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• Best Place to Train Like an Athlete for People Whose Only Exercise Is Playing Wii Tennis

  Breakthru Fitness

  Until I joined Breakthru Fitness, the most challenging exercise I had put my body through was bending to find the remote control under the couch. Its greatest asset — among the 70 classes a week in a fully equipped center with big-screen TVs always airing the Food Network — is the Adult Total Conditioning class. ATC is meant to make… More >>

• Best Flight Lessons

  Trapeze Workshop

  Fourth-generation circus performer Richie Gaona has been flying the trapeze since he was 5 years old. He moved to Los Angeles in 1988 to put his circus tricks to use as a stuntman, teaching actors and fellow performers how to fly on the side. Gaona's Trapeze Workshop now has a devoted following of diverse students who attend his trapeze classes,… More >>

• Best No-Hassle Pool for Serious Swimmers

  Rose Bowl Aquatic Center

  Believe it or not, for as big and abundantly sunny as L.A. is, it's a town seriously lacking in good options for lap swimmers who want smooth water, regulation-size lanes and backstroke flags. One excellent solution to this problem is the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center, where parking is free and the two Olympic-size pools are a welcome sight, especially when… More >>

• Best Belly Dance Workout

  Swerve Studio's Shimmy Shape-Up

  You might expect a belly dance class in a yoga studio to be impossibly new agey, or to skimp on the high-velocity, highly specific muscle moves that make the dance such a killer ab workout. But Shannon "Shea Butter" Lewallen's Shimmy Shape-Up at Swerve Studio on Third Street strikes the right balance. Described as a "newly innovated full-body medium-low-impact cardio… More >>

• Best Hotel Golf Club

  Industry Hills Golf Club

  Funny thing about place names around L.A. — they vary wildly in descriptive accuracy. Studio City does have movie and TV studios nearby, but Panorama City lacks any obvious panorama. While City of Industry does possess a lot of light industry, much of the municipality looks pretty tame, and parts of it are rather leafy and scenic, like the Industry… More >>

• Best Cheap Thwacks

  Rex's Baseball Batting Cages

  Whether you're gearing up to join a baseball or softball league, or just want to blow off some steam and indulge your inner Derek Jeter, take your cuts at Rex's Baseball Batting Cages. This easygoing place is cheaper and less crowded than many other batting cages. It offers cages for 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 mph pitches. The… More >>

• Best Sweet, Gentle Yoga — Is That OK With You?

  Yoganette

  Think high-quality yoga only takes place in Venice, Malibu, Silver Lake and the other usual-suspect chic enclaves? Think again. Yoga has spread like sushi and fixed-gear bicycles. Areas like the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire now are home to enough yoga to allow diverse choices among studios, including such special finds as Yoganette, a studio in West Covina… More >>

• Best Place to Develop Thighs/Buns of Steel

  Pop Physique

  The creator of Pop Physique attended classes during her pregnancy and she still thinks the workout's thigh exercises are more difficult than having a baby. Founded by former dancer Jennifer Williams, the rigorous fitness classes combine ballet, Pilates and several rounds of pelvic tucks. The classes began at Pop Physique's flagship Silver Lake locale but, with Williams' tireless energy, have… More >>

• Best Scenic Tennis Courts

  Vermont Canyon Tennis Courts

  On a stretch of land adjacent to the Greek Theatre, trees loom, coyotes sniff, rattlesnakes roam — and the Vermont Canyon tennis courts rumble with activity. The spectacular sporting facility is patched into the wilderness of Griffith Park. Here you can escape the growls of traffic and rush of the freeway. Tuck your racket under your arm and warm up… More >>

• Best Steam Sauna

  Beverly Wilshire Hotel's Aromatherapy Crystal Steam Room

  Entering the Aromatherapy Crystal Steam Room in the spa at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, available to hotel guests and spa customers, is like being transported into a trippy parallel universe. The dark ceiling is covered with teeny, color-changing fiber-optic lights. Bum feel extra warm and cozy? That's because the walls and benches are heated. That delicious scent in the steamy… More >>

• Best Jogging Around a Historic Landmark

  Rose Bowl Loop

  The Rose Bowl is known for its football games more than anything, but hundreds of people frequent the Rose Bowl Loop for exercise. Some walk, some bike — but most run the 3.3 miles around the picturesque stadium. This nationally known landmark today stands in as a training ground for runners and bikers, so don't be surprised to see a… More >>

• Best Velodrome

  L.A. Velodrome

  You've done Midnight Ridazz. You watched #flightvsbike on your smartphone. And now you're wondering where to find the next frontier of cycling action. Look no further than the L.A. Velodrome, an indoor wooden track with a banked incline up to 45 degrees. It's basically about sweat and speed. Olympic-level athletes train here, so it can be a little intimidating. Fortunately,… More >>

• Best Adult Swimming Pool for Going Deep

  Echo Park Deep Swimming Pool

  Children should learn to swim, especially in Los Angeles, where the ocean is at the doorstep. But the Echo Park Deep Swimming Pool acknowledges it's just as important for adults to get their swim on. The managers have designated "Adults Only" hours weekdays in the very early morning, as well as on weekends during the lunch hour. Kids are banned… More >>

• Best Pilates Teacher for People Who Hate Pilates

  Eddy Rioseco

  So you think you can stretch? Don't let the women who can fold themselves as flat as an envelope in Eddy Rioseco's Pilates class put you off if you're a beginner. You're in good hands with Eddy, who's taught both mat and reformer Pilates for six years. The benefits of the physical fitness system developed by Joseph Pilates are well… More >>

