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• PHOTOGRAPHY: INDIA ASHMORE

Bianca Brookes is not your average PT. The Manchester-based Barry’s Bootcamp trainer is having fun with things – and she doesn’t take herself too seriously. But she never stops pushing herself. The key? It’s all about balance. And she’s focused on doing what sparks her soul.

Having honed her craft as a dancer, Bianca brought her expertise to Barry’s Bootcamp – home to the best workout in the world. And she never stops moving – from a Barry’s class to hot yoga and gymnastics, day in and day out, movement is fuelling her creativity.

From her Barry’s family to the music fuelling her day and eating the cake, get to know Bianca Brookes.

The first thing I do when I wake up is…

… hit snooze. In the fitness industry it’s all about ‘you’ve got to wake up at 5am to be productive.’ And it’s just not true. I hate that kind of rhetoric that people have set, because I’m definitely not a morning person.

When I get up, I’ve got to put music on.

Music is so important. It sets me up for my day and for work.

My partner is a DJ.

He’s really changed my views on music and what I like and what inspires me. He does a lot of progressive house and melodic house - I’m really into it at the minute. In Barry’s it’s all house. But when I’m training, it can go from heavy house to Disney.

I’m so lucky to be able to get up and move my body.

I went on a run about three years ago and I was really struggling. It was a super long run and at the end I was in so much pain. When I was about five minutes from home, I saw a really really old man and he could barely walk. And I cried. I felt really emotional because I just thought: ‘one day that’s going to be me’. I just think one day you will not be able to be in the body you are in; you will not be this healthy, this fit, this able. That’s something that either gets me up in the morning or keeps me pushing through workouts, one day we’re all going to be old and frail, and I’ll kick myself for not moving.

I’m inspired by everyday women.

There’s a girl who comes to my Barry’s class and she’s not the fastest runner; she’s just had a baby. Her fastest speed for so long was a seven and that was her sprint speed. My treadmills at Barry’s are really quick - I’m known for a quick treadmill - and they’re really hard. When I tell people to sprint, I always say, aim for a 9, 10, 11, so she’s quite a bit under what I’m asking. But she has inspired me more than anyone in the past month. I said to her at the end of class, ‘you always sprint on a seven, next week, you’re sprinting on a 7.1 we’re getting that sprint speed up’, and she came back, and she hit a 7.5. And I was really inspired. These everyday women with everyday jobs and normal lives and families, who show up for themselves and put in the work, they inspire me.

My normal morning routine is…

… up at six, put on my music through my headphones and I get ready really quick. I give myself 10, 20 minutes to get ready, to get out the door. I always make a coffee the night before. In the morning, I just want to be up, out, done.

Good health starts with…

… mental health. Over everything else. The inner work comes before everything else.

I’m an afternoon mover.

I always teach Barry’s in the morning whether it’s a really early morning class or whether it’s a 10:45. Straight after that, I always train. It fits in with my day. I tend to have clients in the late afternoon, then I’ve got work again and Barry’s late evening. I’m just not a morning workout person. A lot of Barry’s trainers get up super early before they even teach and they do like a 6am class, I think it’s absolutely amazing but it’s just not me.

My day with food looks different every day.

It’s a lot of veg, rice, pasta, chicken. Through the day, I’m on the go all the time… whatever’s easiest, I will get that.

I never stop myself from eating something.

If I want chocolate, I will have chocolate. If I want sweets, I will have sweets. I see it a lot of the time with clients; if people restrict themselves too much then they tend to binge eat. I’m all about a complete, balanced diet.

I’m super minimalist with what I wear.

I live in gym gear. It’s always kind of leggings, trainers. If I’m going all out and I want to be a bit of a fashionista for a day, I’ll have like a hoodie and a blazer on, like a baggy blazer.

I love to dress up.

In the week, I don’t wear any makeup, my hair is always up, so at a weekend if I’m going out, I like to go all out. I love a leg out, so it’s like either a baggy shirt or a silk dress, but quite baggy with a leg out and heels. Or I do like, baggy jeans and baggy crop top.

I love streetstyle.

