I tried the Manchester bootcamp that celebs love - and it almost broke me

It’s after work on a bitterly cold Friday night when I find myself walking into a dark room just off Spinningfields. Illuminated only by red lights and decked out with mirrors at every turn, dance music pumps through the sound system, and I’m surrounded by a sea of muscles and midriffs jostling past one another, beads of sweat soaking the floor beneath us.

It may sound like I’ve accidentally wandered into a dingy underground nightclub, but I’m actually at Barry’s - the ‘boutique’ fitness brand with studios all around the world, loved by celebrities including Kim Kardashian and the Beckhams. The 60-minute class, which combines high-intensity training (HIIT), running and strength exercises, aims to tone muscles and maximise fat loss - all while pushing you to your limit.

Described as one of the hardest workout routines in the world, I decided that if anything was going to get me back into exercise, it would be this. Over the course of four weeks I committed to 12 classes ranging from full-body and leg workouts to routines that focused specifically on arms, chest, back and abs, over at Barry’s Manchester studio on Lower Byrom Street.

Read more: The 12 best gyms in Manchester city centre in 2023 - and how much they cost

Before going, I book my three classes for the week and while I consider myself an early bird, the morning classes, scheduled between 6am and 8am, cut it too fine for getting to work, meaning I end up on the last session of the day and become part of what the instructors affectionately call the 6.40 crew - but that’s where the fluffy niceness stops.

I’m not new to the gym, but the way I navigate my first class makes me look like a complete novice - within minutes of being told my treadmill number - or