ENABLING YOUR PASSION FOR HEALTHY LIVING

Class Review: Burn 60 in Los Angeles, California

I’ve been meaning to try Burn 60 for a couple years. It’s a studio in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California featuring strength training and treadmill intervals. It sounded like Barry’s Bootcamp and knowing Michelle Lovitt one of the original trainers, I knew it had to be great.

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I signed up using ClassPass the night before for the Endurance 60 class at 9:30 am with Kris. Parking was easy and free for 2 hours with validation. I showed up at 9:20is and the “good” treadmill’s were taken so I grabbed a spot on the floor to start. Like Barry’s Bootcamp, half of the class starts on the treadmills and half starts on the floor. The class wasn’t full but close. t forgot a hair elastic and was graciously handed a thick good one!

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The studio is bright and energizing. I grabbed a pair of dumbbells and kettle bell for my station as directed by the instructor. The class was filled with all women who appeared to be between twenty somesthings to middle-aged women. A couple of the older women warmed up at a “jog” of 7.5 mpg on their Woodways before class even started.

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The Class:

To start on the floor, we got warm with a few stabilization exercises which I appreciate as a trainer. It tells me that the instructor knows what they are doing. We then performed 4 different strength training exercises with our dumbbells and kettle bells working the entire body. We repeated the exercises for a total of 2 sets and then finished with a 1 minute plank before we switched with the treadmill group. Like Barry’s, it is up to the instructor I think to decide how long our circuits are.

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I am a Woodway snob. I pretty much can’t run on a treadmill now unless it is a Woodway which is the treadmill in your gym with the soft rubber panels instead of the regular thin belt. Thankfully, Burn 60 uses mostly Woodways with the exception of 3 older looking models. I feel like I can run faster and without any shin or knee pain when compared to a regular tread.

What I liked about the choreography at Burn 60 on the treamdill was that the instructor gave us starting speeds according to our perceived level of running experience. He had a speed for the walkers, joggers and runners. I identified myself as a runner and picked the higher end of suggested speeds. After that we listened to how many points to add or subtract to our speeds. He seemed to be paying close attention to our interval timing and I trusted that he would tell us when to recover.

I took the Endurance class which was designed by a professional run coach to help you get faster – or so I was told. The highest incline we visited was a 3.0 which I liked an allowed me to focus on speed. The first run boosted my confidence and felt like it would benefit my speed if done regularly. I felt strong and successful – not defeated. The runs were very challenging and different from Barry’s Bootcamp in Boston. Everything was a one or two minute interval during the first treadmill circuit. We were able to recover for 60 seconds after a 3 minute interval and then another minute to jog it out.

After about 12-14 minutes, we hopped off the treadmills and got back on to the floor. This time we did 4 different strength training exercises and repeated them again for 2 total sets. We finished with some oblique side twists. The strength exercises focused on the entire body and were not plyometric.

The second treadmill session was really hard in a great way. It really tested my endurance and made me realize I can run faster and longer than I thought prior to the class! As the end we cooled down with some simple stretches.

We only used a kettle bell and pair of weights during our class but I was impressed by the variations they had. Some of the clients used the foam rollers after class to roll out and chat with the instructor and each other.  We weren’t rushed out even with the next class starting 15 minutes later.

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I loved the music during class. It was similar to the tunes that I play in my class, a mix of current pop/dance songs and remixes. I also appreciated the instructor letting us know exactly what was coming up on the treadmill so I could push myself to the end. He spoke to us like he was our coach and felt very encouraging. The weight portion was pretty simple making it easy to do each move with perfect form and feel the burn. I will probably go heavier next class though. The exercises were all safe and form was properly shown. It really was inclusive for beginners and advanced.

The studio is clean. There are cubbies for bags that are in plain sight of the studio floor so no need for a lock. There is only 1 bathroom and this means there are no showers. After class, I noticed a bunch of fit looking men waiting to take the class after mine. While my class was all women and I might have been the youngest during the 9:30 am time slot, I was not the fastest by far. There were a couple older women who literally sprinted the second treadmill circuit – running over 2 miles in the 12-14 minutes we were on the treadmills. My point is that this workout is for all levels – walkers to sprinters – all are welcome.

There is an amazing shop right next door called Kreation Kafe and Juicery which made for an excellent stop after my workout. I grabbed a smoothie, juice, vegan chia yogurt and raw avocado and cucumber soup.

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I’m excited to go back and try other smoothie flavors. I got the Yellow Diamond which was amazing and made with Pineapple, Almond Butter, Banana and Almond Milk. I will be recreating this as well as sharing the workout from class on a later blog post!

I’m in LA until Friday and will be sharing the different studio reviews for your own research! GO PATRIOTS!!!!!!! Super Bowl Bound 🙂

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