BOOTCAMPS

Barry’s Bootcamp, the original high-intensity interval training workout, lands in Dubai

Barry’s Bootcamp is a Los Angelesbased company with studios along the US coastline, in the UK and Norway, and it’s finally opened in Dubai. The brand’s tagline as the best workout in the world garnered a lot of attention when it opened in 1998, and it soon gained a cult following. So is it worth all the hype? Well, the classes pair traditional boot camp-style workout routines with turboenergy tunes and gleaming red disco lights.

First of all you’ll want to order your post-workout protein shake from the café in the foyer. We suggest the Skinny PB. It’s got whey protein, natural almond milk and peanut butter – and it’s delicious. It’ll be at the counter waiting for you once your session is complete. You’ll be whizzed into the gym’s dark studio – a long narrow room with mirrors across the walls, a long line of running machines, and two rows of benches in the centre.

The class is split between high-intensity cardio and weightlifting. Soon enough, you’ll be sprinting on a treadmill through the darkness as a remix of Whitney’s I Wanna Dance is blasted over the speakers and your instructor is calling for higher inclines.

Each day is dedicated to a target region, but every single class is 50 per cent treadmill. That includes intervals, jogs, sprints and, if you’re lucky, a few rest bites. Kudos to our instructor for pacing us so well that we could still sprint at the end of a run we thought we’d

finish only by flying off the back of the treadmill. After ten minutes, you’ll stagger towards the bench, pick up a pair of dumbbells and start a new set of exercises. We were busy planking, tricep-dipping and bicep-curling to the orders of our instructor. Then it’s back on the treadmill for more sprints, finishing off with another round of bench work. Drill sergeant tactics and a nightclub party atmosphere is really the best way to sum up a trip to Barry’s Bootcamp. After class, you’ll look as if you’re fresh off a slip ‘n’ slide. The mantra here is that if you don’t leave exhausted, you’re doing it wrong. Fair enough.

Central Park Towers, DIFC, Dubai, Sun to Wed 7am to 8pm, Thur 7am to 7pm, Fri 9am to 11am, Sat 9am to 5pm, Dhs80 first class, Dhs120 per class, Dhs575 for five classes. Tel: (04) 2544775. Taxi: behind Roda Al Murooj. facebook.com/barrysdubai