(Note: This post contains affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission for sharing my love of this amazing product when you shop using my link. This commission comes at no cost to you and actually entitles you to a discount on the product.)
It’s safe to say I love barre.
As a Barre Above Master Trainer, I’ve certified almost 200 new barre instructors across the West Coast.
And inevitably when the discussion leads to barre equipment needs, one of the hot topics is the ballet barre itself.
(Spoiler alert–you don’t technically need a barre to have a barre class. BUT it does give you a lot more variety within your choreography and–obviously–feels the most like barre class when you actually have a barre.)
For professional studios, of course, there are great mounted barre options. But when installing barres isn’t an option, the question would always come up around free-standing barres. Until recently, I didn’t really recommend investing in free-standing barres.
For one, most free standing barres I had priced out were alarmingly more expensive than you’d think–like in the $400 range!
Secondly, I saw no advantage to free-standing ballet barres as none of the ones I’d ever used were actually weight-bearing (meaning that you couldn’t push or pull against it–so what was the point? May as well just use a chair back.)
That’s why when I started filming free online barre workout videos, I’d just go bareless or else use a chairback. It limited my choreography, but what was I gonna do? And even if I went to the trouble to mount my own barre permanently in my home, I knew most of my students wouldn’t have a DIY ballet barre wall mount solution.
So when Savvier fitness went to market with the Booty Kicker just a couple months before gyms started closing down due to the pandemic, it was almost like they had a crystal ball that we barre-lovers needed something to get us through our home barre workouts!
Why do I love the Booty Kicker so much? Let me count the ways…
First, it’s unbelievably affordable. When you shop using an affiliate link, it’s less than $80 compared to the $400+ I had priced out before when comparison shopping!
Second, it’s weight-bearing. Believe me when I say that this is the part that made it a total game-changer for me! Loads of barre exercise options open up knowing that it can support your weight when you push or pull against it, and also by wrapping banded tubing around it you can explore even more options!
Third, it’s portable and collapsible. You get the best of both worlds with it being weight-bearing on the one hand, but also easily collapsible on the other hand–whether you want to slide it under a bed when not in use or take it with you. The weight slots at the bottom give you the option to slide regular hand weights in to make it sturdy for pushing and pulling, and then they can be removed to fold up the barre and move it around–reducing it to only 7 lbs.
I’ll often take mine outside when the weather is nice, which I wouldn’t be able to do if I’d done a DIY ballet barre wall mount.
With so many people moving to creative workout solutions now that gyms are still not all up and running, and many people favoring outdoor workouts, I even have some instructor friends who will gather their friends and neighbors outside where they set up their Booty Kickers and turn the great outdoors into a pop-up barre studio!
It’s been so fun to hear feedback from my virtual students who work out with me via my YouTube free barre workout videos, who have ordered a Booty Kicker through my affiliate link and enjoy using it along with my home workouts.
If you don’t have one yet, I’m happy to share that Savvier has offered a generous $20 off and a free Bender Ball when you order your Booty Kicker using this affiliate link
(Which is awesome because I also have a whole playlist of Bender Ball Workouts).
Let me know if you give the Booty Kicker a try! I’d love to work out together virtually using it. 🙂
And in case you’re more of a visual person, I’ve put together a little video here below to showcase why I love it so much.
Mariah Secrest-Comer is a lover of mindful movement modalities and making them accessible to all. With management experience spanning from the nonprofit sector to the fitness franchise studio setting to wellness resort programming, she also assists other fitness instructors in developing their business acumen–especially in the online space. She additionally serves as a Master Trainer for Barre Above and Balletone. She is married to the love of her life–Jeff Comer, a hospital CEO with doctoral studies in stress management and a certification in yoga! (They met in a yoga class he was teaching.) They have two chihuahuas, one horse, and are adopting a baby from China.
