How do you like to celebrate your birthday? I am not one of those people who LOVE all the attention nor do I LOVE celebrating my birthday, but creating fun events that involve sweating it out with some of my favorite fit friends and bringing community together IS something that I LOVE.

So when I heard that the newest addition to fitness studios in the South Bay was going to be a Barry’s Bootcamp, I knew I HAD to have an event there. I am a sucker for play on words/puns/semantics (if you’ve forgotten, or if you didn’t know, I am a speech-language pathologist) so Bari X Barry’s was something I found hilarious and cute. Since my birthday had just past and, oh wait, another ‘B’ word, I named the event Bari X Barry’s Belated Birthday workout- #it’s my party and I’ll sweat if I want to!

The Studio:

Now let me just give you a rundown on Barry’s Bootcamp if you’re not familiar. It is a workout that “combines weight training with cardio and alternate bursts of intense anaerobic exercise with recovery periods to keep the heart-rate elevated throughout the workout” -Barry’s Bootcamp. Each day focuses on a different muscle group, creating a perfectly balanced workout. Barry’s is known for their ‘red room’ and no, it’s not like the one from ’50 Shades of Grey’; although, some may find some pleasure and pain in there ;).

The room is tinted red so you will NOT focus on what you look like. Instead, it allows your body and mind to get lost in the music and push through the workout. With endorphins flying and adrenaline pumping, you are bound to leave the red room sweaty and satisfied with all of your efforts.

Now, this specific studio is pretty gorgeous, if I do say so myself. Highlights include ample parking, a bright clean lobby and locker room/changing area. Friendly staff and a sweet smoothie bar are an added bonus! Oh and the merchandise, super cute merch.

The Workout/Event:

Once all of my friends arrived to the studio and signed in at the front desk, we were greeted by one of the nicest, fittest, bad-ass women, Alicia, our fearless instructor for the class.  

She went through the format of the class, as we had many first timers, then entered the red room for our workout. Our workout consisted of 2 circuits of running intervals and a variety of weight exercises that targeted the full body. We huffed, puffed, ran and lifted our way through the class.

After the class was over, we exited the studio to an awesome spread of goodies from my sponsors in the lobby. Just like when you get a goodie bag at the end of a birthday party, this goodie bag was filled with swag from a few of my favorite and trusted brands- Vital Proteins, La Croix, RXBar, Chomps, Kodiak Cakes and NOWfoods.

I mentioned earlier that I am not a fan of being the center of attention, but am a fan of bringing people together and building community. I think I did just that and I know that Barry’s Bootcamp has a great fitness community too!

So cheers to another year older, but more importantly to life, health and fostering/creating friendships!