barre3 Blends Yoga, Pilates and Ballet (and Madonna Does It!)

Sadie Lincoln developed barre3 as a blend of yoga, Pilates and ballet-barre training.

We once dreamed that Gwyneth Paltrow was our yoga buddy. But even in our dream, we were really excited by the prospect of possibly meeting her workout pal, Madonna, whose sculpted body inspired us to unroll a yoga mat for the first time more than a decade ago. During waking hours, of course, neither star is likely to call us. (Especially since we shamelessly used Gwyneth like that in our dream to get to Madge!) But we were eager to try a barre3 class — a blend of ballet-barre work, Pilates and yoga — which is rumored to be Madonna’s new fitness favorite.

Though barre3 founder Sadie Lincoln won’t comment on her famous client, she says the workout focuses on balance, strength and flexibility to create long, lean muscle. “The barre is a wonderful prop to lengthen and balance the body,” she says. “At barre3, we use the barre in unconventional ways and just about every month come up with a new barre3 innovation to deepen our practice and break plateaus.” Lincoln has 20 years of experience in teaching group exercise, including a 10-year role as an executive for 24 Hour Fitness. As Lincoln’s personal yoga practice developed, she also created a YogaWorks class called BarWorks.

While a few other workouts we’ve tried — such as The Bar Method, which we told you about this spring — also use the barre, Lincoln’s 60-minute classes are a bit different. “I draw on the philosophy and wisdom of yoga more than the Lotte Berk Method, which is a big inspiration for many other barre classes,” Lincoln says. In 2008, she opened her first barre3 studio in Portland, OR, with husband Chris Lincoln and Mark Mastrov, founder of 24 Hour Fitness. Currently, there are barre3 studio locations in Oregon and Washington, as well as the Philippines, with an additional franchise slated to open in Oklahoma City. Lincoln is also looking in New York City and Los Angeles for possible studio locations.

Lincoln notes that barre3’s spine-strengthening moves can combat age-related shrinking, which definitely caught our attention, since we can’t afford to lose much from our current 5-foot-2 height. After a recent class, we did indeed feel taller thanks to the mix of stretching, standing forms of downward-facing dog and chaturanga, core work and moves that reached deep into the arm and back muscles — as well as alignment work, of course.

Anyone can try the exercise at home with the barre3 Total Body Lift Workout 40-minute DVD ($19.99), which includes a FitBALL Mini. “All you need is a sturdy waist-high surface,” Lincoln says, as well as a mat and optional light hand weights. A rolled-up towel can substitute for a ball. The DVD begins with a warm-up leading to legwork, which we felt in our glutes and calves and included moves, such as the classic plié and a reach-and-pull motion called the carousel horse.

The floor part of the workout on the mat aims to create lean abs, and is followed by a yoga-inspired cool-down. The 40 minutes went by surprisingly quickly, but no time was wasted. Lincoln says several times during the course of the workout: “Every second counts in barre3.”

We’re going to add the barre3 DVD to our workout routine as a quick, effective toning method. Do you think barre workouts might be the next big thing?