Baby Boot Camp Dana Point/San Celemente

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I am a big fan of mom-centered workouts. As a new mom, it’s an incredible feeling to be able to find a workout that allows you to bring your baby and no one looks twice if you have to nurse, change a diaper or clean up spit up.

 

Angie Menendez is the owner and head trainer of Baby Boot Camp Dana Point /San Clemente. She also runs other programs, fitness for runners, and Body Back a more personalized small group fitness.

 

1) The ladies for Baby Boot Camp meet up at the playground  at Lantern Bay Park next to the Marriot. They run/walk to various points along the park and the harbor and do exercises, step ups, burpees, push ups, planks, etc.  It is a gorgeous view!

2) Angie is a seasoned professional, she’s been training for a long time, and has had the experience with her boot camp to give precise queuing for exercises and while handing out stickers to keep little ones occupied. She also has some of her “veteran” moms who have been there a long time pair up with newbies to make sure the exercises are done right.

3) This is a great workout, but I would say that if you are not comfortable walk/jogging at least a mile it will be hard to keep up

4) Everyone was great, but don’t turned off if there isn’t a lot of socialization right away, the moms are multi-tasking (as you will be too) working out and keeping an eye on their little ones.

This is a great workout that is perfect for moms!

Pros: kid friendly, beautiful location

Cons: only offered at 9:30 am Mon-Fri (although that is usually a perfect time for moms!)

Angie Menendez

https://babybootcamp-danapointsanclemente.frontdeskhq.com/staff_members

949-202-6988

 

 

SHEfit- Aliso Viejo

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SHEfit Aliso Viejo Crossfit

Crossfit has a reputation for being “intense” so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I walked in. I was prepping myself for a hard workout with a lot of really fit potentially intimidating ladies

Boy was I wrong! Barbara Murphy “Babs’ is the coach, a former police officer she turned her love of fitness into her career. Originally she begin this workout as a “Fitness over Forty” workout. It grew in such popularity amongst young ladies, moms, and the over fifty crowd that she named it SHEfit.

I had such a wonderful workout and was so inspired by these ladies.

  1. Held inside Aliso Crossfit, It’s pretty typical of the crossfit “box” warehouse style atheletic space. Plenty of room to move and not be in others way. The music is loud but the genre varies widly depending on their day.  
  2. Babs spent 15 minutes on the warm up, going over the mechanics of the lifts, setting up pull up stations that had proper assistance for everyone. She really made it clear what we were doing.
  3. The workout itself was a typical WOD for crossfit but she really made sure to not emphasis the time part. She coached everyone to do specific rounds, some of us did 3 and were done early and then we finished with stretching and foam rolling, others did 8 rounds.
  4. From the moment I walked in and met the Manger to the other two coaches I met and the ladies working out with me everyone was very kind and welcoming.

Pros: They do have a little child area. It’s not really babysitting as its just a cornered off area where the kids can see the moms working out and moms can see the kids.

Cons: Only offered at 9:30 am 4 mornings a week.

 

http://www.shefit.net/

sheFIT @ ALISO CROSSFIT

6 JOURNEY, SUITE 300

ALISO VIEJO, CA 92656

PHONE: (949) 215-2220

 

Total Training Fitness- Beginner’s Review

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To start my awesome first week I chose Total Training Fitness in Laguna Hills. They are relatively new to an actual brick and mortar, owned by an amazing couple that TRULY cares about the people who come to work out with them. I honestly cannot say enough nice things about Tammy and Gregg!

As a beginner, make sure to show up a tad early for your first class of your trial- you will sign into their system and you get to use a heart rate monitor. These things are AMAZING for 2 reasons- they tell you if you’re in your target heart rate and they tell you how many calories you’ve burned. If you’re like me, knowing how many calories you’ve burned is a motivator. Every time I felt like I made a mistake by doing any type of activity I just looked up at the tvs above the treadmills and had a little competition with myself! Hint: Don’t compare your calorie burn to any of the men in the room, it will possibly make you wish you were a man for a brief moment.

