The most unique workout… Barre none

Location, location, location. Apparently it makes as much of a difference in a workout routine as it does in real estate. Perhaps this is because not everyone is inspired to exercise at the sight of an industrial warehouse gym or a room full of hulking workout equipment. Some of us find motivation in the finer details. And for this set, Assets BarreFitness™ has you at ‘hello.’

Hidden in plain view, the studio is tucked away at the end of the quaint, brick-lined Rose Alley, near the corner of Monterey and Chorro streets in downtown SLO. A whimsical wrought-iron gate opens to a spacious courtyard that leads to the studio and boutique, housed in a beautifully renovated 1885 brick building.

New cathedral ceilings and sky lights give the room a bright, airiness and purity, while the varnished hard wood floors, rosy exposed-brick walls and vibrant paintings hanging throughout provide a warmth and charm that calms the senses. Antique and repurposed furniture (displaying luxurious workout wear and other tempting accessories) give the studio a hip, industrial vibe that you might expect from a warehouse loft in a big city like Brooklyn or San Francisco.
Just walking in makes you feel special. And this is no accident. Owner Julia Pickslay chose this spot because she wanted it to feel more like a spa then a gym. Noting that the downtown site is a perfect marriage of centrality and seclusion, she says, “People don’t feel like they’re working out on the main drag [where people can see them through the windows]. It’s nice to have this exclusive feel to it, like you’ve stumbled upon something secret.”
And it’s a good thing the setting is so alluring, because you’re about to get your assets kicked.

The all-level BarreFitness class begins innocently enough with some leg-lifts, but before long the music picks up the tempo and you pick up the hand weights and begin to understand what all the recent buzz for this method is about. There are not a few pained faces as the class strains to hold, pump and pulse arms in tiny yet somehow incredibly challenging movements to the beat called out by the instructor.

Nevertheless, the participants demonstrate grace under fire. Even as legs quiver and shake, these women (and men) point their toes. Their arms and hands appear light and poised, though weighed down by mini barbells that have become mysteriously heavier since the start of class. There is no grunting or panting, although some students sigh and laugh together in quiet camaraderie as the class switches from the weights to face the barre.

This steely, silent fortitude should come as no surprise. After all, this is a workout designed by and for some of the toughest and most underrated athletes among us: ballerinas. Barre fitness classes date back to 1969, when a former ballerina named Lotte Berk created the program in the UK to combine orthopedic exercises for her spine with dance elements. “She created this very safe program where you could strengthen and tone your body, definitely supporting your spine, without hurting yourself,” says Pickslay, who brought barre to San Luis Obispo four years ago. She says her studio offers a variation of the original Berk style. “We like the dance elements: tendus, relevés, passes, battements: a lot of French terms come out,” she says, describing her Cardio and Floor Barre classes in particular.

Nevertheless, Pickslay, who retired this year from a 30-year career coaching college track and field, is quick to point out that you don’t need a dance background to participate. She simply finds that many of her clients draw on childhood ballet lessons and enjoy rekindling that old flame.

Whether you starred in the Nutcracker as a grade-schooler or not, though, the workout is guaranteed to make you look more like a trained ballerina. Pickslay explains that the 31 classes on her schedule help people—women especially—create long, lean muscles rather than building bulk. The workout also develops balance and teaches you how to truly engage your core. But perhaps most importantly, it helps you to achieve ballerina-grade posture.

Posture, in fact, was the part that got Pickslay hooked on the classes eight years ago. Focusing at the time on more “functional” fitness training—marathon and cycling training—she had her doubts about barre classes. But, Pickslay says, “The more I learned about it, the more I realized it was very functional to almost everybody’s life because your posture is so important.”

If, at this point in the story, you suddenly become hyper-conscious of your hunched shoulders and bent spine, don’t worry: you won’t be ashamed for long. From the lofty vantage point of an erect spine, Pickslay will assure you, “Within three classes, you’ll start seeing that you stand taller, your spine’s protected, you’re pulling those abdominals in, pulling the shoulders back. That alone is so beneficial to your long term health.”

While perfected posture reeled her in, it was the addiction to self-improvement that has sustained Pickslay’s love for barre.

“You have people who have been here a couple of times, and people who have been coming for a year taking the same class. And the reason they can do that is because you make the class harder for yourself. So, you learn to pull your heels higher, drop your hips lower …And from an athletic coaching standpoint, that’s huge. People walk away going, ‘That’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done!’ and then they can’t wait to come back. And I don’t know where else you do that—except maybe having babies!”

Perhaps that explains why many of her students are among that other class of under-rated athletes: mothers.
Assets Barre is located at 853 Monterey, San Luis Obispo, (805) 781-0119, sloassets.com.

Jamie Relth - local writer and photographer