Close Banner

This ad is displayed using third party content and we do not control its accessibility features.

4 Barre Moves For A Strong Core

Author:

Sadie Lincoln

September 10, 2015

Co-founder and CEO of Barre3

By Sadie Lincoln

Co-founder and CEO of Barre3

Sadie Lincoln is the co-founder and CEO of barre3, a fitness company focused on teaching people to be balanced in body and empowered from within, with more than 140 studios and an online-workout subscriber base in 98 countries.

September 10, 2015

I began teaching group exercise classes about 20 years ago. Today, I am the founder of barre3, which is based on classes that combine the disciplines of ballet barre work, Pilates, and yoga. This sequence includes four of my favorite core exercises because they're efficient, results-driven, and energizing. You can do all of these moves consecutively for a quick, targeted 8- to 10-minute core workout. If you're crunched for time, choose a couple of moves to light up your core, rev your metabolism, and refresh your energy!

Props You'll Need: Yoga mat, core ball, sturdy waist-high surface, optional light weights

1. All Fours With Weights

Time/Reps: 2 minutes or 20-30 reps on each side

What It Works: Hamstrings, glutes, abs, and upper-body postural muscles

Start in a tabletop position, with your palms under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Reach your right leg long, point the toes, and hold. Push your palms into your mat, relax your shoulders, and pull your abs in. Lift your left arm and right leg long, and lengthen (image on left). Exhale as you scoop your abs in and round through your spine. Pull the elbow toward the opposite knee (image on right). Inhale as you draw back to the starting point.

2. Boat Pose With Band

Time/Reps: 1-minute hold

What It Works: Abs, upper-body postural muscles, and lats

Roll down to your back, and place the band around the balls of the feet. Hold one end of the band in each hand by your shins. Extend legs toward the ceiling. Feet are hip-width apart. Hold here and let your hips be heavy. Pull your abs in and relax your shoulders. Keep your abs engaged and tug the band so that you feel your upper-body postural muscles light up (image 1).

Push your feet into the band and scoop your abs in to start to lift you up. Legs are straight and you are pushing the balls of the feet into the band (image 2). As you draw up to being lifted, hold. Anchor your seat into the mat and engage your core. Keep your spine long and your shoulders soft.

3. Mid Core

Time/Reps: 30 reps/1 minute

What It Works: Waistline and abs

Place a core ball right below your shoulder blades and come down to the mat. Bend your knees and place your hands behind your head and hold. Your hips are heavily weighted into the mat, core engaged, collar bone is wide, and your head is heavy in your hands.

As you inhale, lengthen your spine slightly back into the ball, keeping your hips heavy into the mat (image on left). As you exhale, curl your head, neck, and shoulders up. Your core should be firm and pulled in, seat soft, and neck relaxed (image on right).

4. Upright Core With Oblique Twists

Time/Reps: 30 reps (15 each side)

What It Works: Abs and upper body

Sit tall on your mat as you place a core ball behind your lower back. Inhale to lift tall and exhale to take a slight scoop back into the ball. Hips are heavy into the mat, spine is long, core is firm, shoulders soft, knees bent (image on left).

As you exhale, lift your torso slightly up and forward. Take a slight twist to the side as you pull your elbow back. Return through the center and repeat on the other side.

Sadie Lincoln

Sadie Lincoln is the co-founder and CEO of barre3, with 165 studios throughout the U.S., Canada, and Philippines; a digital subscription platform with hundreds of on-demand workouts; and thoughtfully curated retail. With a revolutionary vision to redefine what success in fitness means, barre3 shifts the emphasis from how exercise makes you look to how it makes you feel. By teaching people to be balanced in body and focusing on body positivity, inclusivity, and each individual’s inherent strength, barre3 has built a thriving and engaged community around the world.

Sadie is on Inc.'s Female Founders 100 list and the MO100 Impact list, has been featured on NPR's How I Built This, and speaks regularly on the topics of mindful leadership, the power of body wisdom, and the movement to redefine fitness. Beyond running her company and being a global spokesperson, Sadie still enjoys teaching barre3 classes to many of her founding clients in her hometown of Portland, Oregon.