Crossfit in Calabasas

Although there aren't brain surgeons roaming around their rugged, warehouse-like space, CrossFit Synapse's owners delved into neuroscience when developing their gym's philosophy and name. More specifically, they drew inspiration from the section in the brain where electrical impulses guide the mind and body through their routines. The gym's staff of certified trainers strives to emulate these connections with an ever-rotating array of functional exercises, helping guests fortify both their body and their mind. During CrossFit Awesome classes, the intense, yet fun-loving team crafts challenging workouts, drawing from their repertoire of weightlifting moves, gymnastic techniques, and cardio drills. Although they design their sessions to push each student beyond their limits, they can scale the intensity of kettlebell swings and pull-ups to accommodate any fitness level. In addition to their signature course, they also offer personal-training sessions, yoga, and children's classes that aim to build the foundations for a healthy lifestyle and potential career in Olympic hopscotching at an early age.

CrossFit FAST might exist in a brick-and-mortar building, but it’s probably better described as a methodology shared by its coaches and attendees. Unlike other gyms, CrossFit FAST does away with the mirrors and treadmills, leaving attendees free to focus completely on functional training movements performed at a high intensity. Whether they’re firefighters, military personnel, or private citizens, they relentlessly pursue challenging fitness classes that increase full-body strength and endurance. The core of their fitness philosophy focuses on the titular CrossFit program, a series of functional-movement exercises that changes daily and requires participants to increase their work capacity across broad time and modal domains.

Beyond CrossFit, exercisers train in weightlifting, krav maga, and nutritional coaching. The fitness routines produce results, leading some members to be successful in CrossFit competitions, and others to take home titles such as 2011 National Champion Olympic Lifter and 2012 and 2013 California State Champion Olympic Lifter.

Helping people reach their fitness goals isn’t necessarily easy, but NASM-certified personal trainer and Level-1 CrossFit trainer Serj Khajadourian has a solid script to follow. Every day, he uses CrossFit’s workout of the day to lead an intense, full-body training session composed of functional exercises that can be tailored to any fitness level. Any given class at CrossFit Lifestyle may find exercisers performing deadlifts, squats, push-ups, or box jumps, or flipping oversized tires end-over-end across the facility’s artificial turf. After working up a sweat, clients can unwind in a locker room stocked with complimentary towels, a steam room, a sauna, a jacuzzi, showers, and a nice, cold polar bear.

At Golden State CrossFit, the rules are simple: check your ego at the door, go heavy, and clean up any sweat or protein powder you spill on the ground. Inside their shock-absorbing interior, a team of coaches—comprised of former dancers, Division I lacrosse players, and competitive power lifters—lead students who deadlift, squat, or clean and jerk brightly colored weights with perfect form. The instructors give personalized feedback during small-group workouts, and partner with a registered dietician who supplies nutritional advice.

Steel Barbells' coaching trio brings a variety of backgrounds to their classes, including martial arts, stunt work, and bodybuilding. But all three share a single goal: to help their clients get into the best shape possible. They use the flexible, scalable exercises of CrossFit to concoct new routines each day, challenging students of all ages and ability levels with functional movements, interval cardio workouts, and free weight training.

At CrossKicks, trainers blend martial arts, boxing, and intense cardio workouts, resulting in fat-burning, muscle-toning regimens that fuse fun and fitness. Students learn vital self-defense skills as they spin, kick, and punch, building flexibility and coordination as they reduce stress and strengthen their heart.