It’s a damp and dreary Monday lunchtime when Jen Brown, the founder of beloved barre platform Meet You At The Barre, bounds in to our local cafe for this interview. And bounds really is the right word: while she regales me with tales of her stressful morning (and, to be fair, her life is hectic – four children, a dog and a six-figure business will do that), she exudes the kind of energy most of us can only dream of.
At 47, Brown is one of the most popular and recognisable online fitness trainers in the UK right now. From humble beginnings teaching barre for beginners to a few hundred local mums almost six years ago, her platform now attracts thousands of visitors each year, coming for the Barre workouts but staying for the community that she credits with being a lifeline for midlife women.
And while it’s clear that Brown has both style and substance in spades, she’s nothing if not relatable. She makes no bones about the fact that she’d never even had a ballet lesson before training to become a barre instructor, while she’s endearingly self-deprecating over her inability to keep time to music in class or (whisper it) remember her left from her right (and that’s all of us, no?)
Pull up a chair and enjoy; it’s clear that Brown loves women, and is passionate about us all – whether we’re young, old or in between – moving our bodies with joy and purpose, not out of a sense of guilt or duty.
She shares her inspirational story below, but in the meantime, do take a peek at our guides to the best at-home Barre exercises, the many benefits of Barre, and one MC UK staffer’s Barre review. We’ve also got round-ups of the best workouts for beginners, everything you need to know about low-intensity strength training, the best beginner’s strength training workouts, and all the different types of strength training, here.
Jen Brown: “Midlife wellbeing has become a business – but all you really need to focus on are the basics”
“As a child, I played so much sport. I was quite a wild teenager, but sport kept me on the straight and narrow. Team sports were really important to me, but it wasn’t until I had my first son in 2008 that movement became a real lifeline for me.”
“I became very ill with post-natal depression, and was hospitalised a couple of times. It crippled me, yet I’d never been an anxious person. One of the things I managed to do in that first year was join a gym and hire a personal trainer – and I found that movement brought me back to myself in a way nothing else could. Out of the depths of this abyss, I started to recognise a part of myself again, when I had felt completely lost.”
“I’d been a teacher previously, and it just made sense to me to retrain as a personal trainer after what I’d been through. When you go through something as extreme as what I experienced, I felt so grateful that I’d been able to navigate this quagmire of horridness and come out the other side. I felt incredibly motivated to help other women dealing with similar issues, so I became a pre- and post-natal trainer – and I loved it.”
“I did this for ten years, had two more children, and then when I turned 40, I started to notice that my body was beginning to hurt. My hips were sore, I felt exhausted rather than energised after working out, and everything that I’d always known was flipped on its head.”
“So, I had to find something new – and because I knew about women’s health, I knew enough to realise that I had to seek out low-impact workouts. I heard about barre, and I signed up to train as a barre instructor without ever having taken a class!”
“I’ve never had a ballet lesson in my life, I have no sense of rhythm and barely know my left from my right, but I loved it. It felt like coming home. It was so hard, but so fun at the same time, because you’re constantly moving, and working each muscle group to exhaustion and then moving on, so it feels bearable. Just.”
“I found the training really challenging, but I instantly made the decision to close down my PT business and set up a barre studio. I knew I’d found my raison d’être. It was almost as if everything in my life so far had been leading up to that moment.”
“I knew I needed to work, but I’d just had my fourth baby, and with four children under the age of ten, work needed to work for me, too. So I decided to gamble on investing in a home studio, without ever expecting it to become what it is today.”
“At the time, barre was having a moment, and I was lucky enough to work with amazing women who spread the word about my classes, so my studio was full straight away. And then Covid hit.”
“It felt so bleak – I just wasn’t sure how to continue, but I decided to take my classes online, and coached around 300 women four times a week. Then suddenly my phone started blowing up, and it turned out I’d been featured in an article about the best home workouts to do online.”
“I don’t think you get many moments in your life that are pivotal, but this was. My online classes went from 300 to 2,000 women overnight – my leap of faith had paid off. It was unbelievable.”
“It wasn’t all positive, mind – some parts were pretty stressful, and I remember having such bad imposter syndrome. I was having to learn so much as I went along – how to film, how to edit, and how to deal with rubbish internet, to name a few. But my community was so supportive, and they rallied around me to help with social media, and with the need-to-knows about cameras, and so on – and we were off.”
“After a few months of running it for free, I turned it into a fee-paying platform. While I got 500 members on my first day, I won’t lie – the first few years were terrifying, and it took me a long time to get on top of all the basics.”
“I think what makes barre so special is that it feels like serious exercise, but crucially, without the punishment. Our bodies do so much for us, and midlife is hard enough. We’re sold a narrative that we’re not enough, but my firm belief (and one I always strive to share with my community) is that midlife bodies don’t need ‘fixing’. If we turn that narrative off, there’s so much joy to be found in movement.”
