McBride discovered the Bar Method in 2008 while working as a television host in California and introduced her sister to the exercise routine. They both enjoyed it so much that in 2012, the sisters auditioned for the chance to open a studio. Two days before Thanksgiving that year, they received the go ahead.
Their new studio is behind the Local Kitchen and Beer Bar restaurant in the Sportsplex. The Bar Method has one large classroom where five classes a day are taught by the trained and certified teachers.
Giambalvo received her certification Jan. 12 after four months of intensive training, the studio announced on its Facebook page.
“I’ve had a vision in my head,” McBride said when describing the studio space. It took them more than six months to build the studio after finding the location in the Sportsplex. “We looked at a lot of spaces!”
When they opened earlier this month, their first class was so packed with people that they there wasn't enough room on the bar. But McBride said she didn’t turn anyone away.
The exercises done at Bar Method are a combination of yoga, pilates and ballet moves, but you don’t have to know how to dance to take part. “I’ve never danced a day in my life! Anyone can do it,” McBride said.
What the sisters try to do, McBride said, is make sure that every muscle is worked through the exercises. “We keep [the movements] tiny, like one inch,” she said, and each class varies from day to day. Each of the five teachers keeps track of which exercises and which play lists were used so the next day the class can be entirely different.
Class schedules are available through the studio website or on a Bar Method app. A single class is $26, but they’re offering a new member special of $100 for unlimited classes for 30 days.
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