Stripper, singer and professional dancer, Conor J Barrie, has opened a private gym in the Baltic Triangle.
Pride and Fitness opened its doors to the public in the first week of January 2017. Previously owned by his uncle who is part of the national cleaning supplier, Wray Brothers, Pride and Fitness is a mixed gender gym that runs four-week programmes and personal training sessions by Mr Barrie himself.
Conor, 24, has added his own style to the gym and said:
“I prefer my technique of training people, it’s a bit looser. “I can pick my own music, usually 80s, a bit of Blondie. “It’s a laid back atmosphere which is nice for my clients who aren’t confident enough in a gym because no one is watching them.”
Conor chose this area because it is surrounded by independent businesses and he has grew up in a self-employed family. He said: “It was nice to see my family run their own businesses and succeed.
“I thought to myself, if my two brothers can do it then so can I.”
Conor studied tap, ballet and jazz for four years at Liverpool Theatre School and is currently rehearsing for his third House of Suarez Vogue Ball which will be held at Manchester next month.
He is starting a class in the next two weeks which includes aerobic based workouts and wants to integrate dance into it rather than the usual warm ups. He is also hoping to grow the gym by adding spin classes and corporate classes to try and get companies in to keep staff fit and motivated. He said:
“My eldest client is 70 years old, my youngest is just 17 and sometimes I get to train dads and lads too. At the moment I do only employ myself but by next year I hope to employ more.”
Conor, who describes himself as a colourful individual, trains Union J member Jaymi Hensley and admits he loves to train other interesting and wacky people. Social media has helped Conor achieve support from all over the country. He said: “I think it has helped because it shows you off and overall, my t-shirt with my logo on it helps to spread my ego too.” Health and fitness has always been important to Conor, he said: “Fitness has a positive impact on anybody’s mental and physical state and it relieves stress, which is ideal when you run a business. “I haven’t always been as much into fitness but it grew on me and now I’m addicted. So I thought, why not pass my skills on and start a new and exciting venture.” Pride and Fitness is based at 35 Sefton Street, Baltic Triangle.
