Pure Barre Can Help You Shed Those Holiday Pounds

By Kelly Miller

Instead of trying to lose a few pounds after the holidays, how about resolving to make a lifestyle change that will have a long-term impact on your health, even after all those other New Year’s resolutions have been tossed aside? Pure Barre New Tampa, located in The Walk at Highwoods Preserve shopping plaza off of Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (about three miles south of the Pasco County line), wants to inspire and empower you to achieve your fitness goals by offering a unique, total body workout that utilizes the ballet barre to perform small, isometric movements — the same movements ballet dancers use to burn fat, sculpt muscles and create long, lean physiques.

Dancer, choreographer and fitness guru Carrie Rezabek Dorr founded the first Pure Barre studio in 2001 in a basement of an office building in Birmingham, MI. The popularity of her fitness program rapidly grew, and in 2009, she began selling franchises of her business.

Florida natives Jamie Babb and Casey Neubert opened Pure Barre New Tampa in April of this year, after they’d both been doing the fitness program for more than two years. Although they had been taking classes at separate studios —Jamie in South Tampa and Casey in Carrollwood — the two women met through mutual friends.

“Jamie and I chose to open this studio because we love the workout Pure Barre offers,” Casey explains. “This is more than just an exercise program. It’s about creating a community of women leading happy, healthy lifestyles, no matter what their size or shape.”

The two came from different backgrounds, as Casey previously worked as a mental health counselor for the nonprofit substance abuse facility Operation PAR, Inc. Behavioral Health & Wellness. She earned both her B.S. and M.S. in Rehab Counseling & Mental Health from the University of Florida in Gainesville and says that she was looking for a career change. Meanwhile, Jamie spent several years working as a mortgage officer for Wells Fargo before she left the company in 2009 and gave birth to her son Connor in 2010. After staying home to raise him, she decided to get back into the workforce and turned her passion for Pure Barre into a new career.

A Fresh Approach To Fitness

Casey and Jamie opened their studio in New Tampa because they wanted to bring the growing community a fresh approach to fitness. Their location provides a welcoming environment to both women and men, with a high-energy atmosphere and fun, motivating music, just minutes from Wesley Chapel.

No dance experience is necessary. Casey says that, as long as you can hold a ballet barre with your hands, you can do Pure Barre. “It’s about taking 55 minutes a day for yourself, leaving everything at the door and focusing on the mind-body connection,” she says.

The classes (taught by Jamie, Casey, and five other instructors) generally include light weights for toning arms, a small medicine ball for working the lower back and resistance tubes for stretching and other exercises. Classes are designed for people of all levels of experience and fitness. The positions and movements are all basic— it’s the level of intensity that makes the difference. Since everyone works at his or her own pace, someone who’s 75 years old will get as much out of Pure Barre as someone who’s only 25.

During each class, the instructor sets up the exercises and then circulates throughout the room, correcting form, challenging experienced students and making modifications for pregnant women and those dealing with injuries. Because Pure Barre instructors always want to keep each class fresh and challenging, they are always changing the movements and music, so you’ll never experience the same class twice.

Meadow Creek resident Amanda Davis took her first class at Pure Barre New Tampa in June and recently celebrated a huge milestone by attending her 100th class in less than six months!

Amanda, who says that she has a ten-hour workday combined with an hour-long commute from Ybor City, adds that she believes that, “Pure Barre is the perfect place to channel all the stress and anxiety of the day. I leave class a completely different person.”

She credits Casey and Jamie for creating an inspiring and motivating workout environment, adding that they make Pure Barre feel like her home away from home and always remember every client’s name.

Amanda started the new exercise program looking for relief from anxiety.

“Yoga didn’t work for me because there was too much sitting in silence,” she says, adding that after going to Pure Barre, her anxiety issues disappeared. Besides the mental change, an added bonus was the way she’s been able to transform her body.

“By the end of the first month, I lost two inches off my thighs and waist,” Amanda says. “Now, six months later, I almost have a full ‘six pack.’”

Classes at the New Tampa studio start with a high-energy warm-up, which moves on to sculpting and strengthening the arms with light weights and conditioning. Then, students step up to the ballet barre to tone their thighs. Small, precise movements are used to shape the seat area, while the abs also are defined and strengthened with targeted exercises. A cool-down is offered at the end by stretching and elongating muscles.

Casey says that it’s suggested that students wear pants, leggings or capris that are comfortable (no shorts) and a top that covers the midriff because keeping the body warm makes it more pliable and less prone to injury. Jamie adds that it’s also important to wear sticky-bottomed socks to retain body heat and prevent feet from sliding, since all exercises are done without shoes on a carpeted floor. The studio also offers a variety of exercise apparel for sale, as well as DVDs and equipment.

Land O’Lakes resident Robin Roether started exercising at Pure Barre two years ago in the South Tampa location and says she was excited when a studio opened in New Tampa.

“I love the workout,” Robin explains. “It’s low-impact, but high-intensity. My muscles get a great, deep workout, and I walk out feeling like I’ve left everything on the floor.”

She adds that she appreciates the inviting atmosphere that Casey and Jamie create in the studio. “There’s great camaraderie with all the women, and I’ve made lots of friends,” Robin says. “When you’re at Pure Barre, you don’t feel like you’re being compared to others; it’s a judgment-free zone.”

Casey and Jamie are members of the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC), WOW (Women of Wesley Chapel networking group), and Working Women of Tampa Bay. Two times a year, Pure Barre New Tampa holds a “Pure Live Event,” a national program in which each franchise picks a special cause and takes donations for a month. Each studio offers a specialty class for members and non-members that is donation-driven. In August, the New Tampa Pure Barre donated almost $3,000 to Sisters by Heart, an organization that supports infants with severe congenital heart defects. The studio also raised money in October for breast cancer research by selling special pink socks and exercise apparel.

Half Off Your First Class!

Now’s the perfect time to try out Pure Barre New Tampa for yourself. If you mention the studio’s ad on page 35, you’ll receive 50-percent-off your first class (a $20 class for only $10). The New Tampa location also is running a new client special of only $99 for your first month of unlimited classes. If you sign up for a membership the same day you use the ad, the $10 you paid for that first class will be credited towards your account, so you’ll get the first month for an introductory price of only $89!

Pure Barre New Tampa is located at 18091 Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. (next to Michael’s) and can be reached by calling 866-7873. For more information about the studio, class hours or to subscribe to the monthly newsletter, go to PureBarre.com/FL-NewTampa. To take a virtual tour of the studio, visit http://goo.gl/4omEzr. You also can like the New Tampa studio’s page at Facebook.com/PureBarreNewTampa.