Best Fitness Classes In Los Angeles (Part 1)

With a new year comes new hopes and expectations. Making a resolution to get in shape for the new year is a great idea as long as you stick with it. So, to help get you movitiated, we've logged countless sweaty hours to bring you a comprehensive, tried and true list of the best places in the city to get you in the best shape of your life in 2015 and beyond. Want more of the best fitness classes LA has to offer? Visit Best Fitness Classes in LA (Part 2)

(MDR) ALL Levels
The Studio (MDR) East
13357 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90066
(310) 881-9467
www.thestudiomdr.com

Don't be fooled by appearances. What you'll see here is a demure pink lacquer ceiling and delicate wallpaper, but what you'll get is a beast of a challenge that will have you dripping beads of sweat and quivering in your ToeSox. Using the Lagree Method on the Megaformer™, students are guided through 50 moves that simultaneously build strength, cardio/muscular endurance, and mental toughness in just 50 minutes during the (MDR) All Levels class. As an ultra effective, all encompassing workout that is intense on the muscles and easy on the joints, your physique will be gorgeous on the outside and a lean, mean, powerful machine on the inside.

The Pursuit by Equinox
Equinox
201 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica, CA, 90401
(310) 593-8888
www.equinox.com

Leave it to Equinox to develop a cutting edge approach that injects new energy and heightened results into indoor spinning. How do they do it? By merging gamification and immersive, real-time data visualization to instigate healthy competition with ones self as well as others. There are two versions of The Pursuit by Equinox: Burn (built to maximize performance and optimize caloric expenditure through precisely timed HIIT intervals), and Build (made for increasing endurance, building strength, and improving riders' ability to work harder for longer). The Pursuit launched this month in select LA clubs. Find a class near you.

SHIFT
SHIFT by Dana Perri
5140 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601
www.shiftbydanaperri.com

A high energy, low impact, full body interval training class, SHIFT combines aerobic and resistance training using elements that include weighted balls, rubber bands, and hand weights in a welcoming space. At first glance this might sound like just another group fitness class, but what sets it apart is the individualized attention and contagious positive energy of partners Dana Perri and Kit Rich. Not even the student who tries to hide in the back of the class can escape the watchful eye of a trainer who is laser focused on proper form. By using an honest, relatable, and fun approach, Perri and Rich understand how to encourage, push, and inspire you to perform at your personal best, whatever that might be, in a given day. SHIFT classes will be held at its existing location at XMA World Headquarters until February 1, 2015, when they relocate to a brand new location in Sherman Oaks.

Iron Boxing
Iron Fitness
1919 Broadway Street
Santa Monica, CA 90404
(310) 264-9800
www.ironla.com/fitness

Boxing is one of the best approaches to seek immediate stress relief as well as to foster mental fortitude. Not to mention its ability to torch up to 1,000 calories in an hour. The Iron Boxing class doesn't require you to take a punch to receive all the benefits of the sport. Trainers are professional fighters (active or former) that will take participants of all experience levels through a workout that demonstrates the athleticism required of this demanding sport. They'll coach you through hitting the mitts, hitting the heavy bags, and a series of high intensity conditioning drills.

Pop Sculpt
Pop Physique
3501 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 665-7777
www.popphysique.com

If you've driven around Hollywood lately, chances are you've seen the signature Pop Physique derrière gracing a traffic-stopping billboard on Highland Avenue. Pop Sculpt is a killer ballet barre-based class that fuses art and eclectic music for a workout that is as entertaining as it is effective. LA pop culture runs through the veins of this boutique brand, so it isn't any wonder why they have a cult following of "butt school" devotees. Classes work the body from top to bottom, with an emphasis on the breath to sculpt the ever-desirable dancer body of your dreams.

Fly45
Flywheel
147 North Larchmont Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323) 446-2425
www.flywheelsports.com

Brought to you by Flywheel co-founder and fitness icon Ruth Zukerman, Flywheel has cultivated a premium experience in the boutique indoor cycling realm. Magnetic instructors offer a teaching style all their own, so there's no doubt there will be a class to satisfy every type of rider that comes through their doors. Flywheel offers stadium-style seating (so every seat is a good one), custom bikes equipped with performance tracking tech-packs, and complimentary amenities like towels, spin shoes, and lockers.
 
