IN TOWN MAGAZINE
April, 2008

Alas, we’re not talking exercising at a watering hole (that fitness trend has yet to catch on).  The “bar” we’re talking about is the Bar Method, a combination yoga/Pilates/strength-training regimen that is so named because it incorporates a ballet barre.  Developed by German-born dance instructor Lotte Berk in the 1960s, it didn’t become mainstream until 2001, when a Berk student, Burr Leonard, refined the method and brought it to California (Kyra Sedgwick, Drew Barrymore, and the Olson twins are said to be fans.)

Jane Culliford (above), who was trained by Leonard, began teaching it at her Rye Ridge studio early this year and, so far, is the only person in Westchester offering Bar Method classes.  “I think it’s catching on, because women are seeing results so fast,” she says.  “I had one woman tell me she hadn’t seen her triceps like this in over 20 years.”

Each class is composed of eight or nine strengthening exercises that work muscles to total exhaustion, followed by stretches.  Culliford says the program has helped flatten her abs and elongated her legs.  “I knew, once people came in and tried it, they’d love it,” she says.  “I’ve been an athlete my whole life and have done it all: yoga, Pilates, triathlons, swimming, and this is by far the best one-hour, full-body workout I’ve ever done” ($25 a class, 32 Rye Ridge Plaza: Rye Brook; 207-7798: barmethod.com). 

Jeanne Muchnick