Many Manatee women live for their Pure Barre workouts

Pure Barre started in the early 2000s and the franchise now has more than 400 locations nationwide. It offers clients exercise classes that combine Pilates, weight-lifting, yoga and ballet, said Ricinda Perry, the owner of Bradenton Pure Barre at 6745 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.

But some clients of Pure Barre, who, in Manatee County, can choose between Perry’s studio and one in Lakewood Ranch, at 5275 University Parkway, Suite 131, say the low-impact exercises the franchise is noted for and its rejection of cold-looking gyms in favor of cozy, carpeted studios, can also make clients think of their workouts as more fun than work, which is quite a shift in attitude, they said.

The daily 55-minute classes, which are offered almost continuously during each day, seven days a week, can yield both a lifting of spirit and confidence and formation of “emotional muscles,” said Perry, who is also the city attorney for Bradenton Beach.

On a recent Wednesday, an hour before the 12:15 p.m. class at Bradenton Pure Barre, four women connected with that studio sat in the lobby, amid the colorful Pure Barre line of clothing that disciples seem to enjoy purchasing and wearing everywhere, talked about what this exercise program has meant to them.

All four agreed that they have firmed up their core by taking Pure Barre classes. Some actually said they have gained a little weight from turning fat into muscles. Others lost weight. Perry has lost 69 pounds. All talked about an “inner strength” they said they gained by being part of what Pure Barre client Chelsea Oelker called “a community of women.”

It wasn’t until the class itself, when all four went inside and had a few relaxed moments to interact, that one got a glimpse into what might be the secret of Pure Barre. There was easy banter, laughter and joyfulness as the women stretched and chatted.

Then, music started and the women quickly went into a lively warm-up followed by exercises on the floor that focused on stretching.

When everyone had arrived for this class — they were all women (men are welcome with open arms but only a few are among the 200 or so Bradenton Pure Barre clients, Perry said) — all seemed to be especially happy to be wearing stretchy leggings in a rainbow of hues and sparkly socks.

“We do enjoy looking cute in our clothes,” said Bri Watkins, one of the four Bradenton Pure Barre women and the studio manager.

Perry is not only the owner of Bradenton Pure Barre, she is also ranks No. 1 on the studio’s list of all-time classes taken with more than 400.

When she attended her first class before she bought the studio, she was devastated to see herself in the studio mirrors, she said. She weighed 69 pounds more than she does now. She said she knows there are people in Bradenton who also would feel too intimidated to train before mirrors, but if they can get over their fear, they can realize changes in their lives.

“I was that person,” Perry said. “You come in here and you see yourself in the mirror and where life has taken you and not taking care of yourself and it was very startling. After that class I sat in the car and I cried. I couldn’t believe what my life had led to. It gets busy and things happen and I knew I needed to change.”

Perry did not really modify her diet to lose 69 pounds. Nor has she added any cardio into her routine.

“Pure Barre is pretty much all that I do,” Perry said. “I am no longer that obese lady. I now have lost my three-quarter length sleeves and traded them in for sleeveless tanks and I am proud to wear them. I will get into the swimming pool and swim with my daughter now and not be ashamed. Pure Barre gave me that.”

The way Pure Barre gave Perry a new body was inch by inch, Perry is fond of saying.

“The movements that we work through, we call them inch movements where we hold positions and then move an inch,” Perry said. “I felt the results immediately and within a month I had completely gone down an entire dress size.”

As the class begins, clients warm up to high-intensity music. They lift their knees up to their chests and just get going fast and keep it going. Then, they hit the floor and work their abs, do some push ups, a little bit of everything to warm up.

Then the clients grab light weights and keep it going to the beat of the music, moving with the weights for about five minutes straight.

“Then we get right into thighs,” said Josie O’Reilly, a teacher at Bradenton Pure Barre. “There are three thigh workouts and there is no break between those and then we stretch out the thighs and there are two seat workouts with no break and then we stretch out the seat.”

“Then abs throughout the rest of the class without a break and at the very end we will stretch and that’s it. There is no stopping,” O’Reilly added.

The classes are deceptively challenging, said Bradenton Pure Barre client Chelsea Oelker, who was so sore after her first class she couldn’t even move.

“It’s energetic,” Oelker said. “It’s fun. You are constantly changing up the movements. Physically, I have noticed I am leaner. I am stronger. Weight-wise, I have actually gone up. But that is muscle. So, I am proud to say that, yes, the number is a little higher but that’s because it is muscle and not fat. I never had that before, So, for me that is a huge gain.”

Watkins was a Tampa Bay Buccaneer cheerleader last year besides working at Bradenton Pure Barre. She said she used Pure Barre to keep in top form, and she said many of her fellow performers told her that Pure Barre was also their secret.

“Pure Barre definitely gives you mental strength because you are supposed to be staying in positions throughout the class for a period of time between a minute or so, and you are really having to fight with yourself,” Watkins said. “You are telling yourself, ‘Yes, I can stay in this position, I will finish this.’ That transferred over because we (the cheerleaders) are on the field for about five minutes at a time and it is hot, like 90 degrees, and humid and there are a lot of sounds and you really get fatigued fast. Pure Barre helped me get through that.”

The yoga part of Pure Barre aligns spines, O’Reilly said.

“It evens you out,” O’Reilly said. “There is alignment all through Pure Barre.”

The woman said the Pure Barre experience is different from a gym.

“One thing I hated about going to gyms is that I didn’t know anybody,” Watkins said. “No one wants to talk to you. It’s very standoffish. Here it is completely opposite. Everyone is greeting everyone. Even our veteran clients, if they see someone new, they will say, ‘Hi, where are you from? How are you doing?’ It’s warm. We are a big family.”

“For me, I have my own business and my daughter is going a million miles a minute so I know I need to get my workout,” said Oelker, who has had many gym memberships in the past that she says she never used. “Pure Barre brings me back here. Even if I don’t have the energy to work out, I want to see my friends. I want to talk to my girlfriends. We all talk to one another and say, ‘I can’t make the 8:30, but maybe we can make the 12:15.’ That’s our 55 minutes. It’s more than a workout.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Many Manatee women live for their Pure Barre workouts."