Beverly Hills Class Sets The Barre

With all the classes these days boasting ballerina inspired barre classes to tone your tush and sculpt your thighs, it's hard to weed out what's a game-changer and what's a gimmick.

Lucky for you, I do the dirty work so you don't have to!

This week I tried out the popular Physique 57, the class Kelly Ripa credits with giving her that famously ripped body.

57 is a cardiovascular class using isometric exercises and your own body weight to create long, lean muscles all within a 57 minute window.

Upon viewing the class level options, Beginner to Advanced, my friend Cristina and I chose to try out the "Open" level (for anyone).

When we arrived we were informed we had to wear socks for the workout...no problem except mine were covered in tractors while she was sporting a mis-matched neon pair. Needless to say, we were quite the spectacle.The instructor took this as a sign that we were new, and quickly informed us that we were in for a challenge.

The class began with a sequence of arm exercises on the carpeted floor and I was quickly aware of what the instructor was referring to. 57 is no joke. It's an extremely fast-paced routine that fatigues the muscles in one position, and quickly moves on to the next. Before I knew it, we were up at the barre.

The next 30 minutes we piled, thrusted, and dipped till our bodies burned out. All the lunges and squats of my exercise career never produced the pain of these subtle but serious moves.

While on the barre we used bands and small exercise balls to add variation to the movements. As I said before, it was obvious I was a beginner when my ball slipped from between my inexperienced thighs.

Despite the difficulty of the class, I was extremely pleased to find that this class was exactly what it promised to be, an intense innovative introduction to barre workouts. I can see exactly why Ripa worships this workout!

57 has three studios in New York and one in the heart of Beverly Hills, with classes starting at a staggering $30 a pop. Although I think it's worth it if you can afford it, there are other options too...

Co-founder Tanya Becker has a series of workout videos that cover everything you do in the class! Considering all you need is a barre (use the back of your chair), a ball, and a thick band, you can easily do this workout at home.