The Fitness Rules I Live By: Emily Chadwick Vint

There’s more to exercise than seeing physical results. I used to have a poor relationship with my body and viewed exercise as something I had to do rather than something I ‘get’ to do. I saw it as a chore and would put myself through workouts I disliked but ones I thought would get me a better body. In 2015, I discovered barre. I was in New York at the time, training to be a dancer, and saw a barre class on Class Pass. I thought it would be like ballet but within a couple of minutes realised this was far from the truth. I was feeling muscles working I didn’t even knew existed and this unfamiliar burn was something I’d never experienced before. It was a mini epiphany which changed how I viewed exercise forever. 

Low-impact workouts don’t get better than barre. Nothing strengthens the core, challenges the muscles and is as fun, empowering or confidence-building as barre. Barre combines the movement of ballet with the strengthening of Pilates, the stretching of yoga and just the right amount of intensity to raise your heart rate. Barre was created by a ballerina named Lotte Berk in the early 60s as a way of maintaining her strong physique and core stability after an injury, but barre isn’t just ballet – it’s an incredible way to incorporate strength training into your routine. I do barre four times a week as well as one HIIT workout or hike. 

Find a workout that benefits both your body and your mind. There aren’t many forms of exercise that tick as many boxes as barre, and in today’s time-pressured world, multitasking workouts matter. Barre builds lean muscle, increases metabolism, defines and elongates limbs, improve posture, increases flexibility and enhances mental resilience. Plus, due to its high intensity yet low impact nature, combined with its focus on endurance, results come very quickly with consistency. Over the years, I’ve learnt first-hand the strength that barre can build – far more so than any average strength workout. 

If you want to see results, you need to keep the body challenged. Don’t be deceived by the small movements in barre – it’s the smallest moves that create the biggest burn. A lot of barre focuses on isometric strength exercises, i.e., holding your body still while you contract a small and specific set of muscles. There are so many ways to intensify a barre practice and there’s always space to grow because there’s no limit to how far you can challenge yourself. If I’m feeling good and want to make a workout more challenging, I’ll add in more resistance. If I’m doing a glute workout at the barre, I’ll tuck a light dumbbell (1-2kg) behind my knee for a leg lift, or I’ll put a block underneath the standing leg to challenge balance. A resistance band can also be slotted into leg work to increase the resistance on your quads, hamstrings and glutes. I carry a resistance band with me everywhere, especially when I travel.

Just because something is low impact, doesn’t mean it’s not effective. Throughout the week, I alternate between sessions that focus on the glutes and abs, glutes and core, and the obliques. I sometimes solely focus on the abs – core strength is so important. Every workout I do is low impact (that means zero jumping), yet high in intensity, so I always finish a session feeling challenged. Barre is cardiovascular, yet in a way you don’t notice. You barely move but as you’re working isometrically with lots of time under tension (think tiny movements for a lot of burn), you build stamina and muscular endurance quickly, and your fitness levels will skyrocket.