Since we live over on the West side of Los Angeles near Culver City now, it changes our “natural habitat.” When we used to live in West Hollywood, I would do Runyon Canyon all the time. Now, our go-to weekend spot is Will Rogers. However, there’s a great workout spot in Culver City-ish called the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook (also known as the Culver City Stairs). It’s a huge piece of land, with multiple sports fields, a dog park, play structures, rock wall, overlook areas, a museum, and a big ass hill. I’ve been going there for that big ass hill. It’s an incredible workout and just a 12 minute drive from our apartment.
The workout is killer. You are basically tromping up really big steps to the top of the hill. As you can see, the stairs are The Force Awakens-esque in that they are endless. I think after I had done it twice, my FitBit said I had walked up 54 flights! Woah. I put on some pump-up music, starting at the very bottom, and went at a good pace…for like 15 steps. The rest of the way up was me sputtering, panting, and bending over as I crawled my way up to the top. It’s a really intense workout that gets your heart PUMPING. Some of the steps are HUGE as in really tall (some up to 3ft), so your leg muscles are giving everything they’ve got to climb each one. There are some landings in between the many sets of stairs and it’s a good place to step aside and get a breather.
But is the top worth it, or what! The view when you get to the very top is absolutely stunning. It’s a 360 degree view of most of Los Angeles. You can see the beach to the Hollywood sign to Downtown LA to the mountains! It’s breathtaking and makes your gut-punching, leg-draining workout feel that much better. It’s a sweet reward after so much effort. In fact, yesterday morning, I did it along with the sunrise and once I finished two sets of the endless stairs, I sat and meditated at the top. It felt so wonderful, pouring sweat, chest heaving, but really getting in tune with my body and enjoying the beginning of the day.
A suggested Culver City Stairs workout…
- Warm up with active stretching
- Do 1-3 rounds of the stairs (NOTE: this entirely depends on your fitness level, you may be able to barely get through one round or you may be able to jog three–feel it out)
- At the top after the stairs, let’s do a little muscle work
- 1 min plank
- 10 push-ups
- 1 min side plank, rotating
- Timed abs if you’re feeling up to it
- STRETCH–your muscles are feeling beat up, stretch yourself out, especially your legs
Jamie stretching at the top
If you’re not big into working out or your fitness level isn’t super high, set your expectations properly for this workout and don’t expect to do more than one round (if that!). It seems like a lot and it is a lot of stairs. Get ready for your legs to be shaking like heck for a few hours afterwards. You’ll probably feel it the next day too. It’s a great workout and I suggest anyone in the LA Area come and try it! It says it’s not open until 8am, but there aren’t any gates shutting off the stairs, so it’s accessible at any time. If you try it out, let us know what you think! Go to the Culver City Stairs to stay hungry and fit!
