But there is something very special about Barry. Barry genuinely cares for each and every person who walks through his door with unparalleled kindness and sincerity. Sure, he yells at you and pushes you beyond what you thought humanly possible, but that’s what you are paying for! Still, the reason I believe people keep coming back day after day, week after week, year after year is because the idea is simple. You get out what you put in. No gimmicks, no unkept promises. Just hardcore sweat that equals results. And the fact that Barry is there everyday with the same caring enthusiasm. He notices how you are changing. He takes pride in the fact that even though yesterday you couldn’t quite make a 7 minute mile, today you managed to clock in at 6:57.

For me, personally, Barry’s class has changed my life. It transformed my body from the inside out. It gave me back a core strength I haven’t had since high school. But most importantly, it helped to restore my confidence in my ability to make it through life everyday. I know that if f I can survive Barry’s class first thing in the morning without vomiting, then the rest of my day is probably going to be all right.

Side note: Earlier in the show, Ms. Jones explained to us that her son was in her band. So, as my friend 007 so deftly pointed out, her son had been staring at his Mom’s naked rear end for the entire song. Therapy anyone?

But I digress. This morning at Bootcamp, I was both struck and disturbed. Barry asked us all to do a fairly complex maneuver on the treadmill that involved a steep incline, a slow moving belt, and slightly acrobatic jumping lunges. Admittedly, this was a challenge, but it wasn’t forever, and the benefits became crystal clear through the sudden and intense pain I felt in ass muscles I didn’t even know existed. Trying to take my mind off the pain, I glanced down the row of treadmills to see Barry coaching an acquaintance of mine on how to perform the lunges. The acquaintance finally gave it a half-assed try, pun intended, until a frustrated Barry banished him to “Run the stairs!” Bootcamp Acquaintance was seriously on the sh*t list to achieve that honor. I am afraid of those stairs. Seriously.

Anyway, once Bootcamp Acquaintance returned from the stairs, he did one or two more exercise rotations and then unceremoniously took off. Now I don’t know if he didn’t feel well or what the story was, but truth be told, I thought of Grace Jones. Would she have given up so easily? Did her 61 year old ass look like it did on Sunday night by sheer genetics? Watch that video again.

Grace Jones proved to me, and to the entire Hollywood Bowl on Sunday night, that when your ass is on the line, you have to get out there and do your thing. You’ve got to persevere and win over an audience who may know nothing more about you than your name. Because if you aren’t willing to work your own ass off, how’s it going to be when other people’s asses on are the line?

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