Los Angeles’s Hardest Pilates Class Is Also Its Best-Kept Secret
I like to say that I’ll try any workout once. You name it, I’ve probably done it: CrossFit (hate it), dance cardio (love it), hot yoga (big fan), spinning (meh), water rower (not my thing). A year and a half ago, I decided to try Megaformer Pilates, a spring-based resistance-training workout I had little to no experience with. I fell hard for the exercise, which fatigued my muscles in all the right ways. And there was one teacher in particular who made me fall in love with my newfound hobby: Amanda Kassar, the bubbly, forthright, and easy-to-talk-to instructor who taught at the studio I frequented in Los Angeles. I appreciated her attention to detail and the constant adjustments she made, which is a component I’ve found most instructors don’t focus on nearly enough.
A couple of months into my new go-to workout, Kassar left the studio, and I messaged her on Instagram to find out where she was teaching. She wrote back that she had opened Pilates by Amanda, a private space in the guest house of her home. But to get into her semi-private classes (only six students are allowed at a time), I first had to take a few private lessons with her to make sure I knew the moves, my form was up to par, and she understood my body.
“When I was at a studio, I was teaching anywhere from eight to 18 people, and I started to have anxiety while I was in class,” says Kassar. “I would have a routine planned in my head and then someone would arrive with an injury or they were seven months pregnant. I wanted the person who was the most athletic to have an amazing workout, but I also wanted to make sure that the pregnant woman and guy with the neck injury weren’t going to hurt themselves. That’s when I realized that keeping it small and private was the way to go.”
After I started taking privates lessons with Kassar in her Le Labo–scented, French door-lined Spanish-style guest space, decked out with gray and white Balanced Body Allegro 2 Reformers that complement the terracotta tiles, I was allowed into her intimate group classes. Let’s just say, my body quickly morphed. I was stronger, longer, leaner, and had a new notion of confidence I had completely lost after moving to L.A. from New York City three and a half years ago. (The vegan desserts on every corner got the best of me and it took a while to find a workout that I loved.)
The thing I can’t emphasize enough is that Pilates by Amanda is the hardest Pilates class you’ll ever take, but in a good way. “My technique is very specific to a person’s needs,” she says. “I keep the exercises slow, but the transitions quick to increase the heart rate. Also, to build strength and change the body, I really get into the muscle.” Hence the fact that I spend about 60% of her class shaking, and that’s considered a win. The hour-long, full-body workout is never stagnant, nor does it leave any areas behind, targeting everything from the thighs and glutes to the abs and obliques to all parts of the arms in one fell swoop. Despite the intensity, plenty of celebrities and influencers, such as Sofia Richie, Marianna Hewitt, and Whitney Port, flock to Kassar for their best—and most understood—body yet. “Anyone that’s going to be in my group class has to train with me first because I need to learn about their [individual] body,” says Kassar. Here, the one-on-one connection is everything.
Originally Appeared on Vogue