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Once hooked up to the heart monitor, Tammy explained how they work. You’re doing 6 minute circuits switching from treadmill work to “on the floor” which is where you get to use weights, mats and bosu balls (things that were created to show you how terrible your balance is). I am not a treadmill fan but this was great because they don’t tell you what SPEED to use, only what level and incline you should stay at. There are guides on each treadmill so if you’re lost you can get right back on track!

Their classes were SO motivating you guys…when I go to the gym on my own I just do NOT get the results and burn that I get from classes taught by instructors!

NOW ON TO THE RATINGS!! ( 1 star- 5 stars, 5 being the BEST!)

1. Affordability–  5/5. They have pricing for ALL budgets and the best part is that you can choose auto-pay and get some ridiculous discounted classes, i’m talking a little under $9 per class if you choose their 16 class per month package! You can cancel at any time with a 30 day notice and you’re not bound to it like most other gyms! LOVE that because life DOES happen, trust me, I know!

2. Availability– 5/5. Classes are all day at all times, the mornings and evenings are busier because of work but the 12pm class was a great size!

3. Difficulty– 3/5. As a beginner, some parts were super hard but I pushed through! The day after my first class I felt like a truck ran over me and the day after that maybe just a smaller truck…but still a truck. LOL! It’s definitely high impact but I absolutely LOVED that they gave modified options for the beginners! BUT I did burn almost 700 calories in an hour so…worth it!

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4. Variety– 5/5. Every class is completely different! I took a class by two different instructors and they were 100% different which I also loved because i’m one of those people that gets bored with at home videos because of the repetition!

5. Intimidation Factor– 5/5. I did not at any time feel like the fat kid in class even though I was.

They are centrally located in Laguna Hills right off Moulton and La Paz! Such a great, clean studio with instructors and owners that truly care about you and motivate you!

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Go check them out and try them for a week for free and tell them Nicole sent ya! It’s worth it!! Oh yeah, and ask them about their Rewards Program 😉

Total Training Website

26552A Moulton Pkwy, Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Total Training Fitness – Laguna Hills

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I got a chance to take a class at Total Training Fitness in Laguna Hills. The owner, Tammy Neiman, has been a leader in the outdoor boot camp fitness , running a very popular, Irvine based one for nearly a decade, and has now opened her first indoor location.

It is beautiful inside – brand new, state of the art, with treadmills across the board. The classes are run in groups of 15-20 people. It is a circuit, you will be on the treadmill for five or six minutes and then swap out on the floor for weight training. and go back and forth between the two. This is a great workout if you’re someone who tracks your heart rate and try to get that extra caloric burn – you can full sprint on the treadmill, and then use heavier weights, and try to increase the rounds completed. You can also scale the workouts given to make it more intense if you would like.

The trainers are not only extremely motivating but are highly trained and experts in the in their field. Your form will be addressed and corrected. This is not common in most boot-camps and circuits, they are usually run like aerobics classes with everyone doing the same workout. Here the trainers are there to help, but the workouts are also projected from a Power Point on a TV screen so that you always know what to do next.

The Breakdown:

Skill Level: Although this is a circuit/boot camp style workout, it is aimed at the older, less fit population. You’re not going to walk in and see an instructor in a sports bra, flexing their six pack (not that there’s anything wrong with that), they are more concerned about getting you through your workout and getting to reach your full potential. No one is going to be yelling at you, drill instructor style, to bring “beast mode”.

Injury: They won’t address your injury or fix it, but they can work around it.

Daycare: No daycare is offered

Music: Loud! It has a set volume, and though it is turned down while the instruction is given, when the workout begins it is turned up to a set level they have for all the classes.

Final thought: Overall a great experience, a lot of fun energy, and they do a great job.

CKO Kickboxing – Laguna Hills

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Yesteday I went and checked out CKO Kickboxing in Laguna Hills. It’s brand new, just opened May 5th. All of the equipment is brand new, state of the art. It is a smaller studio, with fifty-five bags lined up down the row. They have combo classes where you do kickboxing and then weight training with ropes, tire flipping, and sandbag work. The workout is done in rounds to some really fun music.

