Lily Zeng
October 23, 2017 08:27
I know that Barry's Bootcamp is very popular and increasingly so. I can see the lure of it - very nice space, very fit instructors who are naturally very inspiring, and great interval training work outs. The studio is located in the Gulch, the heart of Nashville. Despite being in such a coveted neighborhood, the studio is very spacious and clean. I never checked out their amenities because I knew I wasn't going to be a regular there. The instructors are friendly, energetic, and gives good cues. They're all in fantastic shape, which I think is one of the selling points of Barry's, although I don't think you can assume they are testaments to its effectiveness. Anyway, the workouts is why I think it falls short of being a perfect five star. The class alternates between cardio (running on the treadmill) and weights. The latter is where the variability of the classes come from (focus on different body parts). Typically, you'd start with 10 minutes on the treadmill and then hop off for weights on the bench and then back on the treadmill. I really do love this type of interval training, it gets the sweat and the heart racing. However, this is all done in a very dimly lit room and I just can't imagine the instructors being able to check your form especially in a class of about 50 people. I think it caters to younger people who are resistant to injury even with bad form and excludes people who need more instruction.