10 Easy Barre Exercises You Can Do At Home

Kaitlin Vogel
·10 min read

No dance background needed! Get your Barre workout on with these easy exercises.

Looking for a workout that tones and strengthens from the comfort of your living room? Barre, a ballet-based dance workout that's soared in popularity over the past five years, combines a variety of exercises in one: ballet, Pilates, yoga and HIIT.

The great thing about barre is that moves are low impact (great for joints!) and don’t require equipment—just a chair or countertop can act as your barre. Worried about not having a background in dance? You can put that worry to rest, because barre is great workout for all fitness levels, no dance experience required.

That's why we talked with experts to find the best barre exercises and workouts you can do at home. Here are 10.

Best barre exercises to do at home

Clam shell

“This exercise is muscle-focused: side glute and outer thigh,” says Heidi Pullman, Barre Forté Fitness Trainer.

How to do the clam shell:

  • Lying on your side body, place a ball or pillow under your ribcage to stay lifted.

  • Press your forearm into the floor with your knees bent in front of your hips.

  • Connect with heels and toes and engage your obliques.

  • Lift your top knee without rocking your hips. Lift full rage, pulse at the top and hold.

  • Press knee towards your back while keeping your hips stacked.

  • Extend the top leg straight and pulse the straight leg up and inch and down an inch. Circle back and forward.

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Table top dart

How to do the table top dart:

  • Stack your wrist under shoulders with a soft bend in your elbows. Have your head in line with your spine and your base knee directly under your hip.

  • Engage your core and lift the working leg.

  • Place the ball behind your working knee and hold a 90-degree angle.

  • Lift and lower the working leg, pulse at the top.

  • Hold at the top and squeeze in on the ball or make tiny circles one direction/repeat going in the opposite direction.

Plie and reach

"This exercise opens the inner thighs, latissimus dorsi, shoulders, chest and abs and warms up the hips and thighs," says Kelly Bryant, Performance Coach at Future, the app that pairs you with a world-class fitness coach who manages your ongoing fitness remotely. "It's a great warmup to hit a ton of areas that tend to be tight on those of us who work behind a desk. If you don’t have long to warmup, this is a fantastic place to start."

How to plie:

  • With feet slightly wider than shoulder-distance apart and turned out, bend the knees into a deep squat.

  • Reach the arms out to the sides to open the chest.

  • Stand and reach one arm up and over head toward the opposite side.

  • Repeat, alternating sides.

Alternating toe dips

"The truth is that many of us don’t actually have the deep core control to do core movements with the legs fully extended. The straighter your legs are, the heavier they’ll feel to your abs," Bryant explains. "This sneaky-hard position will allow you to have more control and actually feel the transverse ab and hip flexor work we’re looking for here."

How to do alternating toe dips:

  • Lie on your back with your knees bent to 90 degrees over your hips (so hips and knees are both 90).

  • Point the toes and then, keeping the knee at 90 degrees, imagine you’re dipping the toes of one foot into a pool of water on the floor in front of you.

  • Bring the first leg back in and repeat to the second side.

  • Repeat for 32 counts moving at a tempo of 2 counts out and 2 counts in, then 16 counts moving at a tempo of 1 count per movement, then 8-16 moving at a 1-tempo count, but quickly alternating the legs rather than letting them meet in the middle.

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Quadruped single leg extensions

"From hands and knees you can work the glute, hamstring, and core even if you don’t have access to a barre," says Bryant. "The hardest and most important part of this movement is not allowing your low-back to arch and your belly to drop toward the floor."

How to do leg extensions:

  • From hands and knees, extend one leg straight back with toes resting on the floor (notice if the opposite hip drops to the side and pull it back in).

  • Lift and lower your straight leg as high as you can without arching the back—this should not be very high.

  • Repeat for about 30-45 seconds.

  • Then, hold the leg up and pulse it just an inch higher for another 15-30 seconds.

  • Keeping the leg high, flex the foot and bend your knee to 90 degrees, squeezing the heel toward your glute.

  • Extend the leg straight and repeat for 30-45 seconds.

  • Finish by keeping the leg high and knee bent and pulse the heel in toward your seat for 15-30 seconds.

Tricep kickback

"Tricep work not only hits the back of the arms but in this position, can work your core, shoulders and back," says Jillian Lorenz, co-founder and co-CEO of The Barre Code. "Tricep strength supports stability through the arms and shoulders and assists you with daily activities like pushing and pulling."