The instruction was great, Allan does a great job of keeping the class moving. It is alot of fun, but more intense, so more for people who have a somewhat active lifestyle. I would say a beginner could try the class, and lower the scale as needed, but understand that there is impact to the hands and legs, and twisting of the hips. So if you have an injury, especially a back injury, you don’t want to go to this type of studio.

The first class is free, and then it ranges from $95-$150, depending on how often you plan to go and the length of the contract. You will need to have wraps and gloves, even to participate in the free class, and they can be purchased there for $20, or you can get them anywhere fitness supplies are sold, really.

The breakdown:
Childcare offered: No, but they do offer a kids class every Thursday from 4:15, a 45 minute class for 6-12 year olds. Fifteen is the youngest that they will allow someone to work out without an adult.

 

 

Core Power Yoga – Mission Viejo

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Hot yoga has been one of my faves for years. I started with Bikram yoga which is done in a room heated to 96 degrees, it was very challenging to get used to. When I discovered Core Power Yoga it was a “much cooler” 90 degree room and thus felt much more tolerable.

I took Megan’s “hot yoga sculpt” class, and it is a great postpartum workout. It’s not too intense and the pace is slow, however because it’s in a heated room, I am going to say these classes are best for someone who works out regularly and has a more-than-beginner yoga practice. You really need to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

1) Core Power just opened in Mission Viejo a year ago. It is very clean and has a zen yoga meets hipster type of vibe.

2) They run frequent teacher trainings and their instructors, across the board, are trained with the same sing-song like verbal wiring that paints an anatomical picture while giving direction. From studio to studio the instruction always feels the same, although a true beginner might spend a lot of time craning their neck to see the teacher if they don’t know their down dog from their dancers poser.

3) Core Power Yoga is about 15 minutes of body prep work and easing your body into the postures. It then flows into a 15 minute vinyasa (breath focused yoga) which aims to rev up your body for the more intense weight workout. The sculpting workout is an intense 15 minutes that is done with 3-5 lb weights and combines traditional weight training movement patterns with an asana (posture focused yoga) workout. Push through it! It’s intense but short! The last 15 minutes of class are standing and seated asana and a sivasana (corpse pose – relaxing the body into the floor).

4) The staff is very friendly, welcoming, and incredibly helpful. They are very hands on, Megan does great adjustments on each practitioner, no matter how many students are in the room.

Overall a great workout and one of my favorites. It combines different movement patterns that make for a challenging and effective workout!

PURE sports fitness and therapy-Lake Forest

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**Note this is a biased review as I am also the owner! ****

Pure sports fitness and therapy is a group personal training studio in Lake Forest since 2009.  Their tag line is “the most affordable way to work with a personal trainer” and I would say that is absolutely true! There are no class “slots” per se you sign up for a rough time 6 am, and start whenever you get there with your program, so if you are early or late you can jump right in. Each workout is programmed and designed to meet your personal goals, and health history.  Each workout is lead by a personal trainer everytime you walk in, and everyone is doing the workout that is right for their body and their needs. So you might be working out next to a high school athelete, or a pregnant woman, and your workout will look different.

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equipment: weights, GTS, TRX, tire, chains, kick boxing bags, sand bags, spinning bikes, rowers, pilates springs

Ideal for Anyone but note that because of our background in Therapy most clients seek us out to help them with an injury, to pair it with physical therapy, or because they are nervous about re injury, probably 90% of all clients come in the front door with an existing injury we are working with.

1) The trainers here are amazing, kind, knowledgeable and motivating. The space and equipment is older but very clean.  The music is always upbeat and trendy but it is not too loud, the trainers need to be able to coach the clients through various movement patterns and need to be heard. High plank variations

2) The instruction is rock solid, Doing this review (and being biased as the owner) I let both my trainers program for me at almost 20 weeks pregnant, now granted I am the boss and they might have been nervous, but their queing was spot on, and their programming was perfect. Since all programs are designed for the individual any one at any level can workout at this studio.

3) You will definitely reach your fitness goals, wheather you are seeking a highly intense workout for high caloric burn and muscle build, or you are seeking the softer pilates based movements for strength and posture, you will definietly find what you need.

4) Not only will you find the staff super freindly and outgoing, but so are the clients! There is definetly a sense of comraderie and companionship here.

