So before CrossFit boxes and barre studios, before Soulcycle and Bikram Yoga — there was Gold’s Gym. It’s THE gym and we’ve all been there before.

Instead of disappearing into the abyss of upscale trendiness, they’ve evolved while at the same time maintaining their rock solid foundation.

I was excited to visit a local Gold’s this week, as they unveiled some of their newest classes — GRIT & POUND. Unfortunately, I had to miss the class itself due to a doctors appointment but they new stuff sounds amazing.

I was really excited when I found out Gold’s is on Class Pass so I can sneak in for Body Pump and all my favorites anytime I want.

Here’s a sneak peak at GRIT:

These classes are short and intense, full of sweat, movement and pushing yourself hard. And POUND is like a whole new concept – it’s a class done with sticks!

I spoke with the woman who managers all the clubs in the DC-area and she said POUND is all about deepening your moves but not focusing on that — instead, focusing on the sticks. It’s a pretty unique concept that you can see exemplified below:

Gold’s has a ton of other classes, from yoga to spin to Zumba, which is really nice considering so many studios these days only have one kind of class. Also, for ladies who are serious about weight training (ya should be!), you can access that amazing weight room they have. Don’t be intimidated ladies! The other girls at the event and I were talking about how we actually feel kind of bad-ass when we are the lone girl in the busy weight room!

We had an amazing lunch from Bowl’d, which was SO GOOD. I spoke with the owner (I think he was the owner) and he talked about how he created the restaurant because sometimes he wanted something really healthy that wasn’t a salad. They’re bowls, toppings and sauces were all so good — I had two bowls for lunch! There’s only one location in the area so head over to Arlington and give it a try.

I had another cool, promo event this week at the INSTRATA apartments in Pentagon City, where they are trying out free yoga classes. We had a great class from an instructor from Spark Yoga. I was impressed with the gym facilities at INSTRATA, including a class studio.

Followed up class with juice from Senzu Juicery in Del Ray. Didn’t even realize they were so close so I will definitely be stopping by in the future. I loved the juice samples and they even gave us 2 full bottles of juice to take home!