Siri Nordhejm arrived in China from Denmark in 2011, and is now well known in the community as a fitness entrepreneur, awesome instructor and busy mother of three.
Having worked in the fitness industry for the last 13 years, she has a personal commitment to being healthy, staying active and inspiring positive change in others.
Ann MacLellan, former UK national level figure skater and mother of two, also arrived in China in 2011. Hailing from Scotland, she studied sports management and has worked in the health and fitness industry for more than 26 years.
She is an experienced group exercise instructor with a passion for training fellow instructors, but also has been part of the sales, marketing and operations side of the industry in the UK.
Ann MacLellan (L) & Siri Nordhejm (R)
Together they founded MYbarre, opening their first Shanghai Studio in 2022, followed quickly by two more in 2023 and 2024. With their expansion into Shenzhen, we sat down with them to find out more about their growing empire.
What is MYbarre?
We are a group exercise studio specializing in barre fitness; MYbarre is a full body workout inspired by ballet and Pilates movements combined with functional fitness training.
The MYbarre program is for all levels and welcomes everyone! Our classes are designed using compound movements (where we work more than one muscle group at a time) and isometric moves (holding positions) to really help target trouble zones – glutes, thighs, abdominals and arms.
This combination of exercise styles and movement sequences is designed to lift, tone, and burn calories. Our workouts help you sweat, sculpt, strengthen, and stretch, creating long, lean muscles and a lighter body. Students will leave feeling both powerful and graceful after these cardio and sculpting sessions.
Taking MYbarre three to five times per week, you can expect to see a more lifted booty, strong core, and lean sculpted arms and legs. The key to success in fitness training is to be consistent and have variety in your training.
How did MYbarre come about?
MYbarre was created by Siri and I in Shanghai in 2016 through a friendship and passion for barre fitness.
We are the pioneers of barre fitness in China; Siri brought the first barre program to Shanghai in her previous fitness venture here 12 years ago. But we knew we could make it better.
So, with our 30 years of combined group exercise teaching experience and knowledge from all fields of exercise, we created our own format, choreography, instructor training program… and now stand alone studios.
As busy moms, entrepreneurs and fitness lovers we had a desire to create not only a fitness program but a community for instructors and students that welcomes everyone, that empowers, supports and inspires people to transform their mind and body.
Tell us about the studios…
Our Shanghai Studios are in Jing’an, the former French Concession and Xintiandi, with one more in Changning opening this October.
Our first studio in Shenzhen is opening on October 8 and is located on the third floor of PAFC Mall in Futian District.
We will offer a full range of MYbarre programs here and are super excited to enter the vibrant Shenzhen fitness community in the heart of the city!
What can people expect?
A very minimal design but warm feeling; a community hub for barre and fitness lovers to train, connect with us and other like-minded people.
The studios are bright and light with all mats and equipment provided for every class. We have female and male changing rooms with showers, towels and toiletries, and a reception social community area.
We offer membership packages of different levels; you can join and book classes directly on our WeChat mini program. We also offer a trial class for free.
What kind of classes do you offer?
We have six amazing workout programs, energizing workouts to great music, with moves that are easy to follow, each one fun and challenging.
Always inspired by ballet, Pilates and fitness and moves with flowing lines and challenging positions, each one has a different focus:
MYbarre BASIC – Learn the moves and take your first steps in barre
MYbarre CLASSIC – Sculpt and tone in a full body workout
MYbarre CORE – Challenge the legs and define the core muscles of the body
MYbarre CARDIO – Sweat, jump and burn calories
MYbarre RESTORE – Improve flexibility and mobility in this slower paced class
MYbarre CURVES – Level up challenging barre moves and heavier resistance
Any further plans expansion?
We would love to grow our studio portfolio; as the membership base increases, we plan to offer more locations around Shanghai and Shenzhen in the next year covering the key residential and business districts.
Watch out 2025 for China expansion!
You are also big on social media – what platforms are you on?
We have MYbarre official account on WeChat, where we keep our students and guests up to date with class news, events and training courses.
We also have Xiaohongshu, where we upload short workouts you can do at home every week. We just hit 47k followers last month, which we are super excited about and can’t wait to keep creating new content for these dedicated barre fans!
MYbarre is also on bilibili, where you can find longer workouts if you want to take your home fitness to the next level.
Any exciting plans for the future?
This year we can’t wait to offer more classes and meet more students in our studios – growing with the community is important to us!
We will of course upload more workouts to our social medial platforms, run some in-person fitness events and parties and, of course, build our MYbarre Instructor community.
We are always looking for talented trainers to join our team and offer an in-depth instructor training program and journey.
We’re excited to plié, pulse, and passé our way into Shenzhen!
Shenzhen Presale Offer
Get ready to jumpstart your fitness journey with MYbarre’s Shenzhen Presale Offer, available until October 14!
Pay RMB300, get RMB300 in coupons (3x RMB100 coupons).
To grab this fantastic deal, click on ‘Top Up’ in the MYbarre Mini Program.
For the MYbarre Mini Program, scan this QR:
And follow MYbarre on WeChat and receive your first class free – search ‘MYbarre’ or scan the QR:
[All images courtesy of MYbarre]
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