Tighten Up: Haute 5 Calorie Burning Workouts in Los Angeles

It happens to all of us.  First we get that initial reminder of turning our clocks forward for spring, then we wake up one morning to hear birds chirping.  That’s when we realize it; we’re scarily close to having to bikini season.  Damn birds.  In Los Angeles, the pressure to stay in shape doesn’t take a hiatus during the winter months – it’s the price we have to pay for gorgeous year-round weather.  But with holidays that inspire indulging as opposed to dieting, we could all use a little “tightening” come spring.  Good thing this city is chock full of fitness fanatics, nutrition instructors, and life coaches to get your mind, body, and soul ready for the beach.  Here are LA’s haute 5 high calorie burning workouts.

Yoga Booty Ballet at Swerve Studio

Only on the second floor of a quintessential Los Angeles strip mall, can one peer in on the unique dancing/sweating/gyrating experience that is Yoga Booty Ballet.    A blend of yoga, aerobics, dance moves, and a little meditation all set to pop music, this class will change your mind about working out.  Where you once forced yourself to throw on those New Balances, you’ll now show up early to your workouts and maybe even do an extra set of sit-ups.  (Unlikely and ambitious, we know.) The original YBB instructor, Gillian Clark, still teaches classes and is undoubtedly the bets teacher to start with – she’s charismatic, bubbly, and so animated you’ll wonder if there’s something in her water.  Nope, it’s just all that Yoga Booty Ballet.

Swerve Studio is located at 8250 W. 3rd Street #205 in West Hollywood (323) 782-0741

Bar Method

If there’s one thing we all look for in a great workout (besides a teacher that looks eerily similar to Gerard Butler) it’s instant results.  Enter the Bar Method.  It’s a low impact class that employs the tricks and techniques of interval training to tone and shape your body.  What that means is – it may not look like you’re doing much, but oh does it burn!  It works every muscle in your body with exercises that include weights, balls, mats, ballet barres, and the strength of your muscles.  No previous experience with ballet is necessary and with locations all over town, you really have no excuse to skip this one out.

The Bar Method has many locations including West Hollywood (8416 W 3rd Street 323.651.2226) and West LA (1950 Sawtelle Blvd, first floor 310.481.0005)

Barry’s Bootcamp

Next time a wimpy yoga instructor asks you to “discover your body’s limit today and respect it,” you really will slap them.  Instead of assaulting a yogi, perhaps just try a new kind of workout.  Barry’s Bootcamp may be more your speed if you’d rather have someone yelling that if you don’t feel the burn, you will continue to look fat.  Oh, and by the way – screw your limits.  The class is one of the most challenging and iconic LA workouts.  It features roughly 30 minutes of intense cardio on treadmills followed by 30 minutes of strength training with free weights, body bars, and super fun activities like push-ups.  Set to a deafening level of hip hop, rock, and house music accompanied by the sounds of a buff instructor seemingly singling you out for being a little cry-baby (ok, we made that up), this is the class that will, in the best possible way, whip you into shape.

Barry’s Bootcamp is located at 1106 N. La Cienega Blvd in West Hollywood (310) 360-6262 (There are also locations in Sherman Oaks and San Diego)

Pop Physique

In an effort to keep American Apparel alive and well, we have Pop Physique.  The boutique Silver Lake fitness studio, which has no lack of hipster chic, offers Pop Sculpt as its signature class featuring an hour of weights, medicine balls, work on the ballet barre, and a mix of pilates moves thrown in for good measure.  The end result is a toner, thinner, leaner fighting machine.  Working every muscle in your body, the class is like having a really cool and inexpensive personal trainer.  They also offer a thirty minute “express” version of the class called Sculpt and Melt which has a longer stretching and massage component.  With small classes, you’ll be able to focus better on the two most important things: toning your body and looking at what everyone else is wearing.

Pop Physique is located at 3501 W. Sunset Blvd in Silver Lake (323) 665-7777 (They also have a location in Studio City)

Core Fusion at Exhale Santa Monica

Taking a workout class in a spa can be very dangerous.  The possibility of a class at noon, massage at 1, and facial at 2 can be too tempting for the weak of mind, but for those who can abstain from making a Glow Massage part of their workout regime, Core Fusion at Exhale Spa is for you.  It fuses the Lotte Berk method with pilates, yoga, and core conditioning to create a well-rounded class that will literally kick your butt.  It’s an hour of stretches and holds in positions you really don’t think you can hold and if that’s not enough, there’s always Core Fusion Cardio which merges the usual Core Fusion curriculum with medicine balls, weights, abs work, jumps, and other extra cardio moves (otherwise known as moves you try to avoid).  Because if you’re going to actually get off the couch, make it count.

Exhale Spa is located at 101 Wilshire Blvd at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica (310) 319-3193 (There is also a location in Venice)