Greetings from LOS ANGELES 🙂
From those you of a bit newer to the blog, my best friend from college, David, moved to Los Angeles after graduating. While I wish he was still in New York of course, it’s pretty awesome to have an excuse to visit the west coast every chance I can. To say I was excited for vacation would be a mega understatement, it’s pretty much a miracle that I got anything done at work on Wednesday.
I flew out yesterday morning. After David picked me up at the airport we headed over to one of our favorite lunch spots, Simple Things. A big draw of going there are these adorable mini pies that they bake in all different flavors. My sweet tooth got it’s fix on the plane though with warm chocolate chip cookies (gah, the fact that you can smell them while the flight attendants are walking down the aisles makes it impossible to resist). I stuck to my favorite option- the BBQ pulled chicken sandwich on a pretzel bun. I’ll argue that pretzel buns are always the best kind of buns.
Also loved the side of tots. Who says tater tots are just for kiddies?
Our evening plan was seeing a show called For the Record. It’s kind of hard to explain but essentially this company puts together theater pieces with music from all the movies of one director. Last night’s show was all about Baz Luhrmann and featured Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet and Great Gatsby. The space where the show takes place is pretty amazing– the cast is constantly moving around and scenes are happening all over the space.
First order of business this morning was of course checking out a new-to-me fitness studio in Los Angeles. I’ve been hearing lots of amazing things about CorePower Yoga from other bloggers and have been DYING to take their sculpt class which fuses hot yoga, total body sculpting with weights and a handful of cardio boosts. Yes, please. Luckily there’s a CPY roughly a 30 minute walk away from casa David, NBD to this New Yorker.
A wee bit different from my usual morning commute to the gym. Serious question- why don’t people in Los Angeles walk anywhere? The weather is gorgeous 99% of the time, get with it!
The CPY I went to is located in the heart of the Hollywood area, literally 2 blocks away from the Chinese Theater and the mega tourist hub of Los Angeles.
The Studio
Core Power Yoga’s Hollywood studio is located on the second floor of the above building. It’s a HUGE space. There are 3 different classrooms, a rather large lobby area with plenty of cute things to buy and separate locker rooms.
Can’t speak for the men’s locker room, but the ladies’ locker room was one of the nicest ones I’ve seen at a studio. There’s a number of showers, really fancy products and a lot of room to get ready after class. Smart move if you ask me, hot yoga isn’t exactly the kind of class you can go out after without taking a shower. I was seriously impressed though with the space. Only negative is you need to bring your own lock (which I did not and ended up bringing my stuff into the classroom)
Considering the amount of sweating going on during class the space is immaculately clean and does not smell like BO, unlike some heated yoga studios I’ve been to. The classrooms have this really nice specialty floor that isn’t slippery, but also doesn’t absorb stink.
The Class
I’m certainly not a seasoned hot yogi. I’ve taken a few bikram and hot yoga classes here and there, but haven’t in a few months. Within seconds of walking into the toasty 95 degree classroom I was filled with a sense of panic “OH GOD, WHAT DID I JUST AGREE TO?”. I can’t say you necessarily get used to the heat during the class, but more it starts to bother you less and less.
Our instructor started of class by saying her advice for sculpt was “Don’t take it too seriously, it’s just sculpt”. I took this advice close to heart, I knew this class wasn’t going to be easy since I’m not used to heated classes and it was a totally new format for me, so I went to just hoping to enjoy the class… and not pass out.
We started off nice and slow doing a few glute exercises from the fetal position… and then we were OFF. Like I said earlier the class is a fusion of hot yoga (think downward dogs, warrior poses, focus on breath), light weight training similar to barre classes, and features a few cardio bursts (yep we did jumping jacks in a heated room, ouch). The first half felt similar to a hot yoga class, some vinyasas, lunges, warriors, the usual. Towards the middle of class we started incorporating the weights for things like chair pose with a bicep curl, squats with shoulder press and warrior with weights. We’d also do a few “circuits” with jumping jacks or mountain climbers to get the heart rate WAY up.
We ended the class with a short ab series that included a lot of bicycle crunches followed up by lovely stretch and quick shivasana. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to lie down after a yoga class!
The actually moves aren’t terribly complicated, some mountain climbers here and there, chaturungas, nothing cray cray, but the added heat makes it SO much harder and got my heart rate way up. The class is undeniably challenging, I had to take a few child’s poses towards the end when I felt myself getting a wee bit woozy.
I left the class drenched, of course, and feeling pretty damn accomplished. It was certainly tough and I couldn’t go balls to the wall during the whole class, but still felt like I got in a good sweat session. Literally.
Real proud of that sweat spot.
If this class was in New York I would totally add it as part of my routine since it’s a little bit of stretching, oddly relaxing, some strength and low impact for when I’m training for a race. I would probably classify it with barre classes although it does strength trains a little bit but not the same burn as let’s say a class at Exceed or Uplift.
Tips for class
– If you’ve never taken a heated class before, don’t start with sculpt. I haven’t taken their other classes but have heard this one is the more intense.
– Wear minimal clothing and stick to stuff that’s fitted. I opted for a sports bra and lulu running shorts. Some people were in capris but I think that would have driven me crazy.
– Drink up before hand, and sip water slowly during class. Drink up afterwards as well to replenish.
– Bring a towel for your mat + one to wipe your face. I only had one towel and wish I had a second one.
-Don’t be afraid to regroup and take child’s pose. It’s always an option!
– Your first week of classes at Core Power Yoga is *free*. If you’re new to hot classes it’s a great chance to get used to it, since the first class will no doubt be challenging and honestly scary. I’m hoping to take at least one more class there while I’m in LA since it’s free and I’m curious about their other formats.
All in all? Great first experience at Core Power Yoga. If you guys need someone to help open a New York City location, I’m your gal!
Time to go get ready for the evening. David and I are going to see Yelle in concert. I first became a Yelle fan while taking French in high school. If you’ve never heard her stuff check it out, she’s kind of like a French Katy Perry and I’m obsessed.
Question: Have you ever been to Core Power Yoga? Which class is your favorite there?
People like sitting in their cars, contributing to smog and complaining about traffic too much to walk places and use public transit here. It’s infuriating.
Haven’t had the chance to try CorePower yet but I’m DYING to… I’ll have to wait until after baby comes; no heated classes allowed while pregnant!
Glad you had fun in LA 🙂
It blows my mind how everyone drives everywhere in LA– come on your weather is gorgeous all year round!
Hope everything is going well for you!!