Gyms & Fitness Centers in Los Angeles

The quote, written in pink cursive letters above the workout space, says it all: “Building Lean, Mean Girlie Machines.” The brainchild of certified CrossFit coach and former fitness competitor Holly Holton, Pink Iron Gym’s mission is to create a supportive, intimidation-free environment where women can achieve fitness goals. Holton's quest to realize this goal has led to numerous media appearances that showcase her commitment to serving women of all ages and fitness levels. In an interview with E! News, which lauded Pink Iron Gym as Hollywood's Hottest New Gym, Dancing With the Stars pro Lacey Schwimmer said, "It's a safe haven… You're not going to get hit on, you're not going to worry about how you're looking. You're here for yourself and that's all that matters." In addition to a main training room, a cardio area with cardio theater, and a private training space, the gym houses a spa-style dressing room with an old-Hollywood makeup counter. Here, women will find blow dryers and fluffy towels that double as full-body sweatbands.

Most gyms don't limit their membership enrollment, which is why Meridian's Bodies in Motion does. By managing their member count, the workout areas are less crowded and visitors can step right up to machines without wasting precious calorie-burning minutes waiting in line. The staff can focus on keeping the facility clean and getting acquainted with clients, adding personal touches such as greeting members by name every time they enter and swipe their membership card, which means "hello" in several languages.

At each facility, a team of certified fitness instructors encourages exercise efforts during an array of group classes, including Zumba, spin, yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, and cross-training. The certified personal trainers devise customized workout routines and monitor exercisers' forms as they carve muscles lifting free weights and slim down on cardio and strength-training equipment from Icarian, Hammer Strength, Precor, and FreeMotion. Special features—such as racquetball courts, swimming pools, saunas, indoor basketball courts, boxing rings, childcare, and cuddly kitten pits—vary depending on location.

Fitness guru and founder of Burbank Athletic Club Greg Bedrossian knows what it means to beat the odds. Born with a hole in his heart, he was advised throughout his life to avoid strenuous exercise. But instead of giving up, Greg dug into deep personal reserves of will and became a personal trainer, eventually opening Burbank Athletic Club.

Today, his CPR- and AED-certified trainers have picked up on his knack for bypassing perceived physical limitations. Through their fitness classes and training programs, the staff strives to help their students embody the same grit and determination in shaping their own bodies. The high-intensity classes—including cardio kickboxing and a boxing-Pilates fusion known as Piloxing—ramp up the difficulty as time goes on. Vinyasa, flow, and other forms of yoga are available as well, led by experienced yogis. These are contrasted by low-impact, high-intensity spinning classes, which work the body but also the mind, as clients must recognize that no matter how hard they pedal, in the end they go nowhere. Classes are often supplemented with individual workouts in a vast gym filled with weight machines, free weights, and cardio machines.

In 2001, founder Carrie Rezabek Dorr began teaching dance classes in her very first studio. A lifetime of choreographing and performing across the United States had prepared her to teach others how to nurture their passion for dance. But an interest in fitness led her to explore mixing ballet and exercise in an effort to bolster her students' health and flexibility while reducing their chance of injury. Now called the Pure Barre method, Carrie’s fitness regime tones the hips, seat, arms, and abs by combining small movements with barre exercises that tone without building bulky muscle. This new regime ignited a fire under her students that soon spread to other studios across the United States. Today, instructors from Alabama to Washington continue to teach Carrie's method, while she continues to refine her techniques and search for the lost city of El Dorado.

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.