How Barry’s brutal, nightclub-inspired workouts became the biggest thing

January 23, 2024 10:55 PM

“One time I did three classes in one day: a 6 a.m. and a 7 a.m., then I went to work, then there was traffic in L.A. so I was like, ‘Let me just go do a Barry’s at night.'"
posted by folklore724 (20 comments total)

This is why, when we do end up eating the rich, they will have to be slow-roasted. Stringy and fibrous.
posted by prismatic7 at 11:33 PM on January 23 [15 favorites]

Impressive that they managed to find a way to make it CrossFit, But Worse.
posted by fight or flight at 2:53 AM on January 24 [8 favorites]

Archive link but the first paragraph is hard to read on top of the graphic, selecting the text helps
posted by Jon_Evil at 4:27 AM on January 24

this whole article reads better if you imagine 'Barry' is cockney rhyming slang (short for 'Barry Bucking').
posted by logicpunk at 5:00 AM on January 24 [3 favorites]

I was imagining the sad hitman show.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:20 AM on January 24 [4 favorites]

That article is fascinating in the whole genre of "nothing is real, everything is a random hustle, success under late capitalism is a nonsense game" but holy wah is Jennifer Lopez impressive in that stupid SNL skit

I realized pretty early on that I'm emphatically *not* literate in the coastal language that would help me understand the joke, but Jesus Christ if I had that kind of flexibility at 55 I'd start a religion. So many celebs her age look... artificial or created in a computer or something. She looks like she's been building houses and training horses for the last 30 years.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 5:27 AM on January 24 [5 favorites]

His friends call him Barry. He will always be Barrold to me.
posted by Literaryhero at 6:13 AM on January 24 [4 favorites]

Barry's seems fine to me. $35 is about what an average meal out costs in HCOL areas when you account for tax, tip etc, and the pricing model seems less exploitative compared to similar outfits such as F45 that require you to pay a membership fee that works out to like $75/wk as opposed to simply paying per class. Young people have been effectively priced out of owning real estate or starting a family in many of these cities, and it seems preferable that they spend whatever disposable income they have on an experience that makes them healthier and happier as opposed to another palliative such as narcotic of choice, going to an actual night club, or baubles.

Not my jam, though, I'd probably be carried out in a stretcher halfway through my first class.
posted by sid at 7:29 AM on January 24 [3 favorites]

I was wondering why I was seeing this right up until I saw this line:

Barry’s, with financial backing from private equity firms ... has been in rebuilding mode ever since the most stringent government restrictions were lifted

ah... yea that's the stuff.

I love that it's just a sidetone and not the anchor to the whole endeavor; it's inevitable collapse is written into it's whole existence. If I was the "wealth reporter" doing a piece on a gym I would do everything I could to foreshadow that future.
posted by zenon at 7:50 AM on January 24 [4 favorites]

His friends call him Barry. He will always be Barrold to me.

I thought it was short for Baurence.
posted by cmfletcher at 7:51 AM on January 24 [3 favorites]

PE and VC are vampires. You invite them in because they promise access and wisdom and amazing parties and maybe you do better up front but the fangs in your throat never go away and they suck more every year until you’re a lifeless husk.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:53 AM on January 24

Young people have been effectively priced out of owning real estate or starting a family in many of these cities, and it seems preferable that they spend whatever disposable income they have on an experience that makes them healthier and happier as opposed to another palliative such as narcotic of choice, going to an actual night club, or baubles.

Generally speaking, yes. But I question how healthy it is to be doing (as in the article) 4 classes of HITT a day, and not just physically. I know that's an outlier, but I imagine there are lots of people who make these classes their entire lifestyle. Psychologically that seems to be feeding some kind of addiction. As far as I understand compulsive exercise has been linked to eating disorders and other problematic body issues. It doesn't sound like these classes are really doing a good job of preventing injuries or taking care of the people in them either. HITT is hard on the body, it can cause injuries. Pushing yourself beyond the limit isn't great.

Compared to spending a couple nights a week drinking and dancing or just buying some pretty things, I don't necessarily think that these classes are the healthiest choice.
posted by fight or flight at 8:26 AM on January 24 [1 favorite]

I imagine there are lots of people who make these classes their entire lifestyle. Psychologically that seems to be feeding some kind of addiction.

