At a Glance:

Website: http://www.morningcrunch.com
Address: 7600 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Length: 60 minutes
Price: 5 classes/$95, 10 classes/$175, five weeks unlimited/$129 (new clients)
Sweat scale: low
Energy level: low

Los Angeles has many wonderful things to offer including perfect weather 99% of the time. Morning Crunch takes advantage of this by holding outdoor bootcamps around the city. From Santa Monica to Downtown, Marina del Rey to Pasadena, and many places in between, Morning Crunch holds AM and PM workouts for people eager to sweat with a breeze.

Pre Sweat

I attended the evening Hollywood bootcamp that meets in Pan Pacific Park. I arrived early and walked around looking for anyone carrying a yoga mat. Nothing. I walked to the other side of the park near the senior citizens center. Nothing. Finally, I decided to head back to my car and consider it a fail. At exactly 6:30 I ran into a couple people gathering—turns out the instructor is usually a few minutes late, but the meeting spot is in the corner of the main parking lot off of Beverly. We grabbed weights from her car—I opted for 4 lbs—and headed to the amphitheater.

Sweat

We all grabbed spots and started jumping, stretching, and running around the park to warm up. When we got into the workout, Dulcinea, the trainer and founder, would yell out various exercises for us to do using dumbbells, our body weight, the terrain, and/or resistance bands. During the hour we did push ups, sit-ups, planks, step ups, squats, tricep dips, stairs, and bicep curls. Some movements were done while staying in place and others while exploring the park, but all for either one minute or 20 reps. We finished with a minute long plank and then stretched as a group.

Post Sweat

Right across the street on Beverly is Sweet Rose Creamery, home of the yummiest homemade, organic ice cream. You can also check out Stir Market for fresh salads, soups, and grilled entrées. The Grove is to the side of the park with popular stores such as Nordstrom, J-Crew, Athleta, Topshop, and Madewell.

Tricks of the Trade

• The exercises we did seemed a bit haphazard and unplanned, which was kind of frustrating.
• At one point we walked across the park far from our belongings. Knowing that my purse was sprawled out on the ground, I instantly became worried. Another girl expressed the same concern so we left the group and continued our own exercises alone back at the amphitheater. With that being said, leave your valuables in your car. Try to only bring your water and keys with you.
• While the people in the class were friendly, the overall experience was not warm and welcoming. I read on Yelp that Paul is a great trainer and would love to check out the downtown session to see if the experience is more positive.