“There’s so much noise out there when it comes to midlife and wellness, but I really encourage people to look at the basics: how you’re sleeping, eating, moving and how you’re thinking – and that doesn’t require any money. These might not seem sexy, but they’re free, and if you get them right, then you can start to think about everything else on top of that.”
“Barre gives energy back – it doesn’t take it away. Women in midlife have been conditioned to see exercise as penance – joy has been marketed as frivolous. But fun doesn’t mean ineffective: laughter, music and pleasure don’t detract from the results – they’re what make you consistent.”
“Just imagine if your workout was something you actively looked forward to – not just the way it makes you feel afterwards, but how you feel during the class, too. That’s what I wanted to create for women. Don’t get me wrong, everything has its place. I’m a huge fan of both strength training and Pilates, and I feel like barre falls somewhere in the middle. Many of the barre moves have their roots in Pilates, and it has the mindfulness and precision of the practice, but combined with muscular endurance that really builds strength. So you’re getting the benefits of both these disciplines in one fun workout.”
“Barre is greater than the sum of its parts; the music, movement and mindfulness create a kind of alchemy that’s pure magic. But the very best part of it all is my amazing members – from the start, this group of women have been incredible. We’ve learned together, and I always wanted to build a platform that would suit the everyday, midlife woman that I am – and that all my members are. I’m not perfect, I don’t work out every day – we’re all juggling an awful lot, we have 100 other concerns – motherhood, logistics, mess, admin, chaos – you name it.”
“I needed the workouts to be as quick, effective, convenient and enjoyable as possible from the outset, as well as inclusive and accessible for all women, no matter their previous experience or ability.”
“I take a different approach to a lot of other trainers, in that I encourage my clients to focus on how they want to feel, and certainly not what they look like. There’s no way around our bodies changing as we age, so we have to work with them, not against them.”
Brown’s top 5 tips for starting (and sticking to) an exercise habit in midlife
1. Start small – smaller than you think!
“We’ve all had that thought, haven’t we, that we’re going to turn over a new leaf and suddenly start exercising seven days a week. But if a habit isn’t sustainable (and working out every day really isn’t sustainable or advisable!) then you’re going to break it,” she shares.
Her top tip? “When you fail, you’ll be almost further back than when you started, because you’ve dented your confidence. Instead, start small – think two 20-minute sessions a week to begin with.”
2. Work with the schedule that you’ve got, not the one you’d like to have
“This comes back to being realistic,” Brown goes on. “Work out how much time you have, ringfence that time in your diary like it’s a work meeting or a dentist appointment, and stick to it.”
Think of it this way – if you go into your day thinking you can fit a workout in “at some point”, that point will likely never come as other things take priority. “There’s always something else on the to-do list, especially in midlife, when everyone else’s needs come above our own.”
3. Smooth out sources of friction
This one’s important. “Make exercising as easy as you can for yourself,” Brown advises. “Any bumps in the road can quickly derail our best intentions and progress.”
If you can wake up and throw on your workout kit first thing, do that. She also advises having your session planned out – the last thing you want to be doing is spending the first 15 minutes of a 45-minute session searching online for a class. “Have it all sorted and ready to go, so you can maximise your workout time,” she goes on.
4. Find the workout that brings you joy
Again, this is a really simple tip, but one that’s key if you’re going to stick to movement long term. “Find something that brings you joy. If you’re stuck even thinking about what this might be, go back to your childhood and look at the things you did as a kid that made you feel happy. What did you use to enjoy doing? If it were dancing, you’d probably enjoy barre. If you loved riding your bike, the chances are you’ll still enjoy doing that.”
Brown adds: “It’s about finding your thing – it’s not all about the latest trend.”
5. Be prepared to fail
Last but by no means least, remember that failure is a part of life and things will get in the way, especially in midlife – that doesn’t make you a failure. “This is a really important one. It’s not the failing that matters; it’s how quickly you get back to the habit. It’s also not a one-and-done scenario – if you accept that there are going to be bumps in the road, and you can plan the contingency sessions, then you can get straight back to it rather than berating yourself.”
“Remember: consistency over perfection every time. You’re allowed to rest and recover, so make sure you schedule this in too – a lot of work is done by the body while you’re not working out.”
Shop MC UK-approved fit kit now:
Sweaty Betty Power Pulse Bra
You can’t go far wrong with a Sweaty Betty bra, and we love the power pulse style. Perfect for medium-impact workouts, it’ll keep you comfortable and supported no matter how sweaty you get.
Fp Movement X Bala Exclusive Bangles 2 Lb. Weights
While you don’t need any equipment for a decent barre workout, popping these weighted bangles around your wrists and/or ankles will really up the ante. Get ready for that infamous barre shake!