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Why Barre-Based Classes Tone: Less Calories Burned--More Fat Lost

By Lyndsay Murray-Kashoid

Cardio exercise is good but you need to maintain your lean muscle to keep your weight in check

Numbers...who can ignore them?! That rush of joy, relief, and renewed hope when sneaking a double take at the scales to confirm that, YES, you did lose some weight, is most every woman's dream. Who doesn't like to see the calories burned number go from two digits to three digits? Dress sizes, caloric input, caloric output, sugar grams, fat grams, miles run, minutes spent...with all these numbers it's easy to overemphasize them.

Research and numerous testimonials confirm that the typical algorithm of increasing time spent in aerobic exercise doesn't usually equate to more weight loss. Lengthy cardio workouts over time cause loss of lean body mass (i.e. the tone, defined, tight legs, arms and seat you like get soft and saggy). Besides decreasing muscular definition, it also slows the speed of your metabolism so that the digestive fire that could have ravaged a nice meal smolders over fruit salad and veggies.

Aerobic exercise does an excellent job at training the body to work less and burn less. Numbers can be helpful in reaching goals; however, the total of calories expended must be looked at over a 24hr period and in light of the overall physiological adaptations taking place. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) defines aerobic exercise (i.e. cardio) as "any activity that uses large muscle groups, can be maintained continuously, and is rhythmic in nature." It is a type of exercise that overloads the heart and lungs and causes them to work harder than at rest.

Aerobic exercise by definition is designed to enhance circulatory and respiratory efficiency. It helps your body burn fat efficiently, but what that means to your body is using less fat for every effort. In other words, your body is trying to equip itself from the onset of a sustained activity involving its major muscles to complete the task with more and more efficiency, ease, and with the minimum exertion possible.

That is the reason swimmers get faster after swimming more, runners get faster after running more, and skaters, cyclists, etc. attain better times as their body strengthens itself. If you compare two groups of people, one group of steady state endurance training and one group of interval training (intense movement interspersed with less intense rest periods), the interval training group would burn less than half the calories of the endurance training group.

Over 20 weeks, one study (Tremblay A. Simoneau JA. Bouchard C. Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism. Metabolism. 1994 Jul; 43(7): 814-8) showed a 9 times greater loss in subcutaneous adipose tissue (the soft, flabby stuff under the skin) in the interval training group when compared to the endurance training group despite not having burned as many calories while training. This shows that intensity is more important than time. Elevating the metabolism over an extended period of time is more important than adding up numbers by working out longer at a sustainable level.

Training at an intense level causes physiological adaptations over a much longer period of time than training at lower intensities. For the 24 hours following a workout, those who train at a high intensity will have a significantly higher energy expenditure. Another benefit to working at a high intensity in an advanced barre-based class like Core Fusion is that the heart and lungs are challenged aerobically, the muscle tone is kept and enhanced, calories are burned during and after class, and the body doesn't need as long a recovery time as it does from lifting heavy weights.

Training for hours on end in the "fat burning zone" will help the body to utilize stored fat, but will not cause the same physiological adaptations as higher intensity programs. Advanced barre-based programs like Core Fusion have been touted for many years as the equivalent of 24 hours of traditional aerobics in terms of results.

In the Science of Fat Loss, Alwyn Cosgrove presents a hierarchy of fat loss that has been a successful model for many trainers, fitness enthusiasts, and professional athletes. He prioritizes: (1) correct nutrition, (2) CORRECT NUTRITION, (3) activities that burn calories, maintain/promote muscle mass, and elevate metabolism (like an advance barre-based class), (4) activities that burn calories, and elevate metabolism (high intensity intervals like sprints, etc.), and (5) activities that burn calories, but don't necessarily maintain muscle mass or elevate metabolism.

If you are already active and a regular to advanced barre-based classes like Core Fusion--just wanting to take it up a notch and see more muscle--nutrition is the key element. Keep up the good work and pair an efficient workout with efficient eating.

About Lyndsay Murray-Kashoid

Lyndsay Murray-Kashoid, MA currently teaches for Exhale Spa and Aman Resorts as a Core Fusion and yoga instructor. She is a faculty member of FG2000 and presents internationally. Lyndsay also facilitates workshops for various age groups and levels at Exhale. She is an accredited Pilates & yoga instructor, Thai yoga practitioner, personal trainer and wellness consultant with experience in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. For more information about Lyndsay visit www.lyndsaymurray-kashoid.com.

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