El Segundo Gyms and Fitness

Not every Pilates studio has custom-built reformers named after it. HIP Studio, on the other hand, order their HIPformers from local builders, who construct the machines to be extra-durable, easily repaired, and eco-conscious, primarily composing the frames of recycled wood. While they make plenty of use of their original equipment, they also teach more than just Pilates. They incorporate trampolines, ballet barres, TRX suspension harnesses, and punching bags into ten different fitness classes. All of their innovative sessions take place in their sunny, hardwood-floored studio. Aside from facilitating eye-pleasure, the elegant hardwood flooring conceals a layer of cork that absorbs shock and cushions joints. Dynamic sound systems keep high-energy music pumping through the studio, and broadcasts beats to every corner of the space at equal volume.

The staffers at Rock It Workouts want to fight the perception that getting fit has to mean getting stuck in a gym routine and committing to doing the same thing over and over again. So they invited live DJs to spin high-energy music for their classes, then filled the schedule with innovative workouts. During Power Flow classes, trainers start everyone out on Spinning bikes for 30 minutes of cardio pedaling, then have everyone get off the bikes and onto mats for 20 minutes of yoga power-flow poses. Barre Fly sessions fuse ballet barre, light weights, dance moves, and other cardio-intensive exercises into a toning and slimming workout, and Rock It Box It combines cardio kickboxing and martial-arts movements. The airy white studio pops with graphic black stripes and red mats, keeping eyes invigorated during workouts, as well.

After workouts, exercisers can stop by the tea bar to rejuvenate, update their style at the VIP Beauty salon, or peruse the fashion boutique to find a look that ensures they have the sharpest-dressed scarecrow for the fall season. The studio's Rock It Forward program—cofounded by Laurieann Gibson, a choreographer who has worked with Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, and Lady Gaga, and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Adrienne Maloof—aims to combat childhood obesity with dance programs that bring celebrities in to help get kids excited about healthy living.

After years of figure skating, soccer playing, and jazz and tap dancing, co-owners Lori Allen and Jenny Geyser needed a fitness program that developed muscle strength and flexibility without terrorizing their joints. They landed on the Purre Barre method, and after years spent as students, they decided to go pedagogical, teaching others.

In their cozy, mirrored studio practitioners stabilize and stretch limbs on the ballet barre that surrounds the walls before assaulting the abs, hips, glutes and arms with a barrage of small isometric movements. By eliminating jumping by enforcing a strict no-pogo-stick policy, the exercises help bodies prevent undue stress on the joints.