The Pacific Sun — Marin's Best Every Week
January 20-26, 2006

SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Start off the year by changing your exercise routine

By Joan Price

I didn’t know my derriere and thighs had so many little muscles!  All of them burned as I contracted them in small, precise movements in a jam-packed BAR METHOD class (Bon Air Center, Greenbrae, 415/461-4461, www.barmethod.com). 

“If you’re not shaking, go lower,” Cindy Root instructed.  I was shaking – balancing on my toes, lightly touching the ballet barre, thighs together, butt tucked forward, knees bent, lowering into a lower-body tremble.  Similar to Callenetics with elements of ballet, yoga and Pilates, this workout was created by a dancer who injured her back severely and didn’t want to lose her dancer’s body. 

When I compliment Root’s lean, tight physique, she says, “This is not my God-given body – I come from a family with hips and thighs.”  She has been in the former Body & Soul studio just over a year, and already has a loyal following who credit this workout with shaping their bodies in new ways.  A DVD two-pack of The Bar Method for home workouts, using a chair or barre, is also available at the studio.

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