Meredith Latimer, Deanna Pizitz, Amy McCool - Pure Barre 280
To owners Deanna Pizitz, Amy McCool and Meredith Latimer, Pure Barre 280 is “much more than a workout.”
It’s a community, and it has been since Pizitz opened Pure Barre 280 in February 2011.
“I fell in love with the Pure Barre technique and wanted to share it with others,” Pizitz said. “It was exciting. I learned a lot. The community in the 280 area was very welcoming and excited to be getting a new innovative type of exercise built on community.”
Pure Barre 280 aims to provide a welcoming environment where clients’ exercise and even relational needs can be met in what McCool described as a “support network.”
Women of all ages come for 55 minute, full body workout sessions that focus on muscles most desired to tone. Latimer explained that Pure Barre implements upbeat music and “small, isometric movements” to tone the core, arms, thighs and buttocks. In-between class sections, muscles are stretched to lengthen. “So we build long, lean muscles,” Latimer said.
Toning results are noticeable after 10 classes.
McCool said, “It’s only your own body weight that you’re using, and so it’s safe for people who have injuries or are recovering from a surgery, and it caters to women of all age ranges. So there’s always modifications.”
According to Latimer, Pure Barre workouts are low to no impact and safe for joints. “We say that if you can hold onto the barre, you can do Pure Barre,” she said.
Latimer, McCool and Pizitz made their Pure Barre beginnings as clients at the studio in Homewood. After becoming friends, McCool and Latimer became sisters-in-law. Ultimately, the three women became co-owners of Pure Barre 280 in December 2014 after Latimer and McCool purchased ownership from previous Homewood studio co-owners.
Pure Barre 280 offers first-time clients a four-week trial of unlimited classes for $99. A special New Year’s resolution deal for the month of January 2017 provides five-week, unlimited classes trial for the same price.
To complement the Pure Barre workout, Pure Barre 280 recently added a cardio class called Pure Barre Platform. Now clients can achieve all the exercise they need.
“It’s almost like interval training,” Latimer said. “You get your heart rate up, you take it down, you still tone each section of your body, still stretch everything out, but you get that cardio aspect.”
A retail shop is open in the Pure Barre lobby, providing a selection of various “street to studio” apparel and accessories.
Pizitz, Latimer and McCool said they enjoy getting to know their customers, even those just who stop by the shop to check out the merchandise.
The owners’ greatest appeal to the business, McCool said, is less the “business side of the things” and more “the clients that are coming through the door.”
“So it’s a lot more about the community that we create within the doors,” Latimer added.
► WHERE: 610 Inverness Corners, Hoover
► CALL: 991-5224
► WEBSITE: purebarre.com/al-280
