Beginner Barre Workout With Fitness Expert Kathy Smith

This video is part of the 30-Day Couch-to-Fit Challenge designed to help you improve strength, cardio, balance and flexibility. Start the challenge here: aarp.org/CouchToFit

You can try these basic barre moves at home to tone your legs and core.

Key takeaways

• Transform your routine with Kathy Smith’s beginner barre moves — no prior dance experience required.
• Maximize results by using Smith’s expert form cues for better strength, posture and stability.
• Strengthen and sculpt legs and core with simple, low-impact barre exercises at home.

Summary

Beginner barre workouts at home are a simple yet powerful way to sculpt and tone your legs and core. Fitness expert Kathy Smith breaks down barre basics you can do in your living room — no ballet background or fancy equipment needed. Using a kitchen counter or sturdy chair for support, you’ll move through pliés in a V shape, pulsing in second position, and classic arabesques to activate both large and small muscle groups. Smith’s expert form cues — keeping shoulders stacked over hips, engaging your core and using controlled, precise movements — help you build strength, flexibility and balance without high-impact stress.

Barre exercises like these are accessible for beginners but deliver noticeable benefits: improved posture, leaner muscles and increased core stability. Add a few extra reps or circles each week, and you’ll start to feel the magic — especially in your legs and glutes. Whether you’re new to fitness or looking to refresh your workout routine, this beginner barre workout offers a low-impact, high-results option you can confidently do at home. 

The key takeaways and summary were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

Full Transcript:

[00:00:00] Hi, I’m Kathy Smith, and here are some basic barre moves you can try at home. So barre workouts have been the rage for a while now, and for good reason.

[00:00:08] They have some great toning benefits for your legs as well as your core. In a barre class, you would do this at a ballet bar, but at

[00:00:15] home, try using a kitchen counter or the back of a sturdy chair. So if you’re ready, let’s get started with a simple plié.

[00:00:24] So standing with your feet together, supporting yourself on the chair. What I want you to do is turn out those feet into a pie shape.

[00:00:31] We call it the V shape. Heels are glued together. Now, coming up on your toes as you lift your heels.

[00:00:38] Just lift them an inch, just something that’s comfortable for you. And now bend the knees down, and come back up again. Down and up.

[00:00:44] Now this down and up motion. Each time you go down, find the range that’s right for you, but make sure your

[00:00:49] shoulders are stacked over your hips. And as you come down, I want you to think this time of just holding it at the bottom of your range.

[00:00:56] And now give me an inch up, inch down. Inchup. And each time you come up, I want you to think inner thigh, outer

[00:01:03] thigh, squeezing up and down. Now just hold it down there, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it. Come all the way back up.

[00:01:09] And let’s take it into second position. So take it down, and this time I want you to hold it down there and lift up one of your heels.

[00:01:18] It can be just a little lift or a little higher, whatever’s comfortable for you. And now just pulse it right there.

[00:01:23] Gimme a small pulse. It’s just that inch up and down. OK, after about 10 seconds, let’s put that heel down and switch sides.

[00:01:30] Do the same thing on the other side. You’re feeling it in the legs right now. That’s good. Press that heel down. Come all the way back up to standing. To really work the glutes,

[00:01:40] let’s try the arabesque. So putting both hands on your chair, extend your leg back, and then at a 45-degree angle.

[00:01:48] Remember, long spine, core engaged, long back. And now lift the leg up and drop it right to the floor.

[00:01:54] And as you’re starting out, think about just an inch up and then touch the floor.

[00:02:00] Think long with that working leg. But notice my standing leg is slightly bent, taking the

[00:02:06] pressure off the kneecap there. And now if you can, just hold it up and lift it for 10 repetitions.

[00:02:13] Take it back down. Come back. Let’s release that hip a little bit, and let’s take that same movement,

[00:02:19] but we’re gonna add a circle to it. So take it back out. Turn it out. We’re pointed. And now lift it up.

[00:02:25] Gimme 1 circle, 2 circles if you can. One more circle and then drop it down.

[00:02:31] Now reverse it. Gimme 1, 2, 3. Drop it down, bring it back, and shake it out.

[00:02:38] Now, each week, you can add more circles to that, and you’re gonna start to feel it in the outer leg, in the outer seat, and it’s magic,

[00:02:46] let me tell you.