If you love barre and you live in Boston, you should be excited to know that FlyBarre is now open in the Prudential. Located right inside FlyWheel, it’s weird now to think this studio is a new addition – where did the space come from!?
I went to class at 10 am with my girl Meg Scannell (who also teaches with me at Barry’s Bootcamp). Meg used to teach Core Fusion at Exhale for years until recently when she left to come over to FlyBarre. If you do not know her, she has a following due to her ability to make your muscles shake and burn in a good way. The class was not full but peak times are already filling up days in advance.
Unlike other city barre classes, you sign up for a specific spot. If you are a front row gal like me, I recommend the spots closest to the teacher, 1, 2, 11 and 12. Everyone faces the teacher so you can always check out your profile in the mirrors, otherwise, you probably won’t be able to see yourself in the front. Wanna be hidden? Select a mat farthest from the instructor.
We grabbed our own weights outside the room but the rest of our props were set up. Meg asked us to grab a pair of 5’s and 2’s. I grabbed 3’s as well but didn’t use them.
Since I only took the class once, it’s hard for me to say what is Meg’s own style and what is FlyBarre but I’m going to do my best.
FlyBarre
- Each song focuses on a specific body part. For example, we did triceps for an entire song and inner thighs for another. Both were burnt out by the end. For butt, we did a song per cheek.
- “Dynamic arms” is the only choreographed song that will be the same for every instructor’s class for a 3 week period. Every thing else will vary from instructor during a 60-minute class.
- The 45 minute class is more structured than the 60 minute. Instructors follow a specific outline that is constant in the shorter class. I think they have more freedom in the 60 to do body parts in whatever order they like.
- There is always a set aka song at the bar with heels raised to focus on thighs.
- Counts go with the beat of the music.
The legs felt very barre meaning you would not do the same choreography at a bootcamp. I love barre legs because I like to focus on the booty and I prefer to burn out my thighs without weights. The arms were more familiar strength training using the high rep low weight pairing. We used the 5 lb dumbbells for biceps and triceps. Both were dying by the end.
We used the balls for inner thigh, reverse chair and abs at the end. The bands were used for arms and abs while staying looped around the bar, a fun change for me.
FlyBarre has a faster pace than many of the other barre classes I’ve taken but moves are pretty similar. I really can’t give it a full review because I only took one class but based on my experience I will 100% be back. I love Meg’s teaching style and I felt the burn by the end of each song. I’m nervous at how I might feel tomorrow. I once took a class with Meg that literally had my legs still sore 4 days later. I could not walk down the stairs at the Garden after a Bruins game. I had to go down sideways.
I loved the ab sequences we did in class as well. Often, the abs in barre classes leave me disappointed. We used the ball behind out backs to form a C-curve and also focused on lower abs with little hip lifts/reverse crunches. I did not feel like I had to readjust myself due to a tight back or anything.
FlyBarre will be on ClassPass in 2 weeks but if you regularly cycle at FlyWheel, you might have a free class in your account like I did to try it out. ClassPass is running a special right now where you get $25 off your first month. If you have no idea what ClassPass is, you can check out my review here.
