Setting the Barre for Fitness in ’09
By Meredith Kay
Photography by Al Rendon
Brandy Webb has always worked hard to stay fit, but after giving birth to her fourth child, she realized she needed to find a low-impact workout routine. That is when she came across a Pure Barre fitness studio and fell in love with the program and the franchise philosophy of creating a community within the studio.
Brandy was born and raised in San Antonio and attended Churchill High School. She chose to open her own Pure Barre fitness studio in Alamo Heights because the community embodies the same spirit that she has created within her studio. Webb currently lives in New Braunfels, where she has a second Pure Barre location, but when she opened the Pure Barre studio in the Magnolia Heights building on the corner of Broadway and Austin Highway in July 2020, she knew that she had found the perfect home.
She states, “I chose to open Pure Barre in Alamo Heights because it is such a cohesive community, and we wanted to create a space where people felt good about coming to work out in a place where they felt accepted. We wanted to create a place where members look forward to coming because there are so many reasons not to workout in our busy lives.”
Pure Barre offers small group classes that guide participants through basic low-impact and high-intensity movements to strengthen and tone your body while utilizing a ballet-inspired barre for stability. There are a variety of classes to choose from at Pure Barre, based on your skill and fitness level, but the incredibly talented and attentive instructors can tailor the movements to fit the ability of each individual.
There are three disciplines to the Pure Barre curriculum:
- Pure Barre Classic is the original core class that uses a proprietary technique that offers the fastest, most effective, low-impact, full-body workout. Participants are guided through a 50-minute workout of low-impact, high-intensity isometric movements designed to improve your flexibility while strengthening and toning your body.
- Pure Reform is a full-body barre workout that targets and reshapes all of the major muscle groups through resistance-based strength training. This 50-minute class blends the classic Pure Barre technique with resistance-based movements using bands, sliders, and the barre itself.
- Pure Empower is a fusion of classic barre movements and cardio-centric interval training designed to elevate your heart rate, build strength, and increase metabolism. The classes are 45 minutes long and utilize dynamic movements with ankle weights and a plyometric platform to target different muscle groups simultaneously at an invigorating pace.
Becoming a Pure Barre instructor is not an easy task. Instructors must first participate as studio members for a period of time and then attend corporate training, followed by six weeks of supervised training in the studio. They must also complete 90 hours of continuing education as a Pure Barre instructor during their first year. This intense training program makes sure that instructors become experts in the Pure Barre training methodology and teaches them how to focus on each member individually so that everyone gets the maximum result from their fitness program.
Jessica Thomas, the studio General Manager, states, “Becoming a Pure Barre instructor is difficult because there is such an emphasis on personal attention. Our program offers functional exercise for everyone, regardless of age, body type, or fitness level. We meet you where you are so that you can achieve your strength and fitness goals.”
Pure Barre Alamo Heights currently offers over 50 classes throughout the week, about nine classes per day, and even offers a class at 5:30 a.m. on weekdays for those early risers who want to get a jump on the day. Most members attend Pure Barre classes three to five times per week, and the studio welcomes men and women of all ages.
Pure Barre
5500 Broadway @ Austin Highway
(210) 392-2380
Purebarre.com/location/alamo-heights-tx