The community aspect of these things is pretty huge though, too. I recently took up barre classes and I see the same kind of thing there; people who go to multiple classes in a row, or in a day. As someone who pops in once or twice a week (my main exercise jam is elsewhere) it's a bit unsettling. But everyone there knows each other; everyone knows all the teachers. The studio is always doing these group challenges and people spend the time before class starts gossiping about their progress and such. It seems to be what an early 30s middle class white lady does instead of going for happy hour drinks--but it's not the drinks they're replacing, it's the people.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 9:25 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]

I worked at a Barry's location for about a year and a half... It was rough. The clientele were nice enough (I was in a suburban location, so I got to avoid the drama associated with the West Hollywood model/actor/trainer crew for the most part), but the corporate culture was extremely toxic. Opportunities for advanced seemed to be entirely based on looks, Mean Girls style popularity, and how much brown-nosing you did to Joey, who was very dismissive of anyone who he thought didn't look the part. When I worked there I was 30, in amazing shape, and looking the best I ever looked in my life--and I was treated like an untouchable geezer who was never invited to any of the cool kid hangouts.

Barry himself was actually a really nice guy who took the time to get to know people. He had a great sense of humor and threw legendary Halloween parties.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 9:50 AM on January 24 [12 favorites]

I imagine there are lots of people who make these classes their entire lifestyle. Psychologically that seems to be feeding some kind of addiction.

Interesting note, I was not aware of this dynamic as I'm not part of the target demographic.

To me, an enterprise becomes unethical when the business model depends on the addicts. Casinos to me are the canonical example, my understanding is that they wouldn't exist if the 5% (or whatever) of the gambling public who have problematic addictions were barred from entering. I don't believe most restaurants and bars are like this with regards to selling alcohol, but I bet some are, and those owners, IMO, are engaging in unethical behaviour. Would be interesting to know where Barry's lies on this spectrum.
posted by sid at 10:04 AM on January 24 [1 favorite]

The community aspect of these things is pretty huge though, too. I recently took up barre classes and I see the same kind of thing there; people who go to multiple classes in a row, or in a day. As someone who pops in once or twice a week (my main exercise jam is elsewhere) it's a bit unsettling. But everyone there knows each other; everyone knows all the teachers.

And this is true for all kinds of regularly scheduled exercise classes from boot camp in the park to your local cross-fit dungeon to the swankiest spin classes.

I could tell you so much stuff about in groups and out groups of North Shore aquafit, and who gets invited to coffee or parties, and who the good teachers are and how you have to play the system to get registered in the classes you want every week and which staff members will let you switch your reservation to someone else that you pick vs. which ones will only let you cancel it and let it go free for anyone to register.

I don't even go to aquafit on the North Shore of Vancouver. Most of the year I don't even live on the North Shore of Vancouver. But my mother does, and I have the gossip.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:40 AM on January 24 [3 favorites]

I used to go to a Big Box Gym, where my favorite teacher led an insanely hard class, but he made it super, super fun. It was kind of like a deranged PE class from elementary school. I was always the oldest/fattest/slowest/weakest but he fostered this environment where none of that mattered. He left the Big Box Gym and went to Barry's. I almost followed because of how nice he was...but I did find the overall Barry's vibe to be something I didn't think I would fit in with. This was, man, at least 10 years ago if not more, and Google shows me he's still at Barry's.

Now I go to Tiny Local Gym where they go out of their way to build relationships with the clients, and make the classes accessible to all, including the older, the fatter, the weaker, etc. The crazy thing is that I have gotten ridiculously strong. Like, sometimes I'm standing there checking my barbell math with my calculator because I can't believe how much weight I'm lifting/pressing/squatting.

All that to say that yes, Barry's does seem insane, but also if you find something you like, go for it. Even if it's Barry's.
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:48 AM on January 24 [6 favorites]

Me, as I head out on another interval ride on my high-strung $6k road bike that requires ~$1000/year in consumables: “I would never pay $34/class for that”
posted by turbowombat at 4:57 PM on January 24 [3 favorites]

I realized pretty early on that I'm emphatically *not* literate in the coastal language that would help me understand the joke, but Jesus Christ if I had that kind of flexibility at 55 I'd start a religion.

I'm 54. I am that flexible.

It turns out that I have Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder, and if I attempt to do an exercise more strenuous than walking? I injure myself.

You may join my religion - we have pain meds!
posted by spinifex23 at 10:48 PM on January 24 [1 favorite]

LiteraryHero "His friends call him Barry. He will always be Barrold to me."

Excuse me but my son is also Barrold...

/simpsons
posted by zerobyproxy at 8:13 AM on January 25