• Best Other Pilates Classes

  Sheppard Method Pilates

  Joe Pilates would turn over in his grave if he could see what the current Pilates scene has become, with studios teaching everyone the same militaristic, cookie-cutter routine, cramming as many people into a class as economics dictate. But the intelligent body workers at Sheppard Method Pilates studio are refreshingly attuned to the individual, adjusting each workout to your body's… More >>

• Best Solo Time

  Float Lab Technologies

  Ever want to lose all sense of time and space? John Lilly, Altered States–style isolation tank sensory deprivation experiences are so ... outmoded. The frosted-glass austerity of Float Lab Technologies and its cerebral proprietor, Crash, known as the "global expert on float technology," offer float tech for the 21st century. Zero freak-out potential exists here, for the rookie or veteran… More >>

• Best Hits and Misses

  World Dodgeball Society

  Amber from Clueless complained to her gym teacher, "My plastic surgeon doesn't want me doing any activity where balls fly at my nose." Dionne replied, "Well, there goes your social life." But guess what — that's totally not true! The social scene is alive and kicking in the World Dodgeball Society, an athletic club that boasts 18 leagues across Southern… More >>

• Best Calabasas Dreaming

  Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center

  Most of Calabasas (median household income $93,860) is hidden inside gated communities sprinkled across ridges that enjoy a breeze from the Pacific, which ensures clean air. A hub of liberal wealth, the city built a LEED-approved Civic Center in 2008; it also banned Styrofoam (2007), smoking in public spaces (2006) and development of official open space without a two-thirds vote… More >>

• Best Dam Breaks

  Hansen Dam Golf Course

  There's actually a reason to go to Pacoima: city-owned Hansen Dam Golf Course. At $34 for a weekend round, it offers the best value at one of the best-maintained muni courses. Duffers complain about how the nines were switched, but this course is in better shape than the Wilson and Harding public courses at Griffith Park. Character is everywhere at… More >>

• Best Place to Feel Like Part of a Wolf Pack

  Roadrunners Venice

  Every Saturday morning leading up to the L.A. Marathon, hundreds of Lycra-clad runners gather on the Venice Boardwalk and clump together based on skill level and desired finish time. With the sun barely warm on the Santa Monica Mountains ahead, Roadrunners Venice take off down the sidewalk, two by two, rustling the homeless with the whisking of their running shorts.… More >>

• Best Cheap Shots

  Armand Hammer Golf Course

  The 18-hole, pitch-and-putt Armand Hammer Golf Course sits among rose bushes and plants from around the world, shaded by tall trees. The lovely course is guarded by massive mansions and sits adjacent to the Holmby Park Bowling Club (established 1927). A walking path circles the par-3 course (lots of joggers and dog walking). Folks can use the picnic tables to… More >>

• Best Giddy-Up and Go

  Mill Creek Equestrian Center

  Hippies still reign on lush Old Topanga Canyon Road, one of the most scenic drives in Los Angeles County. About halfway between the Valley and the Pacific, among all those artsy shacks, you'll come across the decidedly un-hippy Mill Creek Equestrian Center. At this full-service boarding and riding facility, a beginner can learn to handle a horse even if he… More >>

• Best Trampoline Thrills for Kids

  Nikki's Gymnastics

  Step into an era when Los Angeles kids didn't get fat and stupid spending weekends indoors in their Gunnar gaming eyewear entranced by Call of Duty: Black Ops. Once upon a time, young kids had natural hard bodies, twirled on monkey bars, learned half-twists on the trampoline and showed off to their parents by standing on their hands in the… More >>

• Best Preserved Old-School Bowling Alley

  Shatto 39 Lanes

  Finding an old-school place to knock down several drinks and a few pins ain't as easy as you'd think in the city that, thanks to The Big Lebowski, is famed for dive-bar bowling. Many of the great haunts have suffered major upgrades and remodels. But not Shatto 39 Lanes, a colossal beige building on the corner of West 4th Street… More >>

• Best Roller Disco

  Space Is the Place

  Do you dream of simpler, happier times, when parking was abundant, drinking and cardiovascular exercise could be effortlessly combined, and people wore over-the-top funky clothes? If so, then head to Space Is the Place, a roller disco party at World on Wheels — one of the Southland's few remaining full-scale roller disco rinks. It goes down every fourth Saturday of… More >>

• Best Place to Do Over Your 10th Birthday

  Castle Park

  Ever have one of those, like, totally gnarly arcade and mini-golf birthdays in the fourth grade that was totally ruined when Susie Whatsherface dumped you and poured OK Soda down your back, instantly ensuring years of expensive therapy? Yeah, um, neither did I. Supposing that you DID experience that awful scenario, it's time to quit your shrink, because Castle Park… More >>

• Best Place to Shoot Little Guns

  Firing-Line

  If you're looking for an indoor activity that's a little less Mr. Rogers and a little more Rambo, then shooting pistols is something you should look into. The Firing-Line in Burbank is the best place to do so — a lot of ranges are set up similarly, but the difference is in the execution, pun fully intended. The Firing-Line isn't… More >>

• Best Surreal Workout

  Slimmons Studio

  We all know and love Richard Simmons. He's 62 years old, but he still has more energy than even the youngest, fittest fans who flock regularly to his sweat classes at Slimmons Studio. They cost $12 per session, are held three days a week, and basically function as comedy show as much as workout. The flamboyant, bedazzled short-shorts–wearing exercise guru… More >>