i’m officially a certified barre instructor. I took my first barre class in 2015 (though I’ve been taken barre-like classes as a dancer many years prior). On Sunday, I attended SCW Atlanta Mania and took an all day course to become a certified barre instructor. I love barre because I come from a dance background. As a yogi, runner, and martial artist, I absolutely love the core and functional strength it provides! This was a goal 3 years in the making!
SCW BARRE TEACHER TRAINING
Our instructor was Abbie Appel, a master trainer with 25+ years of experience and is a leader in the industry! Abbie had lots of spark and energy, we were all drawn to her. She’s an amazing teacher and I learned so much from her. The day started at 8am. After introductions and some lecture, Abbie led us through a 60 minute barre class that kicked our booties! The rest of the day was spent learning barre history, barre methodology and exercises, and how to format classes.
At the end of the session, I was tired, overwhelmed and a little anxious about how to memorize and piece every bit of information together. Abbie made an excellent point about teaching, she said, “8 hours of teacher training isn’t enough. Passing the exam won’t make you an amazing barre teacher. Practice will!” That made sense, I made sure I practiced a ton before I taught my first yoga class years ago!
For anyone interested in becoming a barre teacher, here are a few tips from my newbie experience:
- Barre experience: Have you taken several barre classes and have a basic understanding of the format? Have you tried various brands of barre classes?
- Brand: If you prefer to teach for a specific brand, like Pure Barre, you’ll need to go through their specialized teacher training & can teach for their studios only. Keep in mind some brands will only allow “other” barre teachers to take their classes once.
- Musicality: Can you count/teach to music? Unlike yoga or Pilates, barre teachers mostly teach to the 8 count (I think Exhale barre teachers teach in 10 counts). I have dance training and group fitness instructor experience so I understood the concepts of music counting and teaching to the beat.
- Continuing education: Depending on the certifying organization, there may be a required renewal fee every 2 years and proof of ongoing educational courses. With that said, it’s wise to continue to take classes and watch videos to stay current and learn new things (which is a good idea for all teachers, regardless of what you teach)!
What’s next?
Unlike some of the participants in the teacher training, I don’t have a position lined up to teach barre. I talked to my current facility where I teach yoga about teaching a couple of barre classes and they were game! I’m going to use the next several weeks studying, taking classes, and practicing what I’ve learned before I take the leap. Regardless of your fitness level, sport, age, gender, I absolutely recommend taking a barre class!
Have you ever taken a barre class? If yes, did you enjoy it?
That’s amazing, congratulations!!! Barre is so kick ass. I would love to be an instructor but there’s no way I could hold the poses and the hardcore cardio part of it AND teach! Lol! Congrats!!
Congratulations!! I’ve taken a few barre classes and they always make me use muscles that I didn’t know I had lol. It’s such an awesome workout!
How exciting!!! I have never taken a barre class (not sure they’re even offered in my small town with limited fitness gyms). I’d love to try it, though…..however I have no dance experience and am horribly uncoordinated LOL I’d be the gal struggling to master the moves (probably 16 counts behind everyone else).
Congratulations on your certification! It is so great to set a long-term goal and take it all the way through to fruition! I’ve never tried Barre, but I bet I would love it!
Congrats! I’ve never done it. Love to try it sometime.
Great feeling when you set a goal and then accomplish it,
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Congratulations! Barre is such a good workout, and it sounds like you’ve got the tools you need to become an excellent teacher!
I never knew that some brands don’t allow teachers of other formats to take their classes! I guess if you just signed up for a class and didn’t tell anyone, they’d never know, right? I’m a certified indoor cycling instructor, and taking all different formats and styles of classes has helped me become a better teacher.
So so cool! CONGRATS! I’ve taken a few barre classes. They’re always surprisingly difficult!
Congratulations! Good luck with your teaching
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Glad I ran into you! You reminded me that I have a SCW online barre course to take, but of course taking it in person would be much more fun. I’ll need lots of practice tho I’m not planning to teach it soon.
I’ve only taken barre once at FlyBarre, part of the FlyWheel chain. It was VERY challenging and fun!
This is so exciting! I have never done one of these classes, but have heard great things about them!! Congratulations!!!
Congrats!! That is not an easy thing to do!
I agree that so much practice goes into being a great instructor! I am certified in Body Pump and I enjoy taking from more seasoned instructors to learn new things and new ways to relay information.
I have taken a barre class several times. Some of them I enjoyed more than others (instructors had a huge part of this).