Brian Vande Krol
February 8, 2018 13:22
Yes, I'm the guy. Not that guy, just the guy. In a class of 20 - 30 people, I'm usually the only male. Perhaps I'm the only guy out there with persistent back pain, the only one that regularly sees a physical therapist just to keep moving.
Since starting Bar Method classes, I've only been back to my physical therapist a couple of times, and not at all in the last two months. My back feels better than it has in years.
It might be tough for most men to go to the classes, because our fragile egos don't allow us to see women kicking our asses in a workout. But I've watched women kick my ass in every sport I've done - rock climbing, skydiving, snowboarding, triathlon, you name it. I'm over it. I can handle "getting chicked". Unless you're at the top of your game, there is always someone better, and it might be a woman. Or many women.
Sure, the music is not very manly. I make up for it by not wearing spandex.
It's a tough workout. Perhaps I'm invading women's space, perhaps they scowl at me for being there. I don't notice. I'm suffering silently in my own pain cave. I think more than likely, they either laugh at my incompetence and weakness, or they pity my feebleness. It doesn't matter. I'm there for me and my poor, tired, aching old back.
I think I might even be developing a six-pack, but I keep it hidden under a layer of fat, so as not to be too intimidating.
So I give it four stars. I would give it five stars if, just once per class, they played some ZZ Top, or Judas Priest.