A Fly45 ride class includes climbs, descent, and arm work with weighted bars to a thoughtfully created playlist that reminds riders to "never coast." For participants looking to up the ante, riders can add their name to the TorqBoard (a proprietary performance-tracking technology) to display performance and instigate a little friendly competition.

Dailey Baby
The Dailey Method
1327 1/2 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Suite B. (entrance on Electric)
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 396-1500
www.thedaileymethod.com

Women these days are busier than ever, balancing everything from careers to families and everything in between. As a company that lives and breathes these exact challenges, The Dailey Method understands. Combining the best of Pilates, yoga, and ballet barre grounded in ultimate alignment and exercise science, they offer an ever-adapting mix of classes that meet students' needs, in every phase of their lives. The method is smart and results are fast, enabling students to efficiently build a substantial increase in strength, tone, and flexibility.
 
The Dailey Baby is a 45-minute barre class designed to cultivate fitness, balance, and bonding for new moms and their little ones. Exercises are tailored to include babies in a front pack carrier and with moms on the mat. This program is for babies (six weeks to seven months), with nursing, feeding, walking, bouncing, and crying all welcome parts of the experience.

Hot Yoga Sculpt
Hot 8 Yoga
8383 Wilshire Blvd., Ste 75
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
(310) 986-6420
www.hot8yoga.com

Hot Yoga is yoga practiced in a heated room with temperatures that range from 100-109 degrees and is popular for working up an instant sweat that results in detoxification and enhanced flexibility. Hot 8 Yoga has created a modern, spa-like environment that is a favorite amongst Angelenos and celebrity yogis like Russel Simmons and Jessica Alba.
Proudly providing the cleanest environment you'll find in a hot yoga studio, Hot 8 Yoga has developed a state-of-the-art heating system that pumps the room full of fresh, disinfected, humid, germ-free air. In addition, studio flooring is slip resistant, hypoallergenic, and designed for performance in hot and humid environments. This combination of features virtually eliminates odors and moisture issues, so yogis can practice in a fresh and clean environment.
 
Hot Yoga Sculpt is a Vinyasa style flow class that integrates free weights to develop muscle endurance and sculpt every major muscle group. As an intermediate option, this class challenges students in a new way when they feel ready to take things up a notch. Cold towels, filtered water, lockers, and shower rooms are complimentary. Make sure to grab a Pressed Juicery to punctuate your practice.

Baby Train Personal Training
Baby Train LA
www.babytrainla.com

Baby Train LA offers private personal and online training for women by June Caseria Johnson, one of the most dedicated and versatile personal trainers on the Westside. Holding multiple fitness certifications, Johnson is a certified pre and postnatal specialist that has helped countless clients "train like a woman before, during, and after pregnancy." As a mother herself, Johnson understands the ins and outs of the physical and mental changes that becoming pregnant brings. As such, she offers a relatable, compassionate approach towards bringing complete physical and mental well being to her clients during these times and beyond. The pregnancy training programs are constantly calibrated to accommodate for the bodies ever-evolving changes and the corresponding effects on energy levels, and so forth. Shorter labor, stronger placenta, a positive body image, and quicker bounce back after delivery are just some of the benefits reported by many women who exercise throughout their pregnancies.

Control Method Open
I Heart Fitness
11440 Ventura Blvd., Ste. 107
Studio City, CA. 91604
www.iheartfitnessxo.com

It would not be an exaggeration to say that I Heart Fitness is single handedly responsible for all the sculpted strong bodies in Studio City and its neighboring communities. Its secret weapon is two-fold: High-energy instructors and a special type of Pilates reformer you won't find anywhere else in Los Angeles.
 
The Control Method Open is a signature class that combines resistance, lengthening, strength training, and cardio into an intense, fast-paced 55-minute routine that is suited for all levels. To keep things interesting, classes might start at the Pilates springboard one day and the barre on another. One thing's for sure; you'll fall in love with this workout and it will love you right back. Work your way up to the advanced classes if you like the idea of a good challenge.

Joy Bitonio has the phrase "Joie de Vivre" tattooed on her shoulder, a reminder to enjoy life every single day. She has a voracious appetite for fun, adventure, food, good cocktails and works out like a madwoman to keep it all together. Check out what else she recommends around Los Angeles in the links below.

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