Will Pilates, barre, weight training, and increasing your step count be sufficient to give you a “snatched” physique in a short period of time? Yes, the TikTokers say.
Natalie Rose, @natalieroseuk, a Pilates and barre instructor based in the UK and the creator of the online Body by Barre Studio, popularized the 3-2-8 workout in late 2022 after a quick Tiktok video teaser garnered over 1.4 million views.
She promised results in just three months in the title of a six-second Tikok video with 2.9 million views: “My not-so-secret method that will leave you feeling snatched and strong.”
According to her Body by Barre website, the fitness guru developed the 3-2-8 approach to assist time-pressed fitness devotees to get the most out of their workouts in less time. It involves weekly strength training workouts, low-impact pilates or barre workouts, and averaging 8,000 steps a day. It is more of a fitness plan or routine than a single exercise. Rose claims that the approach has a number of advantages, such as less inflammation, control over period cycles, and weight loss.
On TikTok, the search term “328 pilates” has had over 3.3 million views, with thousands of videos of users praising its advantages. Yet what do authorities say?
The 3-2-8 Barre Pilates Workout Plan: What Is It?
Rose released a follow-up video on TikTok describing the 3-2-8 barre Pilates approach in detail after her first video went popular. You are expected to walk an average of 8,000 steps each day and complete three weighted workouts, two low-impact Pilates or barre workouts, and three weighted workouts per week.
Rose advises sticking with the strategy for three months to get the most out of it.
On the “weighted workout days,” a full-body strength training program is what you want to perform. However, you can divide it into an all-body, lower-body, and upper-body day.
At least every four to six weeks, you should gradually increase the intensity of your weighted workouts (i.e., add additional weight to your exercises).
Those are active recovery days for the two low-impact Pilates or barre workouts each week. Exercise at the barre or Pilates at home. She asserts that these workouts provide a wide range of advantages, such as less inflammation, increased flexibility, and core strengthening. She adds that they help with lymphatic drainage, which Rose claims is beneficial for bloating when you’re on your period.
She claims that increasing your daily step count to 8,000 can help you burn an additional 300 calories.
What 3-2-8 Barre Pilates Workout Experts and Medical Professionals Think About It
In Beverly Hills, California, celebrity trainer Nonna Gleyzer is also a licensed Pilates instructor. She supports the weightlifting, Pilates, and barre-walking combo training approach.
The emphasis on muscle-building is beneficial.
According to Gleyzer, weightlifting helps elongate and strengthen muscles, Pilates or barre routines increase core strength and flexibility while lengthening muscles and cardio increases stamina and promotes metabolism. The three methods can be combined, according to her, “allowing the body to be targeted in a different way without reaching a plateau.”
This emphasis on muscular strengthening has many advantages, says Elizabeth C. Gardner, MD, associate professor of orthopedic surgery and sports medicine at Yale Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut.
While Pilates and barre are low-impact exercises (meaning the movements don’t put a lot of pressure on the joints), they do emphasize balance, mobility, and endurance strength (building your capacity to hold body positions for a while or to perform a resistance exercise in a slow, controlled manner), according to the expert. These exercises are a great supplement to strength training or high-impact cardiovascular activity.
It might not provide you with the necessary cardio.
According to Gardner, the plan leaves a lot of details up to whoever is implementing it to figure out. (like length, pace, and overall intensity of the workouts). In the end, she explains, a variety of distinct workouts and fitness regimens can be incorporated into the 3-2-8 structure.
This means that you will be in charge of selecting workouts that fit within those parameters if you want the exercise to be effective and count toward the advised amount of activity, which is 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise and two days of muscle-strengthening activity, according to the most recent Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“It doesn’t necessarily include the moderate intensity cardiovascular exercise that we know to be important for optimum health,” she continues regarding the plan.
You should feel a little out of breath while engaging in moderate-intensity aerobics, according to Gardner. You should be able to talk, but you’ll find it much harder than if you were sitting down or taking a leisurely stroll.
You might be reaching the HHS physical activity standards if your daily steps come from brisk walking, jogging, or another moderate-intensity exercise. But that isn’t a requirement of the plan.
If the tempo and intensity are high enough, a barre or Pilates workout may count, but others don’t, according to her. In a similar vein, if your strength training exercises include cardio (such as a HIIT session), those could assist you in meeting your requirement for aerobic activity. However, Gardner emphasizes that not all strength training exercises will.
Be Wary of the Plan’s Claims to Improve Lymphatic Drainage and Regulate Your Cycle
Gardner asserts that Rose’s statements that the exercise technique helps to reduce inflammation are true. According to her, “controlled stretches can aid in enhancing flexibility and reducing inflammation in the muscles and soft tissues that accumulate during higher impact activity.”
The intensity and duration of the workouts you choose, as well as (in a large sense) your nutrition, will ultimately determine how much weight you lose, in addition to whether or not you follow the 3-2-8 rules, adds Gardner.
Gardner is more dubious about the other claims about the control of the menstrual cycle and lymphatic drainage. I really can’t comment on lymphatic drainage and period regulation because I haven’t heard anything about those topics, she says.
Who Should Try the 3-2-8 Workout Plan (and Who Shouldn’t)?
The 3-2-8 workout is an excellent framework for everyone, from beginners to experienced workouts, as the training plan doesn’t always prescribe specific exercises. The focus on strength training, regular daily exercise, and active recuperation is a fantastic structure, according to Dr. Gardner, and it can change as a person’s conditioning improves.
However, if you’re starting off with exercise or returning to it after a long gap, remember to gently into it.
Gleyzer concurs, saying, “Start slowly and carefully at the beginning and increase intensity as you get stronger.”
Jacqueline “JT” Lloyd, a qualified Pilates instructor and ISSA-licensed personal trainer located in Los Angeles who instructs online programs for The Pilates Class, adds, “And always listen to your body.”
If you are a newbie and have never worked out with weights before, she advises starting with lesser weights and gradually working your way up to a stronger resistance. Watch training videos online from reliable sources, enroll in a class, or, if it’s an option for you, think about scheduling some time (even just a session or two) with a personal trainer to learn the fundamentals. This will help you learn perfect form and reduce your chance of injury.
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If you have any heart, lung, or other medical conditions that would make it difficult for you to properly exercise, Gardner advises speaking with your doctor first. People who are expecting should see their doctors before beginning or changing their fitness regimens.
The 3-2-8 Barre Pilates Workout in Summary
The 3-2-8 Barre Pilates routine is recommended by experts as being healthy for your physique.
“It is a useful framework for assisting people in organizing and scheduling their weekly workouts. Strength training and active recovery days are also emphasized, which are crucial, particularly as we get older, according to Gardner.
But if you haven’t made time for this before or in a while, Lloyd warns, it could feel like a lot of workouts to add to your schedule. Anyone who begins the program, Lloyd advises, should strive to commit to hitting those days, but they should also pay attention to their bodies demands and not be too hard on themselves. If you must, take it easy on the active recovery days.
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She thinks that occasionally, “all you might need is a good stretch or a 30-minute yoga flow.” However, continue to move your body every day and work on making time for exercise a habit. This can be a highly effective way to start living an active lifestyle.
If you’re following this plan, be sure to assess if you’re getting the suggested 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise. Aerobic exercise is crucial.