I always have things saved in my Instagram folders, a lot of streetwear, a lot of baggy trousers and baggy jumpers. I think, effortless, minimal, simplistic, that’s kind of my style. Adanola is so cool, I always see girls on their Instagram page, and they look so cool because it’s just so effortless.

On a typical day at Barry’s…

… I wake up at six and go straight to work. When I’m coming to Liverpool, I teach 8.20am and 9.30am and I do a Barry’s class after it. Then I tend to have a couple of clients in the afternoon, they’re one to ones, then I will teach at Barry’s in the evening, and I finish at eight o’clock at night.

If work feels like work, you’re going wrong.

Just enjoy what you do. Don’t get me wrong, not every day is perfect, not every day is fun, it’s a graft, but I genuinely love what I do. Work never feels like work and all the clients are such amazing people. I just think the key to life is have fun. Don’t take yourself seriously. If you want to go to a gymnastics class and you’ve never been, go. If you want to go and join a choir. Just, do what sparks your soul. I just think, you are where you are in life, enjoy it.

Exercise goes hand in hand with my mental health.

It doesn’t matter if you’re on a walk, it doesn’t matter if you’re on an intense marathon. Movement is so good for the body and the mind. It’s just one of the most important things.

Movement is a release of energy.

It releases all the serotonin and the happy hormones. When I’m stimulated physically, my mind is in a place where I can be creative - it releases my creativity.

Movement is my creative outlet.

There’s creativity in the mind and there’s creativity in the body. I used to be a dancer - I think the reason I see creativity or movement as a creative outlet is because of my dance. The creative side of movement is the intention. It’s how you’re doing it; it’s how you move your body.

I have my best ideas at nighttime.

I come awake at night, I’m more productive and more creative.

Movement is my creative outlet.

There’s creativity in the mind and there’s creativity in the body. I used to be a dancer - I think the reason I see creativity or movement as a creative outlet is because of my dance. The creative side of movement is the intention. It’s how you’re doing it; it’s how you move your body. 

I have my best ideas at nighttime.

I come awake at night, I’m more productive and more creative.

I want people to feel on top of the world after a Barry’s class.

It doesn’t matter what you do in that room; it doesn’t matter if you’re hitting your PB; it doesn’t matter if you’ve had to pull it back a bit because you’re tired. 100% looks different every day, as long as you show up for yourself and put that 100% [in], you walk out feeling on top of the world.

You get that Friday feeling every time you do Barry’s.

That is what I want with my clients. I want them feeling full of energy, I want them feeling super confident and so good about themselves. It’s not easy in that room, you get pushed so far out of what you perceive is your limits. I just want people to feel f**ing amazing.

The best part of my day is catching up with people.

I love speaking to people, and I love Barry’s specifically because you meet so many different types of people and the connections you make. It’s just not like a normal gym where you can go for years and don’t know anybody; Barry’s becomes a family.

I need my space to bring me back down to earth.

A big part of my day is going home and having time where it’s either just me or me and my partner or me and my family. It’s so full on every day, it’s nice to ground yourself and take a second.

On a typical evening…

… I help my partner cook, we always sit down and eat together, that’s super important to me. We have no phones at the table and just sit and talk. Then he goes and does his music, I have an hour to myself and then we either just have a chat in bed or watch a programme for an hour and then we’ll get ready for the next day.

Everything has to be organised.

It doesn’t matter if I’m up at ten or if I’m up at six, I have to have my clothes left out and my chargers ready for my iPhone, my watch, my laptop.

I love a Sunday.

My family always gets together, there’s a good 10 of us and my dad will cook either jerk chicken or a typical Sunday roast. I love that so much. It’s family time, it’s our time.

I switch off with a shower.

It’s the start of downtime. Sometimes I’m in that shower for a good thirty minutes. I always lie down in the shower, always just let the water fall on me. I put a candle on, the lighting’s got to be right. That’s the time where I really start to chill, it’s me time, I don’t get disturbed.

The last book I read was…

… The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It was so good, I loved it. I love a good drama, or a thriller.

On my bedside table I have…

A candle, a lamp, and a diffuser.

My daily mantra is…

Have fun.

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