By Joie Goh
If you’re a regular at WeBarre, you might’ve caught BFFs Ain and Ashikin attending classes together, often twinning in matching WeBarre outfits! Here, they share more about how attending classes together has deepened their decade-long friendship.
First Spark of Friendship
According to Ain and Ashikin, their first meeting was back in junior college, during a school competition.
“I met her in the toilet!” Ashikin recalls. “Like, the first time I met her was in the toilet!”
That one chance meeting has since matured into a deep friendship that has lasted more than 10 years.
Their WeBarre Journey Together
Ashikin started going to WeBarre after she gave birth, and attended a WeBarre Mums & Bubs class with her daughter Aishah.
“And I loved it! It was love at first barre,” she says. “And so then I got back and I told all my friends, oh my God! You have to start trying this thing! It’s new, it’s interesting. It’s not Pilates, it’s more than that.”
Ain was attending Pilates classes and boxing, and took Ashikin up on her offer. They began attending classes on Wednesdays at 5:45pm at Telok Ayer, and never stopped.
When the pandemic happened, they immediately switched to taking WeBarre Virtual classes because they wanted to keep up with their fitness journey once studios had reopened again.
“I guess with the virtual classes, it was a little easier for us to exercise, right,” Ain explains. “You just need to switch on your laptop.”
“Circuit breaker was when we saw each other everyday for WeBarre Virtual!” Ashikin adds.
Barre-dy Highlights
Last year, Ain contemplated attending the WeBarre Instructor Training.
“I was like, do I want to go for the training? Should I? Should I?” Ain says. “And Ashikin was like, ‘DO IT! It’s the best thing you will do for yourself this year!’”
When Ain completed her training, Ashikin was one of her first attendees at her Friends & Family class.
“According to Gretel, I was quite an ‘auntie’,” Ain confesses self-deprecatingly.
“It wasn’t the ‘clubbing’ Barre session for me,” Ashikin continues, laughing. “But so that Ain wouldn’t be embarrassed, I made sure that the two weeks before, I kept consistently going for Barre and making sure my form was on par!”
For the besties, their barre-dy friendship can be described as Ashikin always pushing Ain to take her Barre practice a step further, while Ain was encouraging Ashikin to stay consistent in her fitness journey.
A Barre-dy Retreat
“I attended the retreat in 2019 to Maldives and I really wanted Shikin to come down with me, but it was not meant to be,” Ain recalls.
“That’s right, because my daughter was 2 at that time and I couldn’t leave her,” Ashikin adds. “That’s why I didn’t go to Maldives with her, and to be honest, it was my biggest regret of my whole WeBarre journey!”
So, in July 2021, when WeBarre launched its first-ever WeBarre Retreat locally at W Singapore, the BFFs decided that they absolutely had to attend it together.
“It really strengthened our friendship because when you ‘travel’ with another person, you’re stuck with them for 24/7 right?” Ashikin says. “And we didn’t drive each other crazy!”
Accountability Barre-dies
“I speak for the both of us when I say this: we probably wouldn’t be as consistent and wouldn’t go for Barre as often because we don’t have someone keeping us accountable, or cheering us on,” Ain says.
And it truly shows! The pair divulged that they share account details so that one or the other could help each other book for classes at noon, when the schedule is released, so they wouldn’t end up waitlisted for their favorite classes.
“Also I get quite comfortable when I’m exercising, but Ain is always pushing me to take the heavier weights or the more challenging options!” Ashikin adds.
Advice For Newbies
“Find a barre-dy!” Ashikin declares. “Find a barre-dy who encourages you, and who’s always there to keep cheering you on.”
“And a barre-dy who checks your form, makes sure you are doing the right pliés,” Ain continues.
And, gesturing to their matching Plié, Passé, Relevé, PARTAY tanks, they conclude: “And also encourages you to keep buying new merch!”
