KPIX-Channel 5 Eye on the Bay
October 10th, 2005

(Shows Burr Leonard teaching a Bar Method class) “Now lift and squeeze. Up, up, up-hold. Tuck under….”

Brian Hackney, Correspondent: Yoga and Pilates muscled their way into the Bay Area in the 1980s.

(Burr Leonard teaching) “Bring your free arm up. Pulse last 20. Two, three, four…”

Hackney: Now yoga mats and Pilates machines are being pushed aside for something called The Bar.

Leonard: This system was invented by a dancer who hurt her back and went to rehabilitative therapy, and then put her modern ballet bar exercises together with her rehabilitative therapy, and came up with this.

(Shot of Leonard teaching) “Now wiggle your knees, in, in…”

Hackney: The Bar Method is the latest exercise craze. It combines yoga, Pilates, and ballet.

Leonard: I’ve been an addict for 24 years. I’m 58 years old right now, and I still feel like a young chicken.

(Shot of Leonard teaching) “Five, six, seven!”

Hackney: Burr Leonard brought the workout to California in 2001.

(Shot of Leonard teaching) “Down, down, down and tuck.”

Hackney: Since then she’s opened four Bar Method studios in the Bay Area. Today, she’s teaching a class in San Francisco. Her one-hour workout involves small movements on the bar, floor work, and light-weight repetitions. Burr says the exercise balances strength training with stretching to elongate the body’s muscles.

Leonard: The Bar Method changes the body, and that’s its unique quality that makes it so exciting and fun, and is so inspiring for people. And the bar is what we work with to allow people to make those changes.

(Shot of Leonard teaching the class) “Now faster. Up, up. Keep looking down so you neck is long. Now hold it up and squeeze in, left to right, in, in, strengthening the muscles across your upper back.”

Lee Potter, Bar Method student: You hear a lot of people say, “Oh, my God, it’s so addicting. Which is kind of weird because it is somewhat torturous. I’ve lost 20 pounds over two years, and gotten a lot leaner and a lot stronger. I’m able to do the splits for the first time since second grade. (demonstrates her split)

Jann Dickerson, Bar Method student: I’ve lost about 20 pounds since I started.

Hackney: It’s not just women who are getting results. Don Craig is a faithful fan. He was Burr’s first San Francisco student.

Don Craig, Bar Method student: It’s tough. It’s really tough. It’s tougher than lifting weights, even though I know weights is tough. But it’s just the whole approach. The approach -- doing this and stretching -- is much different. I think it’s great. I really like it.

Laura Stein, co-owner of the San Mateo studio: It’s amazing. It’s low impact, but you get this really deep burn in your muscles. So everything’s shaking and burning. You feel like your thighs are going to explode, and then you stretch them all out, and you feel amazing.

Hackney: DVDs are also available for at-home workouts. (shows Burr teaching in one of the DVD workouts.)

Jann Dickerson: I come to class between work. I usually come around noon, or I start my day out with an exercise class so I’m totally invigorated.

Sharon Demko, Bar Method teacher: It’s really nice that they have the facility for kids because you just have an option to come and make it part of your day rather than have to make a special trip or have a babysitter at home just to get your workout.

Hackney: In her (15) years of teaching, Burr claims to have transformed thousands of bodies.

Leonard: Anybody can do it. You don’t have to be coordinated to do it. You can come into class and do something very specific for your muscles and change your body. And it’s simple to do because the bar is there to help you.

Hackney: The Bar Method is also offered in San Mateo, Greenbrae and Walnut Creek. And for more information, log onto cbs5.com/eyeonthebay.

<Back