The Bar Method, San Diego

In 1959, German dancer Lotte Berk turned a back injury into the beginnings of a fitness phenomenon. Whether it took clairvoyant foresight, a prophesy spelled out in alphabet soup, or just plain stubbornness in order to dance her way through an injury, no one knows, but her combination of ballet training and rehabilitation therapy formed the foundation of The Lotte Berk Method exercise studio.

In 2001, after decades of running her own Lotte Berk studio, journalist and entrepreneur Burr Leonard teamed with a physical therapist to refine the movements of this workout to target specific muscles while reducing the impact on joints. The result became known as the Bar Method. Since the opening of Burr’s first studio, The Bar Method franchise has grown to more than 60 locations in the United States and Canada. More than 80,000 students take these classes per month, including celebrities like Drew Barrymore, Ricki Lake, and Anna Paquin.