Fusion's LA Adventure Continued...

Did you think you missed the memo to read about the rest of our adventures in LA? Nope...we just had a slight delay in continuing this story due to the opening of our BRAND NEW MISSION FARMS STUDIO! We are loving the new space and now have two locations to make you sweat!

Back to LA...

Our next stop after Sadie dominated the treadmill at Drive Cardio was called Yoga Hop, just down the street from Drive. This is one of my favorite streets in Santa Monica called Montana Ave, filled with coffee shops, cute studios and boutiques, hip eateries, and more fro-yo shops than a Kardashian episode.

If you are ever in the area, I always suggest this studio. I was here three years ago and loved it, so I definitely wanted it included on this trip. I have to say, I liked the past class better, but this one was full of super loud hip hop and we loved the motivating buns of our model-esque teacher, Jennifer.

One of my favorite things about this studio is the natural light; it just pours in both of the rooms they have. I don't know if it's all that light or the moves or the music, but something just always leaves me feeling so full of energy and love every time I walk out of there.

The class we took was Vinyasa Flow, and we loved the moves but thought the pace needed some pick-me-up. (Although, you know us Fusion gals are a little high-strung and hyper at times, so maybe we are a little biased?) We moved through about 6 vinyasa flow cycles and then onto a super long stretch and into my least favorite pose, SAVASANA, for what seemed like six hours(!). All in all we missed the sweat but cooled our jets and really did enjoy the relaxation of the class.

Onto our next stop, Dove's Bodies. We walked into this huge space full of equipment and full of all types of clients; some seemed more beginner while others were prancing their hot bods around. We were immediately directed by a stern woman with a clipboard, who turned out to be our not-so-cheery instructor.

The concept of this place was right on target, going through a circuit and keeping our heart rates up, but it was so out of flow and not that exciting. One minute we'd be running on the treadmill and the next we'd be herded to the group exercise area, doing a lot of old-school aerobics. And our instructor was really grumpy! We hope that was just her on a bad day and it wasn't always like that, but she yelled at Amy for not jumping enough and at Sadie for doing the wrong jump. And not in the fun, motivating way that makes you want to try harder! So we will leave Dove and her clipboard, and keep our nice ways of inspiring you guys.

The next studio was definitely the most creative way of burning cals I have seen. It's called Pound, and we literally did the entire class with drumsticks in our hands. Sounds crazy, but it really was pretty cool. We were thinking about coordination more than banging out the reps, so it made for a nice distraction and gave us a few laughs.

Our adorable instructor, Harmony, was just like you are picturing her. Super energetic, sweet, and totally into what she was doing. Her class kind of reminded me of Zumba, where the whole thing is coordinated and you just have to follow along until you get it. There were only six of us in there, so luckily we weren't worried the whole time of jabbing each other in the eye with a drumstick. We'd do individual moves, and then do some sitting in a line so we'd slap the sticks together like we were performing in Stomp. It was super fun and we were smiling ear to ear the entire time.

If you're ever in LA, Pound is something off the beaten path and you can really get into the groove of the music and enjoy yourself. It feels kind of goofy at first, but experiencing something new everyday is on your to-do list, right?

We wanted to hit a barre class to see if they were doing anything fun, but it turns out that Physique 57 in Beverly Hills is more like your mom's barre class. Or even your grandma's. Yawn! And not just due to our normal pace, but it was just really boring, slow, and literally felt like it was happening in Grandma's dining room. A client even had a baby with her.

Don't get me wrong, the class was well-directed with super nice instructors and good moves, but it was more like a formal ballet class than a fitness barre class. I think we are lucky to have such a fun barre class here at Fusion, because people come here to sweat, not to perfect their plie.

Next we wanted to see what all the hype was about at Barry's Boot Camp. It's all the rave in Hollywood, and in fact Kim Kardashian just tweeted about going there a couple days ago. We wanted to check out how the stars get their sweat on, and possibly get a little of that Kardashian booty lift, so we headed to boot camp.

Upon check-in, we received our dog tags and met our instructor Seth, a total LA guy in his 20s with hair more done than ours and an enthusiastic attitude to teach his first class. The place was packed and decked out in camo everything, to really give that "boot camp" vibe. They gave out that vibe with the class too, as we did so many push-ups I had to drop to my knees a few times, and we did a full 30 minutes on the treadmill in addition to all the other requirements.

Seth was super encouraging and kept on us to 'give it all you got,' but I have to say the class was pretty mundane. It was like we were all doing exercises from Men's Heath, 1985. They were good moves of course, but behind the times and just not too exciting. There was never a feeling of working towards a goal or climax, it was just do one boring exercise and onto the next. The tough amount of reps were challenging and would definitely get a gal in shape, but we prefer more bang for our buck.

Rock It was our next stop, a full two hour drive from all the other studios. I had heard about this place so had to take the drive to experience it.

They had a very cool space, with a juice bar, store, and salon in addition to the studio. The class was the closest to Fusion that we found, even using everybody's fav, the gliders! They had great moves, worked to muscle exhaustion like we do, and it was an overall fun class. They could have picked up the pace, and I thought a lot of their moves weren't extremely challenging. The gliders, for example, were all done standing up.

The feel of Rock It reminded us of a group fitness class you take on vacation. Fun and a decent workout, but a little too aerobics-y. But hey, we were on vacation!

Our last stop was my fav, Soul Cycle. Like many cycling classes, this was done in a dark room with loud music and puddles of sweat under us all by the end of it. Our instructor Angela walked in like an Olympic track star. Not an ounce of fat on this woman's body, and how do you say, you could bounce a quarter off that ass?! Her muscles and healthy attitude were instantly motivating.

At one point in class I thought, if my rented bike shoes didn't snap into the peddles, my feet would literally fly off the peddles we were going so fast. We were totally intermediate in this super-hard class, and the quads they were a-burnin.

But what really set this class apart for me, besides the amazing workout, was the inspiration from Angela. She was so encouraging to everyone and kept pushing us to do our best, asking what our intentions were, and to keep aiming towards them. She talked about being part of a community by doing what we love and finding our purpose.

I really came out of there reaffirmed at why I love Fusion so much and how happy I am with what I do. It's not just exercising, it's inspiring people to love themselves and go find their dreams too. Angela was one of those instructors you have where you get so much more than a workout; we could really see how much she loved helping us feel good about ourselves. She left us with more than sore buns, to say the least.

We came home with fresh ideas that we'll be incorporating into our classes, but even better, being away gave us a fresh look at how special Fusion really is. We work hard to create fun and challenging classes that will keep you coming back not only for a great hour of sweat, but a time to focus on YOU and feel good about yourself, away from the rest of the day's stresses. We love what we do. We went to the best of the best in LA, and it just made us appreciate you guys even more. Thank you, Fusionistas :)