#39: Richard Simmons Fitness Class

I've always felt that people throw around the phrase "LA's best-kept secret" a little too freely. One week it's a new sushi restaurant, the next is a gym with a great boot camp. But these things come and go. And though I am an avid LA tourist AND local, I gave this a lot of thought before I decided to proclaim the "Richard Simmons Sweat!" class as one of LA's BEST best-kept secrets.

Everyone seems to know who Richard Simmons is. He's an iconic celebrity, known for his glittery work-out clothes (always including ridiculously short shorts), his over-the-top personality, and his love of fitness . But something I did not know about him, is that he practices what he preaches when it comes to fitness. What a refreshing idea! He has been successful for over 40 years, and could have easily retired to his mansion while making occasional speaking engagements and raking in even more money. Instead, when he is in town, he teaches his signature "Sweat" class at his fitness center three days a week.

The second part of this secret though, is that this class is open to the public. For $12 (which.. admittedly, is a bit expensive for a fitness class, but is fairly cheap compared to other items on my list) anyone can take this class. So not only do you get to exercise in the fabulously 70's-retro Slimmons Studio in Beverly Hills, but you also get to be personally greeted, coached by, and later take a picture with THE Richard Simmons. Sign. Me. Up.

I only heard about this revelation a few weeks ago while at lunch with coworkers, so I cheated and took something off my list to make room for this. I wasn't all that excited about eating at the Ivy anyway... that place is soooo 2006. My friend Meaghan and her roommate (and my new friend) Jessica came with me.

By the way, when I told my friend who lives in Northern CA that I was going to do this, she said "You are so LA." Why, thank you!!

The website said to arrive an hour early, since there are no reservations and the classes usually fill up. We got there in plenty of time, staked out a corner for our bags, and had plenty of time to take lots of staged pictures. My friend Meaghan is photo OBSESSED, and we took no less than about 20 work-out themed pictures (see below). I had the bright idea for us all to wear sweatbands, since the class does promise that we'll sweat!

Once our pictures were taken, we began to actually stretch. I was bending over to touch my toes (barely) and when I stood up, there he was. Complete with fringed spandex shorts, a red Michael Jackson-esque leather jacket, aviators, and that hair. He walked in the room, as skinny as ever, and immediately came right over to the three of us. We were beaming, he gave us each a hug and a kiss on the cheek, thanked us for coming, and said that we BETTER not keep our fine asses in that back corner of the room!

We thought we were special, but then he literally spent the next 10 minutes going around to every single person in the room, giving them a hug and a kiss, and thanking them for coming. Way to give people their money's worth!

Then the room filled, and the beat to Michael Jackson's "Beat It" came on. I can appreciate that he themed the music to his outfit choice, or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, we began our warm up. Lots of basic aerobics moves, toe taps, knee lifts, grapevines and the like. Every few minutes he would stop the record (yes, he uses a record player) to shout out motivations to us.

"YOU KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO YOUR FAT?? YOU NEED TO BEAT IT!!!"

"LIFT THOSE LEGS! HIGHER! I KNOW YOU CAN, I SAW YOU LAST WEEKEND!!"

"LOOK IN THE MIRROR! LOOK HOW GOOD YOU LOOK EXERCISING!! THIS IS HOW YOU FIND A MAN!!"

He eventually shed the red jacket, revealing a black shredding tank covered in rhinestones. In between shouting at us, he pranced (can't think of a better word to describe his movements) around the room, encouraging us, helping our form, and making faces. He is flamboyant fabulosity personified. Mixed in to our aerobics moves were shimmies, shakes, hair flips, and other fantastic little moves that kept it fun. I can see why this man is famous.

He also kept the class personal. He would stop the music, and shout out to someone in the mirror. He threatened to take scissors to a woman's overly large tee-shirt ("You are beautiful! Show off your body, don't hide it!"), chastised a very fit, very good looking athlete type for having a "disgusting" body ("I mean REALLY, you should do something about it, you look awful!!") and even called out a guy in the group for having two large hickeys on his neck ("Where did you get those hickeys, you HUSSY! I didn't know they were letting TRAMPS in my class!! By the way.. where did you get them? I need to get some of my own!!"). He was hilarious, charming, and ridiculously over the top.

About half-way through the class, he had us all take a water break and then stand in a circle around the room. He then pulled in certain people from the group to lead a 30-second or so routine with him. First person he called is the afore-mentioned athlete, and before he had even entered the middle, Richard had taken his shirt off. Thanks Richard!!! He was a good sport, and after about a minute, Richard turned around and headed to our section, and pulled first Meaghan, then Jessica, then me into the middle, for a little bit of what I like to call "Bucket List Extra Credit" (like winning drag queen bingo and participating in a Magic Castle show). The three of us then led a short routine that my uncoordinated self took a few extra steps to get the hang of. But hey... who can say they led a group of 100 people side-by-side with Richard Simmons?! I can, now.

After the cardio portion was done, we grabbed hand weights and did about 20 minutes of lifting and "toning" as he called it. He was very good about walking us through how to hold the weights. I knew what I was doing (again, barely) but since the class really is for all levels, I appreciated that he made sure even people that may have never stepped foot in a gym before knew what to do so they wouldn't get hurt. We then did some mat work, with sit ups and push ups, which are my least favorite exercise to do ever. I was trying to cheat on my push-ups, but he then came and stood right next to me, making sure I did them right. I was a little peeved at the time, but my sore pecs this morning are thanking him for making me do the exercise.

When our mat work was finished, he took a few minutes and gave a quick motivational speech. He talked about how we choose how we feel, how we act, and how we react. He told us to never approach a day or an event with negativity, and to remember that you are given a gift of another day every time you wake up, and you should make the best of it. That is the mantra that I live by, and it was great hearing it from him with his perspective.

After the class was over, he stuck around and took pictures with anyone who wanted them. We took group shots, as well as individual shots. He was totally game to do crazy poses, much to Meaghan's delight, and it was actually HIM that dictated that he kiss my neck in my picture. He got all up in there too.

Overall, it was an amazing experience. And truly, the best part about it was I got to exercise! I always say that living this fun and fabulous life doesn't leave room for much gym time, so I was happy to combine them both for once! If I ever have friends visiting in town when he's teaching a class, I will most definitely take them to this. Best $12 I've spend in a long time!

Meaghan and me being... buff?

Jessica, me and Meaghan posing till it hurts

"On the count of three, POSE for the camera! Pose girls!"

Yes, this happened.