ABC7 News San Francisco, View from the Bay:

AUGUST 6, 2007
Janelle Marie reporting in front of the Bar Method at 3333 Fillmore Street in San Francisco:

Janelle (speaking to the camera):
Have you heard about the Bar Method? Not that Bar Method. You go to this bar to sculpt your body into a new form, kind of a cross between Pilates and yoga but more intense. I friend told me about it, and I had to check it out.

(The camera shows a Bar Method class in progress, then cuts to Janelle and Burr)

Janelle:
All right, so I’m in the studio with Burr Leonard. I just want to tell our viewers first before we start talking about the Bar Method: Burr is going to be 60 years old. Can you believe that? This woman is going to be 60. Unbelievable. Congratulations. I bow down to you. That is amazing. So the Bar Method really works.

Burr:
It really works.

Janelle:
So tell us what the Bar Method is. I know a little bit about it from friends of mine, but now I need to know, what is the Bar Method?

Burr:
Well, it’s a workout that just gives you a better result than other workouts that are available. It adds the element of intensity. It not only strengthens your muscles and gives you strong abs, sometimes a six-pack --maybe on girls a four-pack -- but it’s also a form of interval training, so it gives you a good aerobic workout. It burns lots of fat, and it’s fun, and it’s challenging. It gives you lots of lactic acid build-up, which is turning out to be a very healthy thing for you to do. It’s good for your organs. It makes them pink. It’s good for your skin. It makes you look youthful. Secondly we emphasize the muscles in the back of the body. We’ve lost some contact with the muscles in our backs: the triceps, the glutes, the hamstrings, the calf muscles, the muscles under your shoulder-blades. So we put particular emphasis on those muscles, not just working them out, but teaching the students how to feel them and function with them.

Janelle:
Different from Pilates because?

Burr:
Well, Pilates focuses on the small muscle groups. Abs are actually paper thin. The Bar Method focuses on the abs but also mainly on the largest, deepest muscle groups, your quads, your glutes, your shoulder muscles. So it’s a much more all-inclusive, deeper workout for that reason. And it keeps the heart rate high, unlike Pilates.

Janelle:
So yoga: What’s the difference between yoga and the Bar Method? How is it better?

Burr:
We actually have a lot of yoga built into the class, but we use the stretches slightly differently from yoga. We first work the muscle to total exhaustion so that it’s shaking and very warmed up and ready to stretch, and then we add the yoga stretch, which has the added benefit of not only elongating the muscle but also releasing it from the contracting it has just been doing. So you get a much more cut looking body than you do from yoga.

(Cut to the studio)

Janelle:
Burr’s going to show us some of the main exercises from the Bar Method, the ones that are kind of unique and different. So first, what are you going to show me?

Burr:
Thigh-work.

Janelle:
Thigh-work. Okay.

Burr:
You know, when we evolved from the apes, we grew longer legs. So most of our muscle mass is in our legs, and so if you want to lose weight, you got to work your legs. Let me get you set up.

Janelle (holds onto the bar):
Okay.

Burr:
Rest your free hand on your waist. Raise high on the balls of your feet. This position has the added benefit of gripping your knees with your calf muscles, and supporting them as you do the exercise.

Janelle:
Okay.

Burr:
Bend your knees forward (Janelle does so). Now when students do this, they have to properly warm up. So assume that we’re warmed up.

Janelle:
Okay.

Burr:
Drop your tailbone. Relax your back, and hold.

Janelle:
Hold it? For how long?

Burr:
Okay, do you want to start to just do a little bit more?

Janelle:
Okay.

Burr:
Down an inch -- keep your back vertical -- and up an inch.

Janelle (follows directions):
Whoo!

Burr:
This also has the benefit of teaching the body to keep itself vertical in a moment of challenge.

Janelle:
Oh yes.

Burr:
A little faster. Down an inch and up and inch. Keep your heels high.

Janelle:
Okay.

Burr:
Allow your legs to begin to shake.

Janelle:
Yeah. They are.

Burr:
That’s called “endurance tetany.” Again, another beneficial element to the Bar Method.

Janelle:
Wow!

Burr:
Okay, I’ve got you to a point where you’re feeling it, so I’m just going to have you hold a last 8 counts.

Janelle:
Am I in the right position?

Burr:
The end is always fun and dramatic because you have to bring out the action figure hero in you.

Janelle:
Wow!

Burr:
Five, six, seven, eight, release.

Janelle:
Whoo!

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