Fitness Classes in Miami Beach

Seven extreme athletes and one Royal Marine banded together to design Spartan Race's intense miles-long course strewn with more than 15 obstacles to test resilience, stamina, and strength. Clad in event T-shirts, runners collect smudges and stains as they clamber across mud pits, slide unscathed under barbed wire, and juke feral linebackers. Upon crossing the finish line, victors are awarded a participation medal. The top three male and female runners each qualify for free entry to the next race-level up. Combatants compare fresh battle wounds—or scars from filing folders—as a live band plays catchy tunes, and the aromas of warm, savory food (available for purchase) tempt grumbling bellies.

The founder of Body Manors and an AFAA-certified trainer, Andrew LaRochelle packed his metaphorical suitcase with New England enthusiasm and kinesthetic authority when he moved to South Florida to lead group fitness classes at Body Manors. He specializes in teaching core-toning yoga for beginners and advanced practitioners, and also promotes the roasting of calories during cardio kickboxing and dance aerobics based on moves from salsa, hip hop, and “there’s a bat in this room.” Before opening Body Manors, Andrew trained his brain at the University of North Florida and UMass Boston, where he earned a master’s degree in public affairs. The minimalist studio in which Andrew plies his trade showcases a white interior bathed in natural light, which shines through picture windows onto hardwood floors.

In 2000, Jacqueline Amendola, owner of Pixie Fitness, strutted her way into the title of Exotic Dancer magazine's World's Sexiest Showgirl. As a headliner, she mastered all manner of inversions and twirls, keeping in peak physical shape as a personal trainer of 12 years. Today, she leans on this experience to lead pole-dancing classes and a variety of group fitness classes, such as Zumba, yoga, and sensual dance.

To give her studio a competitive edge, Jacqueline has employed master instructor Derick Pierson, who won the American Pole Fitness Championships in 2011. An ex-cheerleader with a background in competitive tumbling and amateur high-fiving, Derick trained at the South Florida Circus Arts School and studied under US Pole Dance Federation pro Allison Sipes before going on to win multiple championships in the art form.

On the surface, Susan Hilferty appeared to be living the American dream—a promising position as a pharmaceutical rep, plus an upcoming marriage. But for a woman who grew up studying at The School of American Ballet and dancing on stages including Lincoln Center, selling pills felt empty at times, and Hilferty found her need for physical expression growing stronger. While visiting a friend in Los Angeles, she took her first pole-dancing class, and almost immediately, her life took a new direction.

Though she faced resistance from friends and family, Hilferty saw in her classes how pole dancing transformed women—giving them new confidence, encouraging them to overcome insecurities, and helping them heal from past traumas. She called off her wedding, continued taking classes, and eventually opened Pole Fitness Miami. Today, she and her team of trained ballerinas lead pole-dancing and dance-based fitness classes at two locations. Ranked on CBS Local Miami's list of Best Places For Unique Workouts, the boutique surrounds saunterers with purple walls, subdued lighting, and gauzy curtains to create a sultry atmosphere. Additionally, Hilferty and her crew help students obtain pole-dance certifications, as well as arrange pole-dance parties so groups of damsels can strengthen their bonds or celebrate becoming volunteer firefighters.

Julio Anta first told his father that he wanted to be a professional martial artist and bodybuilder at age 7. He dedicated the next several decades of his life to mastering his craft, immersing himself in disciplines including judo, kung fu, and tae kwon do. However, solitary training just wasn’t cutting it. Julio was compelled to share his understanding of self-defense and physical conditioning, and soon, a studio was born.

As the owner of Anta's Fitness and Self Defense, Julio empowers his students with a combination of practical self-defense classes and inspiring fitness-based workouts. The studio embraces a number of diverse martial arts, and uses a modern understanding of fitness and physiology to teach the timeless techniques and philosophies that define each style.

The schedule features these self-defense sessions along with fitness-oriented classes that tone muscles and improve cardiovascular health with Pilates techniques, kettlebell workouts, and games of Red Rover in the studio's wind tunnel. Additionally, the instructors offer programs for children and teenagers that nurture budding self-control and confidence in a supportive environment.

Savvy Rydes believes in the power of the small group. Its fitness classes are capped at 15 people so its certified fitness instructors can give attention to each participant, whether showing beginners the ropes or motivating veteran exercisers to push themselves to the limit, or to the outskirts of town. The staff fuels these personalized fitness programs with Zumba dance routines, TRX suspension-training equipment, Polar GX gear, or indoor Real Ryder ABF8 cycles that tilt and lean like real bikes.