Core Performance Center

I use to be anti-​gym, preferring more engaging physical activities like dancing, sports, and hell, skipping to the bathroom, as my «workout.» The business policies and atmosphere of your typical gym is probably why many of us hate going. Core Performance Center is far from your typical gym. I won a free trial membership, and they really opened up my mind.
The concept here is a personalized workout to maximize your health and fitness goals. And personalized it is! Before your first visit, you take an online personality questionnaire to gauge your training style so trainers get a sense of the most effective ways to communicate with you. It was impressively accurate. On your first visit, you discuss your goals with a personal trainer, and do some physical evaluations to gauge where you are. Based on these results and your discussion with your trainer, a workout is tailored for you. (There are also options to meet with a nutritionist.)
Upon subsequent visits, you simply log in to a station (everything all in one place), and the machine instructs you on what to do. Fabulous! No having to think about what exercises to do next. What’s really standout is the trainers that are there. They help correct your form to get the most out of the exercises. You can feel it immediately, when they correct you. They keep a high trainer to customer ratio so there’s always someone readily available, and never a crowd. All the staff is incredibly personable, knowledgeable, and genuine.
The atmosphere is great. There is a down to earth emphasis on health and your own personal goals. You know, rather than life-​size posters of bikini clad women and 6-​packed men telling you «we’re better than you, and we know it!» The facilities are great, everything cleaned after every use, awesomely stocked locker rooms with whatever toiletries you might need, and they even send you home with your choice of post-​workout drink.
It’s also worth mentioning that they all gave me star treatment even though I was there for free. They never pressured me to purchase anything. In fact, I approached THEM about what the membership costs were. When I learned (not surprisingly) that it was beyond my student loan budget, they never bothered me about joining. Just continued to treat me like a star.
I had originally put 4 stars (deducting a star for the cost), but, after writing the review, I gotta give it to them. These guys are good as it gets.

CPC is definitely one thing I miss in LA. My wife & I really enjoyed working out here. (wanted to consider having the machine to keep us fit for longer term.)

It’s hard to say enough good things about Core Performance Center. Everything from the concept itself to the friendly, knowledgable and helpful staff to the immaculate facility make this the best fitness experience I’ve ever had. The only reason I don’t still go there is because I moved out of town.
I won’t describe the concept because a number of other reviewers already have. I will just say that it is amazingly effective. I noticed a significant difference in my fitness level within a month and I successfully completed an Olympic-​distance triathlon within four months.
The creators of the CPC have many years of experience training professional athletes and they are using that knowledge to benefit us mere mortals. It seems to me they’ve mastered the combination of strength and cardiovascular training and made it applicable to any fitness level.
Finally, if you’re one of those folks who like to be on the cutting edge, this is the place for you. This WILL BE the future of working out.

Oh hell, I’ll join the bandwagon and give them a 5 …
When I tell people about this place– My first question is, «How much are you willing to pay for your health?» I will not disclose prices in my review because I feel that will scare away some. Experience it and you would be surprised how much you would be willing to pay. What better investment is out there than yourself?
I am just a average girl. I’m not overweight. I just want to be in the best possible shape I can be in and I believe with Core Performance– That goal is achievable.
I’ve been a fitness junkie for the past 5 years. Gym memberships, Pilates, Spinning, Yoga. Been there, done that. I got that short term endorphin high, but never really stuck to it (blame it on my ADD). I am pretty much an introvert and hated that «fake conversations» with personal trainers. There’s nothing fake about Core– no unwarranted conversations. They know you only have an hour– so their philosophy is to make the most of the time you are there. You even take a personality test to let the trainers know the best way to communicate with you.
Post workout is part of the membership– so after an hour long session. You will be offered an assortment of Gatorades, Shakes, and Nutrition Bars. Oh. and a nutritionist as well.
They offer a free session.
Ask for Jenn for your first work out/​tour– She’s awesome :)

I have been at Core Performance Center in Santa Monica for two months now and I could not recommend it highly enough. Having previously been a member at other large gyms, Core Performance is nothing like I have experienced before. And the most important thing, working out at the facility provides RESULTS! When you first start off you are given an evaluation to identify your current fitness levels so the Core Performance system can design a program customized to what you need to work on. In my case I had a re-​evaluation just over a month after I started and I made progress on all levels — and to me most importantly by percent body fat and my VO2 max.
Your customized program is divided into two parts. You first do a 30 – 40 minute workout on the signature Core Performance machine (exercise computer for lack of a better description). You do your entire workout at one station and it is customized for you — you log-​in to the machine and do a set of exercises that help you stretch, work your core and do the equivalent of free weights. After that you move to the cardio part of your workout which is another 25 minutes. You can choose between a treadmill, elliptical machine, or stationary bike and again this part is customized for you based on your fitness levels and goals.
At Core Performance your workouts change every time you come in while working towards your specific goals. There are always multiple Core Performance fitness coaches on the floor helping you to make sure you are doing each exercise correctly. So basically you are getting a combination of a personalized workout with a fitness coach.
Once you are done you head to the nutrition bar where you get a complimentary Myoplex shake or bar and a G2 or Gatorade. The facility itself is always clean and the locker rooms are very nice. And, to add even more to the experience the staff is fantastic. The coaches are all very knowledgeable and friendly and you are always greeted by a friendly face when you walk in.
Core Performance is definitely worth checking out if you are serious about your fitness.

