Altadena Gyms and Fitness

The Bar Method workout, which has been featured in Self magazine and Seventeen, started with German ballet dancer Lotte Berk. After injuring her back, Berk took her physical-therapy regimen and fused it together with her old ballet workouts. Burr Leonard took this system and modified it in 1991, in an effort to minimize the impact it had on delicate joints. The workout became known as The Bar Method, named for the horizontal barre that ballerinas use to steady themselves during dance routines and astronauts use to practice pole dancing in space. Bar Method workouts combine Berk's original dance conditioning and physical-therapy moves with fast-paced interval training and muscle-building isometrics, and aim to tone physiques without adding bulk.

At Body Image Gym, trainer Juliet helps bodies find fitter iterations with her 10 years of experience and multiple training certifications from the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Her arsenal of fitness specialties, such as core-stability training, weight loss, and Pilates, strengthen muscles for any age or skill level and torch calories more safely than running on a treadmill outfitted with fire hoops. Using a flexible training approach, Juliet formulates custom workout regimens to accommodate pregnancies, arthritis, and injuries.

Regardless of dress size or dance background, each woman who enters The Secret Pole Dance Studio becomes a part of a supportive community. The studio's instructors dish compliments as they guide women through choreographed fitness routines, empowering dancers to overcome inhibitions and let loose. In the Pole Diva and Sensual Movement classes, instructors occasionally break participants into groups and have them perform for one another. Though it may seem intimidating, it provides women with the opportunity to build self-esteem and mental fortitude. The studio's sensual fitness routines also build physical strength. Pole-dancing classes sculpt arms and cores, whereas chair-dancing classes firm up glutes, quads, and dorsal fins. Classes take place in the studio or on location, and groups of gals can reserve private dance parties.

Personal trainer and licensed massage therapist Kim Hopkins founded Perfect Parts Total Body Care with one goal in mind: to help her clients look and feel healthier. She has spent more than 30 years working up to this goal, building an impressive resumé that includes certifications in personal training, Zumba instruction, and nutrition management. Though she has come a long way in those three decades, Hopkins keeps on traveling. She saves clients a commute by providing both personal training and massages in their homes, or hauling her massage chair to their offices and secluded batcaves.

Former Olympic bronze medalist Lloyd Eisler oversees the LA Kings Valley Ice Center's day-to-day operations, which include public skating sessions, private lessons, and hockey leagues designed for youth, adult, and special-needs players. Thanks to extensive renovations in the fall of 2011, the facility now sports a sleek lobby with energy-efficient lighting. The two-rink facility hosts birthday parties and runs a well-stocked pro shop where you can get hockey sticks and helmets or sharpen your blades after skating across the parking lot.

In 1962, a nascent surfing culture drove hordes of teens to the beach and spawned pop iconography in the form of The Beach Boys' debut record, Surfin' Safari. That same year, the Richards family began a surfing expedition of their own, outfitting explorers of the Pacific waves under the banner of Val Surf. The shop has remained a family-owned haven of board-sports gear and apparel ever since, boasting bragging rights as the first-ever dealer of Quiksilver products and a partner with Burton Snowboards from its inception in 1977. Like beavers with master's degrees in woodworking, the staff’s passion is its profession, with surf-, snow-, and skate-enthusiast employees ready to match guests with proven brand-name gear from Volcom and Billabong or lesser-known offerings from up-and-comers such as Fourstar Clothing and RVCA.