Floor bar lessons for the 2022/2023 season

The floor bar, but what is it?   gym, dance  ?

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This is practiced without a bar, on the ground. To understand what it is all about, it is necessary to know that the word "  rod  designates the long wooden rod on which the dancers hold themselves to learn the movements… without falling  ! As opposed to "  middle  which is the part of the room, facing the mirror, where you rehearse, counting on your balance alone.  

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There "  floor bar  is the transposition to the ground of the movements usually performed standing in support. For professionals, it's a warm-up that prepares the muscles and joints for the dance steps. And to position their body well without the constraint of gravity.

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For the amateurs that we are, it's a way to relax, to build muscle while respecting the anatomy of the body. It is also the way to correct bad postures and relieve many sores.  ! Finally, it is an activity that makes you lose weight  ! Not in weight, but in centimeters. Because if we muscle, we do it like dancers, by stretching the toes, hands, head. And performing the movements in such a way that the muscles grow lengthwise, not in thickness and volume.

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Long muscles with finesse

The legs get longer, the buttocks and hips shrink, the waist gets slimmer and the stomach flattens. In "  high  », the back and the shoulders are straightened, the arms are strengthened and the neck soars. And don't tell a teacher that it's basically gymnastics  ! Because with the bar on the floor, we also learn the grace that we usually acquire with classical dance. Look assured.

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Shape  : A brand new body with the bar on the ground

You don't need to be a professional or to have danced when you were little to start the barre on the floor. Whatever level of flexibility we have at the start, we each progress at our own pace. As long as you attend classes regularly.

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Twice a week is a good rhythm

"  The ideal, as with all physical activities, is to practice twice a week, explains Camille, a "  addict  at the helm for a year. With two courses, you become more flexible, and you see your silhouette change from month to month.  »

On the outfit side, the course has nothing to do with a fitness session. Especially since we stay on the ground for an hour  ! "  You have to be warm everywhere  », repeats at length a  dance teacher, harassing those who are not covered enough. If the outfits must be close to the body, in order to be able to check the movements carried out as closely as possible, they must above all keep the joints, muscles and tendons warm, to avoid injuries. A good old black leotard, demi-pointe slippers, tights and a wool wrap are essential. It is a group lesson carried out on the ground, as we have said, facing a large mirror. In principle, and this is ideal, each exercise is explained and detailed with a student who demonstrates it to the others, before being performed by everyone, to music.

Stretching, contraction… we refine in depth

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The movements are performed a second time to be able to work both parts of the body symmetrically. We focus on the muscle groups gradually, from head to toe  : tensions, contractions, extensions, rotations. As in a classical dance class, we practice with our chest straight, our shoulders low, our stomach tight and our pelvis "  tipped  forward so as not to arch your back. Above all, each movement is carried out with the appropriate breathing, so as to control it and make it more effective.

To make your back more flexible, lean over your legs stretched out in front or open, from the front, then to the side. Even the least flexible manage, by dint of perseverance, to put their chin on the ground.

Why are most movements done with arched feet  ? Because it allows you to build muscles in length, but also because it improves the drainage of the legs, in particular the venous return.

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Why is it good for the back?

1  : We soften our lumbar spine gradually and without hurting ourselves, because the movements respect the physiology.

2  : The back is not subject to the force of gravity. Thus, we adopt the right postures, which protects it and the muscle.

3  : Because the movements for the arms (“  port of arms  ”) make the body work in extension, they strengthen the back, the arms and give grace.

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Light legs and what a look  !

In a few months, you forget your leg pain or that you were prone to sprains. All the exercises being carried out in stretching and in the natural axes of the body, nothing is done in force. And if the teacher keeps an eye on his students, you don't get hurt anywhere. You have a particular health problem, concerning the back, the joints or the muscles  ? To be on the safe side, report it to the teacher. Ditto if you are expecting a baby, because certain exercises must be avoided...

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The origins of the floor bar: Boris Kniasieff