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“The Best Workout in the World” has a location in Houston now. Barry’s Bootcamp opened one of its famed “Red Rooms” in River Oaks Shopping Center, and I survived a class taught by the CEO. Hold your applause.

I honestly had a lot of fun. I tend to shy away from OrangeTheory Fitness and Sweat1000 — though I love the occasional sweat sesh from these guys. I mean, you didn’t ask for this, but my weekly workouts usually only include indoor cycling 3ish times a week, having my Crew Fitness fam kick my butt twice weekly, and a solid pilates session that makes my abs and arms sore for days.

All this to say — I spend very limited time on treadmills, so I was pretty nervous about that combined with weight work that comes with a Barry’s booking.

But I did it, and dare I say… it was fun!

Know before you go

Barry’s being brand spanking new, I’m sure you got questions. I sure do.

• Classes are 50 minutes
• They’ll run you $32 (take advantage of the Houston newbie pricing — $60 for 3 classes!)
• You are allegedly supposed to burn 1000 calories per class!
• Full workout gear store and smoothie shop greet you when you walk in.
• Parking… could be better, as we all know in River Oaks Shopping District. Street and lots (there’s one in the back too) are all fair game. Just make sure you’re not parking in a metered area without paying.
• The locker room is in the way back. Complete with showers stocked with fancy soaps and such!
• They have towels!
• The set up of the class is pretty great. Four 10-minute sessions — two on the treadmill and two off.
• When you book, you book a bench on the floor or a treadmill. That just means that’s where you start. You will do both. Allegedly you can book double floor work if you just want to get swoll. ya feel?
• A note on this structure: I actually really love the two 10-minute session setup. The first of each round is kind of like a warm-up in my mind. Then on your next go around, it’s your last! The class flew by!
• For the treadmill work, we alternated between running, jogging, and sprinting paces — which we decided and set ourselves. Yes, I ran a full mile less than the lowest option the instructor called out bc I never run and I’m not tryna die. The most we sprinted was 30 seconds. Most runs were 30 seconds or 1 minute. Honestly, super doable.
• The instructors are a mix of new to towners and your fave fitness people already! Pinij, a popular SoulCycle instructor can now kick your butt off the bike at Barry’s.
• For the floor work, every day of the week means a different muscle group.
  • Monday = Arms & Abs
  • Tuesday = Full Body (Lower Focus)
  • Wednesday = Chest, Back, and Abs
  • Thursday = Abs & Ass
  • Friday = Total Body
  • Saturday = Full Body (Upper Focus)
  • Sunday = Total Body
• The strength training was a nice respite for me, since I do this kind of stuff in Crew all the time, but there’s definitely a mix of cardio in there, don’t be fooled! Lots of mountain climbers and frog jumps.
• After class, you could have a smoothie waiting for you if you pre-booked it. Or you could REALLY reward yourself with Rice Box, which has a new location down the street. Did I just undo my workout? Oh well.