Did you know that Barre fitness provides a myriad of benefits for improving and sustaining your sex life? No worries, I am here to help provide you with a few main reasons why those extra 8 pulses are totally worth it!
Background:
First, let us reflect on the history of barre fitness. This fitness phenomenon was once known for teaching women how to radically improve their sex lives. The creator of the original Barre workout was Lotte Berk, a German-Jewish dancer who fled the Nazis for London. Originally, Berk created the special combination of yoga, ballet technique, pilates and rehabilitative exercises to help her recover from a back injury. She found that these movements now known as “barre” not only helped her recover and sculpt her body but also provided her with more pleasure during her sexual endeavors. Once she realized this effect, she began teaching in 1959 targeting women who wanted to take control of and advance their own sex life. Berk, a free-love revolutionary, encouraged women to pursue sex for their on pleasure alongside their partners. And by the 1970s, popular magazines everywhere were highlighting this workout to help women pursue pleasure and build sexual confidence. The Lotte Berk Barre method took off! However, shortly after, by the 1980s, women began tasting their own strength and realized there was more to this workout than the sexual benefits. When Berk introduced her method in the 60s, it was super empowering to have sexual conversations at a time where it was taboo. Having an instructor calling out workouts named, “The Sex,” or” The Prostitute,” actually made women feel very liberated.
It has been over 50 years since the sexual revolution and it seems more women are looking for focus, flexibility (for their personal benefits,), mind body connection and strength. Mental health has taking the front seat to the type of benefit people these days gain from working out. This has trumped both losing weight and sexual pleasure.
*Check out this cute little dog pushing through a clamshell routine*
Top 2 Benefits of the Barre workout (men/women) from Clinical Sexologist and Professor of Social Psychology Dr. Jolly Richmond
1.) Flexibility - Greater range of motion and flexibility is another key feature of barre workouts. “Being flexible allows you to get into and hold various and more challenging sex sexual positions,” says Richmond. You can get deeper, spread your legs wider, and bend with ease. So, if you’ve been tempted to try a few “advanced” sex positions, barre might just help you get there.
2.) Stronger Orgasms- “Perhaps most specific to barre workouts—and one of the reasons I chose them after I had my children—is how effective they are for strengthening the pelvic floor,” says Richmond.
This benefit isn't just specific to women. Research indicates that weak pelvic floor muscles are associated with erectile dysfunction. (So get your husband, boyfriend, boo thang a spot in the next barre class).
Many barre exercises utilize squeezing, pulsing, thrusting and holding of the muscles in the glutes and hips, which strengths those crucial pelvic muscles. Barre is an opportunity to do Kegels, in which you squeeze your pelvic floor like you are trying to stop peeing with every isometric barre pulse. “After 4-6 months of barre workouts, most of my patients (men and women alike) report stronger orgasms and improved bladder control,” Richmond says.
Testimonial
“I had variety in my sex life before, but now I can let my emotions take over and effortlessly move into the right positions and pace, bringing in some of the key exercises I've learned in barre. I've loved the results — so much that I still attend barre classes three to four times a week — and I'm pretty sure the lucky guy who gets to share them with me does, too. Between barre and my HIIT workouts, I've never been more confident in my body or the bedroom,” Popsugar writer, Isadora Baum.
I mean that second position plie alone works the inner thighs, glutes, quads, knees and pelvic floor -- all important for exploring "more adventurous sexual positions" and being able to hold them. So next time you are in my class and I say drop those hips and static hold for 8 counts… don’t give me that look of death just smile and consider all the benefits.
We all know that Barre is a challenging yet effective workout known for sculpting and creating long lean bodies, but the question is should we bring more sexual tones/benefits of those pelvic tucks, thrusts and glute bridges back into the fitness studio?
Tell me what you think by commenting below <3