Men and the Barre: Breaking Down Gender Stereotypes

 

What Initially Drives Men to the Barre?

There are roughly a dozen male clients who regularly frequent the barre studio I go to most often. Almost all of them were invited by a female client, who is either a friend or spouse.

For Mason R. Glenn, a Bar Method instructor and National Trainer he sees a lot of male clients coming with their spouses. “A lot of young women bring their husbands with them because they find they like to work out together.”

Mason discovered his love of barre almost by accident. Within a year of managing a Bar Method location, he was asked if he wanted to be an instructor. “I should probably learn what the basis of this method is if I’m managing this company,” he said. “They said you have a pretty good personality. I feel like you could probably do it. I wanted to be a little bit more healthy and I wanted to work out more, so I said ‘why not.'”

A Bring on the Men event is how Matthew Henninger, now an instructor at Pure Barre Buffalo discovered barre.” I was introduced to Pure Barre by one of my friends who lived in New York City. She said you need to try this out, it’s called Pure Barre. They’re doing a Bring on the Men event, so will you be my date and give it a try? I said sure, no problem, I’m open to giving it a shot, and so I went into one of their studios in the city and I couldn’t walk for three days afterward.”

Joel Cardenas, a Pure Barre teacher in San Antonio, TX, says he sees some men come with their significant others on occasion, but hasn’t seen a big spike in men coming to the barre.

 

 

What do you think prevents men from trying a barre class?

For Matthew, he says a lot of the men he has interacted with don’t know what to expect from it. “They either are into sports or they go to the gym or they do CrossFit,” says Matthew. “They think it’s either too easy for them or they’re not sure what it’s going to look like and they think it’s all dancing, it involves ballet and that’s not something they’re comfortable with. In reality, we do incorporate some ballet dance aspects into our workout and it might be based on dance but it’s not dancing.”

For Joel, he felt like a guy that infiltrated a tough secret women’s organization. “I have more of an appreciation for women in the corporate world or who have to work in male-dominated industries, where they only see men. It was really humbling for me.”

At the end of the day, Mason believes it has a lot to do with visual media. “If we see a girl in an arabesque position, we think that’s not what we can achieve. What I think can help is to include more neutral positions in class that men can achieve. A lot of men do yoga, and there are a lot of positions that The Bar Method has that are yoga friendly.”

Are there male-specific modifications?

“Men are tighter and typically taller too,” says Mason. “There are certain things a 5’4″ woman can do that a 6’0” man can’t do. They have longer torsos, they have longer arms. They’re used to doing a bigger range of motion, they’re not used to stretching, their hips are typically tighter, they have tighter hamstrings so they typically have lower back pain.

Mason continues, “my best interest as an instructor is to make them feel that they can be successful. Placing a male at the tallest barre in the room is probably not a good idea, we don’t want them to feel like a failure. We want them to take a lower barre where they can be more successful.”

 

 

What do you think would attract more men to the barre?

One of Matthew’s goals is to try to get more men involved. “If they see a male instructor..there’s kind of this notion that okay men can do this, and it’s not just for women, it’s built for anybody, all body types, all abilities, that’s something that we really try to emphasize.”

Joel thinks more male representation in advertising would help. “If men could see themselves in marketing campaigns that would make a difference. Men usually want the body-builder type so barre doesn’t really cater to that body type.”

Mason thinks that hosting events when they encourage men to come to the barre help draw more male clients. “Having other guys in class and having this collective event really draws them in,” says Mason, referring to when studios host events like bring your bae to the barre or barre and beer, which are created to encourage more men to attend.

While events that encourage you to bring a man to the barre certainly help to attract more male clients, some studios are even going so far as to host male-only workshops, like Seattle’s Barre Rev. Their Men’s Only Barre Bootcamp is designed to target those stabilizing muscles that may get overlooked during a power and strength training session.

 

 

Why should men try barre?

“Give it a shot,” says Mason. “It’s something I thought I would never do, and if I can do it, anybody can do it. What it’s really taught me is mind-body awareness. It’s prevented injuries. I wasn’t able to do much, but I was able to do The Bar Method and I felt successful. I felt like I could still have a little bit of a sweat and a burn in my muscle.”

For Joel, he suggests to embrace it as a fitness concept that is results-driven and don’t focus on the fact that it might appear girly or feminine.

“Speaking from our studio perspective there are a lot of pop up events at our studio, we do a lot of date nights, and our last date night was very popular in getting more men involved,” says Matthew. “Whether or not they want to come more frequently… it’s more about seeing what it’s actually like and even if they can go out into their communities and talk about this thing… I gave this a shot and this is something I think you should try.”

 

Final thoughts

In conclusion, yes, the barre community is dominated by women but a group of strong women indeed who are comfortable with welcoming anyone through those doors. That’s what I love so much about the community and it would be great to see more men attend classes in the future.