How to do tricep kickbacks:

  • From an all-fours position on the ground, wrists under shoulders and knees under hips, drive the left elbow back behind you, with the palm and inside of the arm facing you.

  • Extend the left hand as long and straight behind you as possible, accenting the squeeze of the tricep.

  • Pull the hand back to your shoulder to work the bicep and repeat the extension. For more of a burn, hold the arm behind you and take tiny lifts, squeezing the tricep deeper. Make sure to pull your belly button up and in so as to protect your low back.

  • Repeat 15-20 times before switching sides. Repeat both sides 2-4 times and remember to breathe. For more, add a set of light hand weights. To take this down a notch, perform using a couch or counter under the hands for less stress on the low back and wrists.

Open pretzel side seat work

"When strengthening your body, remember 360 strength is important!" Ariana Chernin, co-founder and co-CEO of The Barre Code, explains. "The side seat or glute medius is a great stabilizer for the glute max and lower body as a whole. The stronger your hips, the more successful you will be at preventing injuries. This move also works the shoulders and core as well as the gluteus maximus."

How to do the open pretzel:

  • From an all four position on the ground, wrists under shoulders and knees under hips, pull your left heel into your seat and point your toe.

  • Drive your left knee up to about 90 degrees behind you, feel your glute max engage.

  • Then, point your knee to the corner behind you, letting the knee drop a hair and the inner thigh will point more towards the ground.

  • Almost as if you are trying to tap yourself on the shoulder with your toe, wrap your toe around to the right side of your body, trying to keep your hips and shoulders as square to the ground as possible. Make sure to pull your belly button up and in so as to protect your low back.

  • Repeat the squeeze in a pulse-like motion for 20 seconds before switching sides.

  • Repeat both sides 2-4 times and remember to breathe. For more, tuck the toes of the supporting leg to activate the hamstring and release the same hand of the leg that's working off the ground for more balance work. To take this down a notch, perform using a couch or counter under the hands for less stress on the low back.

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Inner thigh leg squeeze

"This move really targets the inner thighs and just like outer hip strength is important for the strength and stability of the lower body, so are the inner thighs!" Lorenz explains. "Inner thigh strength can allow you the opportunity to connect with your inner core muscles that much more. You'll also work the shoulders and obliques."

How to do the leg squeeze:

  • Laying on your left side and extending the legs long, press onto your forearm with your elbow under your shoulder. Press out of the side body to activate your shoulder and obliques.

  • Pointing your toes, lift your top leg to 90 degrees, pulling your quad off your kneecap.

  • Flex the feet and squeeze the top leg back down to meet the bottom leg. Keep your shoulders and hips as square to the side as possible. Keep pulling the belly away from the earth and think about pulling the belly button up and in to activate your deeper core muscles.

  • Repeat 15-20 times and repeat on the other side. If you're not a fan of the shoulder work, take your head into your hand, laying down farther. Option to also bend the bottom leg slightly to decrease pressure on the supporting hip.

March

"This exercise targets the cardiovascular system, core, quads and glutes," says Taylor Walker Sinning, fitness expert and creator of the Taylor Walker Sinning Prenatal Fitness Program on The Fitness App by Jillian Michaels. "If performed correctly and with enough intensity, marches are great way to get your heart rate up and add low impact intervals."

How to do it:

  • Release your arms high to open the chest or add a tiny hop to turn it into a skip march to up the impact.

  • While marching you, should always be breathing and working your inner core muscles.

Glute bridge

"I love glute bridges because they are a great way to target the glutes and hamstrings," says Sinning.

How to do a glute bridge:

You can perform these bilaterally (shown here) or unilaterally by placing one foot on the floor and one towards the sky, keeping your knees in line. You can also add resistance by placing a weight on the front of your pelvis or adding a resistance band to your thighs and add an outward knee press at the top to include the outside of your glutes.

  • Lay in a supine position on your back. Feet should be hip-distance apart with your toes facing forward.

  • Press your palms into the ground. Inhale and as you exhale lift your hips to the sky and press your heels into the ground.

  • Lift so that your knees, hips and shoulder blades end in one straight line.

  • Then lower and repeat.

Next, read up on 18 best beginner home workouts.

Sources

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