is true…but I should MAKE time to strengthen my body and keep it healthy! My other excuse is a really bad back…from 2 separate injuries in my twenties but again, even though I’m afraid of hurting my back, I would probably help the darn thing if I would spend some time strengthening my core.
So in walks Deb Perlstein. Actually I walked in to a Virginia Rice Jewelry Designs party at our mutual friend Leslie’s house back in the fall. The girls were talking with Deb about her fabulous classes at Pure Barre. Deb invited me to come anytime to check it out. Of course I knew I should but the “too busy” and “bad back” excuses were like the proverbial “devil on my shoulder” that kept talking me out of it. For some strange reason the angel on the other shoulder kept having me run into Deb. I saw her out and about and was starting to really consider checking out one of her classes. Pure Barre has always advertised on our Aha! Connection so when I heard from the previous owner, Sarah, that she was selling the business I figured I may have lost my chance to check it out. Well, lo and behold, the next thing I know Deb Perlstein has bought Pure Barre and is asking me again to please come check it out!
So I finally went yesterday and took my friend Annemarie with me! I was thinking that I should sit down right afterwards and write this article when I was euphoric from a great workout. But I was running behind my zillion things to do list and waited until this morning. And now I’m so sore that I can hardly bend over to fasten George’s leash for our morning walk! I’m getting too long winded here so let me explain to you what Pure Barre is like….my husband thought it was a place to have cocktails so I thought maybe some of y’all are confused too!
First of all you walk in and take your shoes off. Socks are a requirement and everyone but Annemarie and I were equipped in cool black socks with sticky stuff on the bottom. She and I were wearing white ones and were slip sliding away at times but that can be easily corrected! I was thrilled to see several familiar faces and thankfully one sweet girl was working out near me and did her best to keep me (an uncoordinated, backwards, lefty) in sync with the group. Everyone grabs a small red rubber ball and these strappy band things. It’s kind of hard to explain but basically the entire hour is spent following Deb’s instructions for stretching and doing other small movements with your muscles. You squeeze the ball between your legs for many of the exercises and use the bands for others….you end on the mat doing some intense albeit relaxing stretching. There are mirrors on all 4 sides and ballet “bars”. I really liked the exercises at the bar because I was so thankful for the added help with stability for my shaking legs! At some point during the hour I looked at Annemarie and said “Deb is the devil!” My legs and abs were burning so much that I couldn’t complete some of the exercises but Deb promised me that is normal for a newcomer. I really feel like I got a great workout without hurting my back or knees. High impact aerobics are not for me but I can see how this low impact but very intense workout could become addictive.
I definitely want to try it again and would love to believe that this is something that will STICK with me and that I can make part of my routine. All the girls in the class were raving about the “New Client Special” which means that you pay $100 and can go as many times as you want for one month. They tell me this helps you figure out how committed you are so that once you decide to stick with it you’ll know which package to purchase later! I haven’t studied all that….I just hope I can garner up the strength to head back in there in the next few days! Maybe I’ll see you there!
Here are some helpful links if you want to find out more:
What to expect your first class!
Learn about Deb Perlstein’s story
Contact Pure Barre Dunwoody and/or view their website
(Disclaimer- Annemarie and I went to this class as Deb’s guest but this article is not a paid advertisement. Deb Perlstein actually has no idea that I have written this article and will only see it once it is published.)
