#hitthebar

Since moving back to Israel this summer i hadn't done any barre (i know- the things you give up for a sunny country). However, the return to the barre was meant to be seamless, i had been a habitual barre goer and nearly perfected the pulse, but it seems that a couple of barre-less months had returned me to my newbie stage.

The vibe: If you haven’t yet been to exhale, then seriously what you waiting for? Exhales dim lit studio, gives you this sense of serenity and warmth. Being that exhale offers spa treatments as well as classes, you get the added advantage of walking into a lavender scented studio and incredible smelling spa products waiting for your end of class (and a towel robe!!).. But I’ll get back to that. Lisa was incredibly friendly as I walked through the door and had this fun upbeat vibe to her. The room was big and spacious, and for a 3:45 class on a Wednesday it was surprisingly packed, and of course full of women kitted out in their lulu lemons.

The lowdown: Starting with 3/4 pound weights, the arms were doable, with the occasional need to pause but startup again. The legs however were not what I was prepared for, from pulse to tucking back to pulsing, I was suddenly thrown back to the shaky barre legs. Whilst I thought the worst was over, Lisa moved onto the seat work. The glute sculpting pretzel position pushed me over the edge, there was no way that tomorrow was involving climbing stairs.Lisa encouraged us to pull through and quickly moved onto the final ab stage, which subsequently felt like a breeze. In short Lisa showed me that you've never mastered barre.

The after party: Exhale's A list shower room provided you with everything you might need to relax before you head out into the bustling streets of New York; organic peppermint shampoo, towel robes, spa slippers.