Pure Barre

Challenging and fun workout with great instructors who are clear and will give you a lot of individual attention. The space is also very clean and comfortable.

I’ve been to this Pure Barre location, and for some reason, I just don’t get why people love it so much. Every time I’ve been, the instructors have lacked the ability to demonstrate/​explain what exactly you’re supposed to be doing. For a beginner and person who is not super comfortable going to group workout classes, it has been frustrating to feel so lost during the work out. There is such a tight-​knit community that attends the classes, I think they just assume everyone knows what they’re doing. I also feel very sore from the workouts the next day, so I must be doing something right, but I just don’t get the Pure Barre craze.

I have been going to this studio for 2 years and am still totally addicted to PB. I like that it is only 55 minutes (I also do hot yoga which is a much longer time commitment) but it hits every hard-​to-​target area in my body every time. If you try really hard to squeeze the muscle the instructor is telling you to squeeze, you will fatigue it to the point it’s shaking and see amazing results. Small movements are key, and that takes some practice to understand. The change in my body is amazing, especially in the back of my thigh and seat area. Give it 10 classes and you will start to really learn the technique and see how it works. It moves fast, but don’t be afraid to ask questions after class and the most important thing is to listen to the instructor and do your best! The community is wonderful too. I’ve made a lot of new friends from PB, everyone is so friendly and we are all there to support each other!

I’m a veteran of many barre classes including Dailey Method, Bar Method and Pure Barre in California. These classes are great — very challenging and worth the hour spent. It takes a while to learn the technique, but I haven’t felt «overcorrected «which is a pet peeve of mine in some of these studios. I only wish I lived closer or I would be there several times a week.

Pure Barre’s C-​ville studio is a 5-​minute walk from my boyfriend’s apartment, so I decided a few months back to splurge on a 5-​class package for when I visit him.
First thing I noticed upon walking into my first class — everyone looked the same (Lululemon and Pure Barre-​branded apparel from head-​to-​toe) and everyone knew each other. I immediately felt like an outsider. Without any welcome or introduction, the instructor immediately launched into the warm-​up exercises (which everyone seemed to know before she even gave instructions). She knew everyone’s name, but didn’t bother to ask mine.
During this class and subsequent classes, I got a lot of attention from the instructor for my inability to «tuck.» I’m sorry, but I’m not a former ballerina, and I have no earthly idea what «tuck» means. If you’re a fitness instructor, you should be able to explain the techniques of your particular workout in plain English, not just in frustrated sighs.
The workout itself was good, and sufficiently hard, but it did not get my heart rate up or my sweat pouring like I thought it would. I imagine you’d have to do Pure Barre a LOT, in combination with a sufficient amount of cardio, in order to see any meaningful results.
If you’re planning to do this frequently enough that you become a part of the in-​crowd (and you hopefully see results), then I would give it a go. For everyone else, just go on a run.

I have always been a bit skeptical about paying for an exercise class when I can go jogging for free, but a friend urged me to try Pure Barre with her, and I am so happy I did! I’ve only been going for a few weeks so I am still learning to properly do the exercises, but the teachers are patient and have happily answered all my dumb questions after class. And even though my technique is pretty bad still, my entire body still gets an intense workout. I’m a regular runner, but I didn’t even know I had muscles in some of the places that start to burn! Plus the music and constantly changing exercises make it fun. (The short warmup and arm work always follows the same routine, but the legs, seat, and abs exercises change up every class I’ve been to.)
One thing newbies might want to be aware of is that most of the 5:30pm classes and weekend classes I’ve been to have been somewhat crowded. If you want more individualized attention I’d recommend either the 6:35pm class or the morning/​afternoon sessions during weekdays.
Despite being on a tight budget I try to go twice a week — think it’s worth it to look and feel better.

I really want to love this Pure Barre franchise, I’ve taken classes at a few other studios, and the Cville location is lacking a bit. It is small and cramped, no separate changing area, just 2 bathrooms, so there the waiting room is super crowded and noisy between classes.
Class wise-​love the upbeat, fast paced music. The downside is that the last 5 classes in cville, I’ve attended, with 3 different instructors, were all the exact same class! No variations in the exercises, which is unusual and while still quite a challenge, for an advanced exerciser, it’s frustrating. The method changes bits of the exercises up every month, but the arm movements they throw in during seat and thigh are distracting. I go to pure barre for the hard seat/​thigh work, the arm movement are just a trick (that no one is believing) into getting clients to think it’s all new. That isn’t the studios fault though, it comes from HQ and HQ needs to do a much better job of making truely, new, challenging exercies. The classes are pricey, so I expect more for my money, but cville doesnt really have any other barre class options.
One of the instructors seemed either pretty green or bored, as if she was going through the motions.
Location of studio is very accessible and lots of class time offerings is fantastic!