Elevate Training Downtown

Elevate Training, a Lagree Fitness training studio, just opened its newest location in downtown San Diego. If you aren’t familiar, Lagree Fitness is a low-impact, high-intensity workout performed on Megaformer machines. This means the workouts are adaptable for any and all levels. Elevate Training should be at the top of your list for Lagree studios to visit. It’s unapologetically challenging…and insta-worthy!

RUNDOWN

WORKOUT

Elevate classes are 40 minutes unless stated otherwise. This sounds like a quick workout for your lunch break (which it is) but be warned, it’s going to be a slow and sweaty burn! This specific class was a traditional yet, hellish full-body workout focused on controlled movements and using challenging weights. In Lagree training, you get the best workout by going as slow as you can; it’s about technique, not how many reps you can do.

We started with an ab warm-up on the front of the machine; a slow 4-second count pike-to-plank for two minutes. This warmed up our core for the remaining exercises on the back of the Megaformer machine. The next section was spent (slowly dying) in side planks, threading the needle, french twist, mermaid twist, and hinging off the back platform. One the main reasons we visit this studio is for the oblique workouts; it’s unlike any other core workout you’ll find in San Diego.

Next we focused on legs and glutes. Moving to the front platform, we adjusted our springs to one yellow (your instructor will guide you through the spring weights throughout the class). With our leading foot on the front platform and our back leg on the glider, we did slow four count lunges with two pulses at the bottom before counting again to the top. We all suffered together in our own variations of pain! This studio is about moving as a group, but with adjustments as needed to challenge yourself individually.

INSTRUCTORS

Kelsey is a firecracker disguised in southern charm and big smiles! She will remember your name and your strengths and cheer you on in class. Don’t let her cuteness fool you, though; she will put you to W-O-R-K like no one else. She knows exactly which workouts to pair together to bring you maximum pain and accomplishment. Kelsey turns a simple lunge into your worst nightmare, and then shows you what your body is capable of. With a background in cheerleading and spin instructing, she also has amazing taste in new music!!

SPACE

The studio stays true to their name by elevating their new downtown space: it’s city-chic industrial! It has exposed concrete walls, unfinished ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of downtown (they’re also perfect for a sweaty selfie). From what we saw, there is only one shower in the bathroom. There’s a cubby next to check-in for your personal belongings, but the machines are spaced far enough apart that we were able to keep our bag with us. Overall, Elevate SD is a really clean studio with the friendliest of staff. The only negative is parking! There’s expensive street parking, and a $5 lot across the street. We recommend getting there early if you want to find a free spot off Pacific Highway.