Core Performance Center is a very interesting concept and it may work for you, but it didn’t work for me. The best thing about it are the trainers and front desk staff. They are very friendly and helpful.
The program is still a work in progress and it is expensive for that. I spent about $ 4,500 with a goal of getting into great shape and my personal definition of that was to be lean and drop some weight. I put on about 10 pounds of muscle and felt very thick and stiff. I felt strong, but that was not my goal.
They test you after every 24 sessions for VO2 and other key metrics to see how you are doing. After my third test they ramped up my cardio by 30% and my workouts went from challenging to impossible. They tried to adjust them, but they could never get it just right. My last 24 workouts were just a waste of my time and money. I did about 75 workouts at the gym.
I think that the concept is very interesting, but they still have a ways to go before they are ready for the masses.

If you could die and go to gym heaven, this is it.
1. Great philosophy on core strengthening (not just your abs/​back but your entire body from hips upward), balance and movement (aka exercise). They tailor the program to help you achieve your goal regardless of what it is. No guesswork and wasted time on trying to figure out what you’re supposed to do and navigating multi-​floor gyms.
2. Program includes thorough physical eval, nutrition eval, oxygen intake eval during cardio and follow-​up physical evals to chart your progress. Love it!
3. You spend an hour on your routine — 1^st half is on core strengthening, movement and strength training on the ESD machine — it’s a one stop shop and all equipment is there to save you time. 2^nd half is cardio on either treadmill, bicycle or elliptical and Core gives you a personal heart monitor to accurately measure calories burned, etc. Everything is shown on the screen at your machine and the routine has lots of variations to keep you from getting bored.
I used to spend 50 minutes at a regular gym just doing core stuff and strength training and then another 30 on cardio and my toning results were so-​so. I’ve been going to Core Performance for 5 weeks and I can actually see the toning on my upper body and I’ve gained 2 lbs of muscle!
4. Expert, attentive and friendly trainers are always on the floor to spot you, help you figure out the moves and challenge you. The interaction really help pass the time especially when you feel like you can’t do those last 10 minutes of cardio.
5. Amazing facility. Always clean, smells fresh, and beautiful well-​stocked showers/​bathrooms. At the end of your workout, Core staff always gives you a complimentary Myoplex protein shake (it’s good stuff) and G2 Gatorade to assist your muscle-​building and restore hydration.
I go 5 to 6 times a week and for the first time in my life, I actually look forward to going to the gym. I’m addicted! It’s pricey but look at it this way — it’s an investment in yourself and your health!

Through my place of work, I’ve been training for my first ever sprint triathlon! The team at Core Performance Center has been absolutely wonderful. They have done several training sessions for our company tri team. They have offered so much guidance, information, training, and have done it in such a gracious way. They have made experts/​professionals in the sport available to us to offer training, insight and preparation. Aside from that, their facility is state of the art. Especially working in entertainment, I’ve seen many places/​things that are awesome, but this gym is hands down cutting edge. It’s the best of all worlds: great people, amazing facility and solid training/​information/​education. Thanks, Core Performance for all of your support!

I won a free work out at Core Performance Center in Santa Monica from the Palisades 5K race for my friends and I. The center is different than any gym I have been to before. The trainers are very attentive, knowledgeable, and nice. The facility is very clean as well. If you like to be pushed, not get bored at the gym, and don’t want to pay high personal trainer fees; go to Core Performance Center in Santa Monica. I really enjoyed my experience there, go check it out!

this is the best training facility i have ever experienced… they thought of every detail. i can’t believe that i’m driving across town 3x a week to work out, but it is so worth it. i had known about the core performance philosophy from the books and so i already loved the way that they approach working out, but i always questioned if i was doing the exercises right. now there is no guesswork. the trainers are highly educated and experienced. they are beyond comprehensive in their evaluations… nutrition, movement, heart rate and then they tailor the program to you, whatever your goals are, whatever sports you are into and if you have any injuries.

Best Gym in Town! I’ve been a member of several gym’s (including Equinox, 24 hr, Gold’s, …) and this is the best. The customer service is what makes this gym different. Most staff are personal trainers and are very friendly, motivating, and know me by name. The training program is designed to your personal needs. It is a hi-​tech combination of personal training and a gym. I highly recommend this gym — at the very least go in for a test drive and you’ll be sold.

Core Performance has been a great experience for someone that is tired of a typical gym atmosphere… The CPRO is unlike anything you have used and keeps your pace up so you don’t waste anytime. The ESD is also very challenging and keeps it fresh. Above all the Coach/​Trainers on the floor are amazing people who do whatever they can to keep you motivated and correcting your form. I highly recommend this gym.

I got a few sessions here as a gift. Getting evaluated here is more like going to the doctor than going to the gym; they focus on improving your physical fitness and make you do lots of tests to gauge your respiratory fitness, strength, and flexibility. The CPRO machine then guides you into a number of different exercises tailored to your physical profile. The trainers onsite are helpful; and while I was working out harder than I ever had before, they kept me going while offering suggestions to do the exercises more correctly. For days afterwards, I was aware that I was using muscles I had never used. Expect sore thighs, butt, and abs after your workout– all of which let you know your workout works. While it may seem a little pricey, in the end, it’s much cheaper (and very likely more effective) than having a personal trainer. The facilities are immaculate.

great experience! checked it out because of Mark Verstegen. This is not your typical gym! They walk you a personalized evaluation. It’s great because everything is measured — strength, flexibility, and even your balance. The end product is a personalized program including workout and nutrition. CPRO machine is so cool. I’m going to buy a series. Great complement to my other workouts.