Shape Up NYC

After seeing The Avengers I decided I wanted to join the team and what better place to start than Barry’s Bootcamp. I had been hearing about it a lot recently. Especially in the twitter world, Kim Kardashian tweets about it on an almost regular basis.

When one of my good friend’s from SoulCyle invited me to go I knew I could not miss out on this opportunity. Barry’s Bootcamp was founded in West Hollywood, CA in 1998 by Barry Jay Stitch, John S. Mumford & Rachel Mumford. They wanted to create a no-nonsense workout that would provide the best cardio and strength training in one hour. In 2005  Joey Gonzalez joined and helped expand Barry’s to San Diego and New York (THANK YOU for bringing it to the East Coast).

Barry’s is made up of 2-30 minute segments, 6-10 minute segments or 4-15 minute segments depending on what workout the trainer wants to put you through and there is always a 5 minute cool down and stretch at the end. In the New York studio there is room for 40 people, 20 people start on the floor and 20 people start on the treadmill (Tip: Some people like to come early so they can get a spot for what they want to do first. I personally would like to do the treadmill first to get that pure evil over with but my friend insists we always start on the floor. It is totally personal preference.)

There is one trainer, who keeps time of everything and despite the fact that they have to manage two groups of people, they do a pretty amazing job. Every day of the week features a different workout, for New York the schedule is currently:

• Monday: Arms & Abs
• Tuesday: Butt, Legs & Shoulders
• Wednesday: Chest, Back & Abs
• Thursday: HARD Core
• Friday, Saturday & Sunday: Full Body
  • I should mention there is a “Dance party” on Saturday Nights

On Monday night I took my second Barry’s Bootcamp class, when you walk into the room it’s like walking into a dance club except with steps and treadmills. They have tinted red glowing lights, play awesome music and everyone is half-dressed so you can pretend like you are in a dance club and it actually might help you take your mind off the pain you’re putting your body through ( I promise this is the good kind of pain). The trainer that night was Patrick Frost who looked harmless at first but as soon as he said start was no longer harmless and his name became FROST. We did 4-15 minute segments, I started on the floor where we did an arm series with a body bar & resistance band and then we ended with an ab series. My face made a lot of funny faces going through this workout and my arms were screaming at me but I loved every second. After that we moved to my favorite part, the treadmill. On the treadmill we did a 15 minute set of jogs, runs, and pushes. FROST likes to say a jog is anywhere between a 5.5 to a 6.5, a run is a 7.5-9, and a push well that’s your highest push and he likes to see double digits. Not only did he have us doing 30 second pushes, we were doing runs on 5-8% inclines. I would like to say I was glistening during this workout but lets just face it, I was sweating my ass off. After we finished that torture we still had 2 sets left, one 15 minute set on the floor using a heavy dumbbell and another 15 minute set on the treadmill where FROST gave us a heart to heart and said listen I need you in your RED zone which to him is like a 12-15 on a treadmill, can you even go to a 15 on a treadmill? FROST all I have to say to you is, you are a total BADASS and I love it.

I am happy to report after we finished this workout I did not throw up and my fat was crying (Burn baby burn). I only found out after class that FROST said that was his 90%, which in my opinion I thought that was 110% so I am thinking the day he brings the 110% I will have thrown up at the end of class. I will keep you posted. Bottom line, it sounds a bit scary and that’s because it pushes you to where you didn’t think you could ever go. I did a sprint at a 9.5 on a treadmill, and I used to think a sprint was 7. This class is no-nonsense and you will see results. I have a very good feeling that if you did Barry’s Bootcamp 3x a week and ate a clean diet, you would see amazing results. “Burning fat, tightening up the body and building muscle has never been easier…” and that is because they don’t give you time to think about it, that hour is over before it started and you are out the door smiling about the insane workout you just accomplished.

So if you haven’t tried Barry’s Bootcamp, I highly recommend you try it once. Barry’s is expanding in New York, not only will they have the Chelsea studio, they are also opening a TriBeCa studio as well as a Hampton’s studio for your summer fun (no excuses). Prices in New York are as follows:

They also offer a couple of packages and they have the Academy where you go to Barry’s 5 days a week for 4 weeks, I want to try that so bad!! The cost of the Academy is $385 for 4 weeks. Not to bad if you can make the commitment but if you do this make sure that your diet is in check because you can NOT out-train a bad diet (just saying…).  Oh if you are wondering they do have a small locker room with two showers, free lockers and towels, and an amazing smoothie bar for your post workout protein shakes. If you want to take a class and don’t want to go alone, email me. I am always down for Barry’s Bootcamp!

• Share the Barry’s love on Facebook
• Tweet Barry’s
• If there isn’t a Barry’s Bootcamp near you they sell DVDs, I haven’t tried them yet to compare but I will keep you posted

 (aka Avenger in training)

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