Yoga and Beer / Green Flash Hoppy Yoga
People are religious about beer and people are religious about yoga. Why not pair them together? Every Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to noon, before the Green Flash brewery opens, you can downward dog in the tasting room. For $15, you get one class and a free pint afterwards. Try the Citra Session IPA, out this month.
6550 Mira Mesa Boulevard, Mira Mesa
Zumba Teacher / Jaylin Allen, Bootique Fitness
Instructor Jaylin Allen is a perky, funky, talented ball of energy. She’s also a master of every dance style thrown into her 60-minute Zumba classes, making for stellar entertainment in addition to great cardio. The playlist is super current, students are torching calories, and she never stops smiling. No wonder Jaylin has such a loyal following. Saturdays at 9 a.m., Sundays at 10 a.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:30 p.m.
Dance Place at Liberty Station, 2650 Truxtun Road, Point Loma, bootiquefitness.com
Community Gym / Physical Culture 101
Owners Michael Kugler and Tommy Moring are all about serving the community. They’ve created a friendly exercise venue where staring at a TV is not an option. Equipment lines the perimeter, with open space in the middle for events like paleo dinners, seminars, and workshops specific to snowboarders or surfers.
1144 North Coast Highway 101, Leucadia
Girl-Power Fitness / Girls on the Run
Anyone who has ever finished a 5K knows the endorphin-driven self-esteem boost that comes from a good run. That’s the idea behind Girls on the Run San Diego, a nonprofit org that empowers middle school girls through fitness: a 10-week afterschool running program that culminates in a twice-yearly, tutu-friendly 5K.
gotrsd.org
Spinning / The Rush Indoor Cycling Studio
This spin studio puts an emphasis on quality instruction and the latest technology, with Keiser M3+ bikes that monitor your heart rate and themed classes like “Summer Jams Ride” and “Throwback Thursdays” (preview the music on Spotify; request songs on Facebook). Costumes
encouraged. Class: $20.
5628 La Jolla Boulevard, La Jolla; 11130 East Ocean Air Drive, Carmel Valley
Juice Bar / Fully Loaded Micro Juicery
Opened last fall in Leucadia, this spot offers 18-oz. bottles of cold-pressed, certifiably organic juices mixed with hard-to-find superfoods like blue algae and moringa. We’re excited about the juice cleanse menu and the almond milks made in-house. Bottles start at $10.
466 North Coast Highway 101, Encinitas
Class Variety / Fortis Fitness
So many of us piece together fitness memberships, with cycling at one studio, yoga at another, and Barre classes at yet another. With yoga, hot yoga, TRX, cycling, Zumba, barre, and more all under one roof, Fortis offers everything but excuses.
2712 Gateway Road, Carlsbad
One-Stop Shop / Mantra Yoga Studio & Juice Bar
This ultra-clean, modern facility is the first of its kind in San Diego, as it’s part heated yoga studio, part juice bar. Juices and boosters packed with superfoods like kale, beets, coconut water, and acai serve as the perfect post-sweat refresher. Bottoms up!
5617 Paseo Del Norte, Carlsbad
Trampoline Workout / SkyRobics
If you want to get moving, but cringe at the thought of a treadmill or dumbbell, take a SkyRobics class at Sky Zone San Diego. You’ll literally bounce off the walls in the hour-long trampoline workout, which combines calisthenics, core exercises, and strength training; burns up to 1,000 calories per class; and makes you feel like a kid again.
851 Showroom Place, Chula Vista
Outlaw Yogi / NamaSteve
Last year, Steve Hubbard (aka “NamaSteve”) took the city to court for trying to shut down the free yoga class he teaches weekend mornings on a stretch of grass overlooking the ocean at the end of Law Street in Pacific Beach. We are happy to report the code forbidding more than 49 people to gather in a public park was ruled unconstitutional, and you can still find upward of 200 people doing downward dogs on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
namasteveyoga.com
Boot Camp / Gut Check Fitness
Elliptical, schmelliptical—try a beachfront boot camp that was voted “Hardest Workout” by Competitor Magazine. Although the interval-style session designed by “World’s Fittest Man” Joe Decker is challenging, high-fives abound. With scenic venues in North and South San Diego and the motto “The Earth is Your Gym,” this workout puts the gym (and your gut) in check.
2707 Third Avenue, Bankers Hill
5K for Beginners / Carlsbad 5000
We love the Carlsbad 5000 because it’s scenic and the course is flat (hence the designation “World’s Fastest 5K”). Beginners and parents pushing strollers partake in the same event as elite athletes, and it’s not another color or costumed run. This year, 24-year-old Dejen Gebremeskel of Ethiopia beat 39-year-old multiple Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat, clocking in at 13:13. Lagat, who came in at 13:22, beat the American 5K road record (see? fast). There are also kiddie events like the two-year-olds’ Diaper Dash. Next race is March 29, 2015.
carlsbad.competitor.com
Still the Best
Hardcore Pilates
Core40
Solana Beach, Carmel Valley, and Little Italy
Boutique Yoga
The Little Yoga Studio
702 Ash Street, Cortez Hill
Meditation
The Chopra Center for Wellbeing
2013 Costa Del Mar, Carlsbad
Vertical Workout
Fitwall
7710 Fay Avenue, La Jolla; 437 Coast Highway 101, Solana Beach
More Best of San Diego 2014:
Best of San Diego: Health & Fitness
Green Flash Hoppy Yoga
