Latest news with #AlyssaBereznak
Los Angeles Times
19-04-2025
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
Pilates is a safe and effective form of exercise for all ages and body types. Here are L.A.'s best studios
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. I'm Alyssa Bereznak, the wellness editor at The Times. Here's what you need to know to start your day: At first glance, Pilates looks easy. At least, that's what I remember thinking in my early 20s when I signed up for a class. You get to lie down, I thought. How hard could it be? The answer to that question, dear reader, arrived through a web of soreness that extended across the long-ignored muscles in my abdomen, butt and thighs the following morning. I had mistaken a serene workout environment for an unserious one. But the 'militaristic precision' of Pilates, as Times contributor Jackie Snow describes it in our recent guide to the best Pilates studios in L.A., is exactly what makes the exercise such an excellent method of targeting the body parts we compromise at our desk jobs. Pilates' many accessories, despite their resemblance to torture devices, are designed to work your entire body, maintaining your skeletal alignment and ideal range of motion for a low-impact, full-body workout. It follows that Pilates is an accessible form of exercise for a whole range of ages (including seniors) and body types. It allows you to be easy on your joints but — I cannot emphasize this enough — not your muscles. As is the case with any new form of exercise, expert supervision can be the difference between an effective workout and an unfortunate injury. Which is why we descended on Los Angeles to evaluate the facilities, instruction and vibes of the countless studios that dot our streets and boulevards. The resulting 26 businesses we highlight in our new exercise guide series L.A. Circuit keep their class sizes small, and therefore provide personalized adjustment suggestions. You can feel confident that any of our picks will be a safe place for you to, like me, realize that Pilates is not as easy as it looks. If you happen to be an especially dedicated athlete in need of an even tougher challenge, try Lagree. (Just don't call it Pilates.) And if all this sounds a bit complicated, there's always yoga. Either way, I hope this helps give you a movement road map as we ease into spring. California could lose millions from Trump's tariffs. Newsom plans to sue L.A. County Sheriff's Department spent $458 million in overtime last fiscal year A mysterious week for wildlife Get ready for the L.A. Times Festival of Books More big stories Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here. This little-known earthquake fault has been quiet. But it can unleash devastation across SoCal. Below California's famed beaches, mountains and metropolitan areas lies a sinister web of earthquake faults — some so infamous that their names are burned into the state's collective consciousness. While not a household name like the San Andreas, the Elsinore fault is part of a larger seismic zone that experts fear and believe more people should know about. More great reads How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Going out Staying in What politician popped up at Coachella? Plus nine other questions from our weekly news quiz. Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
Los Angeles Times
16-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. Circuit: The best places to exercise in the city
Los Angeles has a reputation for being exercise-obsessed for a reason. Our city is home to studios and gyms fit for Hollywood actors, models and influencers. (The trainer at your CrossFit class might just be the next shredded lead in the latest action franchise.) And there's never a shortage of trendy or experimental techniques to try out. But given the vastness of the city, it can be hard for anyone attempting a new type of exercise — or aiming to level up in their favorite category — to know where to go. Studios can vary wildly in accessibility, price, cleanliness, equipment, instruction and community cultivation. And inadequate feedback can cause annoyance at best, and injury at worst. That's where L.A. Circuit comes in. We send our intrepid reporters into the field to stretch, squat and lift their way through each studio we select to bring you the very best of L.A. in a variety of exercise categories. And we take special care to note the stories and ideas behind these studios, knowing that half the motivation for pulling on a pair of tennis shoes or sticky socks is the feeling of community you get from returning over and over again. We'll be adding more guides regularly, so bookmark this page and return often for even more places where you can move in the city. — Alyssa Bereznak, Wellness Editor
