Open House Day at Barre Toned, Notting Hill
What they say:
What I say:
A special open day combining fitness, friends and food... ok, so it was pretty much destined to be a dream ANYWAY, so here's what went down when I attended the awesome Open Day at top Barre stuido, BARREtoned, in Notting Hill.
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| Steph and I getting ready to get BARREtoned! |
What we did:
As with all my favorite fitness events, we kicked off the morning with a hardcore class - this time, Barre! Anyone who has followed my blog/instagram will know how much I love these dance inspired all-over body workouts, and BARREtoned certainly didn't disappoint.
Originally based on the Lotte Berk Method, BARREtoned have designed their 60 minute workout with promising results to produce visibily toned muscles and increase the body's ability to burn fat. High intensity, low impact, and a "work your butt off experience". Sounds good to me!
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| Cute sign on the wall |
Beginning on the floor with hand weights by our side, we kicked off the workout with an upper body strength section- whilst the 1-2kg weights didn't seem like much to begin with, by combining small isometric movements with a super high rep count, we sure as hell felt the burn!
After blasting the upper body, we all moved to the barre, where a series of plies, pulses, leg lifts and calf raises worked into the ankles, calves, glutes, ass... and pretty much every other lower body muscle you can think of.
Next up, we grabbed our mats to finish with an ab blaster - planks, bicycles, sit ups, Russian twists and leg raises.
Sounds awful, right? Wrong! Working to the bear of the music, the class was kept fun and lighthearted, and although each muscle was truly worked to exhaustion, with a good stretch after each round, it's no wonder it's claimed to be the perfect workout for longer, leaner, stronger muscles!
The studio:
As with all these boutique fitness studios, the facilities were top notch, and my love for a good changing room was fully fulfilled! Powerful showers, big fluffy towels, plenty of lockers and all the extra amenities you might need (deodorant, hair bobbles, moisturizer, shampoo, and even electrical applicances), BARREtoned certainly didn't let themselves down!
I was warned, once you've gone BARREtoned you'll never go back.... I'm beginning to understand why!
The Exhibitors
To compliment the class, as part of their Open Day BarreToned also invited some of their favourite brands to come and share their product. Here's my pick of the best!
Dynabites
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| Raspberry, Matcha and Chocolate to try. Chocolate definitely my fav - shock! |
YUS! A gluten free, dairy free, high in protein snack that actually tastes good! 100% natural with no additives or artificial ingredients, Dynabites were on hand sampling their delicious energy bars, now available to purchase at BARREtoned. It was a pleasure to meet and chat to the co-founder Susie Millen, a fitness instructor who saw a gap in the market for a nutritious snack she could carry around and consume on the go. With 90 calories, 6g of fat, 8g carbs and 5g of protein, they are most definitely one of the most balanced bars I have come across...and also one of the tastiest!
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| No wonder we're smiling - so tasty! |
Visit the website here to find out more and where you can purchase yours (Barry's Bootcamp, Paolo's BodyBarre and BARREtoned, just to name a few!)
Finest Fizz
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| FIZZ time! |
Guilt free Skinny Rosé champagne with a fraction of the calories, but the same alcohol level and delicious taste of the real stuff?? YES, dream world does exist, and it's no wonder the likes of Vogue, Tatler, Harpers Bazaar, Marie Claire, any many others, have featured Finest Fizz as the new go-to drink. With only 275 cals in the whole bottle, we celebrated our workout with a glass of bubbly...safe in the knowledge we weren't destroying ALL those hard burned calories!!
Find out more here.
Katherine Cakuls Manual Therapy
One of my real highlights from the event was getting the opportunity to meet Katherine Cakuls, NYC Manual Therapist who has recently relocated her practice to London, England. Offering free consultations for attendants on the day, in the short 15 minutes I had with her I was amazed at just how spot-on she was, and immediately booked in to see her for a full session at her Marylebone practice.
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| Anatomy |
With her hands-on gentle, yet effective, treatment, Katrine aims to work with the body to restore movement and removes physical and/or emotional blockages that can cause pains, aches and strains. After taking a full medical history, where I explained how a stress fracture in my femur had resulted in spinal pain and a slipped disc, she sat me up on the bed and began the physical treatments. Working with her hands over my body in an almost Reiki like manner to sense the energy flow, she then worked into areas of particular tension using a gentle massage and energy release.
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| Treatment bed |
Interestingly, she also pointed out some aspects that are likely to have contributed to to my pain - an off centre 'plumb line' that developed as I grew, asymmetrical weightbearing restriction in pelvis and, most interestingly, dental work that has caused misalignment in my jaw, affecting my whole alignment. Who knew my Invisalign treatment could have had such an impact on the whole body?! But it makes sense, as Katrine pointed out, our whole body is connected- so any tension drawing my mouth and jaw off centre, is naturally going to travel throughout the body.
Whilst she would usually recommend a few sessions over a period of the time, the goal of her treatment is to allow the body to naturally heal and regulate itself, meaning medical intervention becomes no longer necessary.
Check out her website here, http://www.kcmt.co.uk/, and if you are suffering from any of the numerous conditions she's listed, I'd highly recommend you give her a shot!
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