Prices range from $70-205 a month depending on how often you are working out. For clients on the unlimited package that attend 5 days a week it works out to $9 per workout! Everyone’s first week is free with no obligation to join.

5 stars!group personal training

Located at 22821 Lake Forest, CA 92630

www.purefitnessoc.com

949-916-3558

Review: YogaWorks Mission Viejo

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Yoga Works Mission Viejo Theraputic Yoga

Yoga Works Mission Viejo Theraputic Yoga

 

This morning I ventured over to Yoga Works in Mission Viejo to take Suzy Gills’ “Therapeutic Yoga” course. I experienced a lot of back pain when I was pregnant with my son, so I was very excited to take this class and see what it had to offer.

 

Equipment used: mat (bring your own or rent one from the studio), and then the studio provides blocks, strap, chair, blankets and bolster.

1) Yoga Works has been in Mission Viejo for 15 years, and while the studio is older, it is very clean, quiet, and calming. The equipment is all clean and very well maintained. There are two studio spaces and classes run from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The classes offered range from beginner to the advanced practitioner.

2) I can not say enough good things about Suzy Gills, she is extremely knowledgeable about injuries, movement, and movement patterns. During class she was very vigilant and aware of each attendees special needs, there were a lot of back, knee and neck issues. This class holds true to the “therapeutic” in the name, it for people who have an injury or something they need to work through and can not do standing poses. It’s not even a “beginner class” it is a “pre-beginner” class.

3) This class is truly an extension of a good physical therapy session (although there is no PT assumed or offered). It is gentle and Suzy walked everyone through how to open up and relax the muscles along the spine and spectrum, all the while working on tiny muscle movements and bringing awareness to areas where you might have tightness. If you have suffered any injury and are seeking a way to get back into yoga this is the perfect must-do class for you!

4) The receptionist at the front was wonderful and she even extended the package I had a few months because of my pregnancy.

 

The breakdown:

This is a 5 star class for sure!

Recommended for: Those with injuries, pre- and postnatal, and those beginners who aren’t sure where to begin.

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Review: Barre3 Laguna Niguel

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I had a wonderful workout this morning at the newly opened Barre3 in Laguna Niguel. Their tag line is “where ballet barre meets yoga and pilates.”

Considering this pregnancy has had me on bed rest for most of it and even put me in the hospital three weeks ago, I am incredibly proud of myself for getting through this workout. While most instructors will start with an advanced movement and then give an alternative move for the beginners, Jessica, the instructor,  taught the entire class in “beginner” mode until everyone was settled in the movements then she would let you “layer up” and advance the movement to the difficulty of your choice. I love this! It doesn’t alienate the beginners, and actually empowers everyone in the class.

So lets get to the review!

1) The studio is brand spanking new, clean, and full of light and clean lines. It’s is very inviting and welcoming! The music was upbeat and fun, not exactly what I expected for the blend of barre Pilates and yoga but it actually worked really well.

2) The instructor was awesome … her explanations of the movements were clear and concise, not too much anatomical jargon, but clear talk to help you engage your thighs, core, and upper back. The movements were mostly done in 40-50 reps with lots of “holds” and pulsing in between. No big movements, nothing jarring, and no impact. But never fear you will feel the burn!

3) The workout itself uses high reps and isometric holds to achieve muscle overload and fatigue and so while you’re not moving a lot, you’re moving properly, and in a way that counts. It blends one barre movement seamlessly into a yoga pose for holding and then back into barre. The floor work is very classic core pilates and you will feel your midsection burning in all the right areas!

4) When I walked in I was greeted by none other than the owner, Nikki! She checked me in, rang me up, and then she went over the basics –  where to put my stuff in the lockers out front, where I could find a complimentary towel, and where I could refill my water bottle. All of the other clients there to workout were very friendly.

This is a one room adorable studio located next to Whole Foods Market in Laguna Niguel. The drop in price is $20, or they have class passes and a monthly unlimited membership for $160 on auto-renrew.

The Breakdown:

5 stars for sure!

I will be back!

To learn more go to www.barre3.com and search for the Laguna Niguel location, or you can call 949-328-9633.

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