Yoga Pod, 1750 29th St., Boulder, 303-444-4232, yogapodcommunity.com/boulder

Instructor: Rachel Gasner, of Boulder, who has been doing yoga for eight years. She was certified in vinyasa and Yoga Sculpt at CorePower in 2010. She is also certified in hot vinyasa.

What is the workout? Yoga Tone combines light hand-weights and toning with yoga postures, to improve functional fitness.

What's different? Unlike other classes that combine yoga with weights, this is not just a traditional vinyasa flow with weights in your hands. The first 15 minutes and last 15 minutes of class were more traditional yoga, and the middle was fitness, strength-building moves (squats, biceps curls, push-ups, plyometrics, lunges), with some yoga-influenced postures mixed in.

Because of the fitness emphasis, this class tends to attract athletes and "non-yogis," but it is also popular with yogis who want to build strength without having to go to a separate gym.

"Nowadays, people often have to choose between a gym membership and a yoga membership," Gasner says. "This is a beautiful way for us to include, not only all of the different styles of yoga that we have at the Pod, but also a fitness-structured class that's very different than a yoga class."

In addition, the class is set up to allow the teacher and students a lot of flexibility with how they modify and adjust the class, based on that day's needs. Some yoga classes are pretty rigid about that kind of thing.

Cost: A one-time drop-in is $17, but the Yoga Pod does have an extremely low intro rate for a Boulder yoga studio: $40 for unlimited yoga for the month.

Level: This is a level-two class, according to the website, but Gasner says you could do it if you're new to yoga -- just heed the modifications. Although the class itself is easy to follow, it's super intense. It was one of the hardest yoga classes I've done.

Still, Gasner does a good job of encouraging you to take it at your own pace and level. One participant took child's pose for half the class. Participants were of all ages and yoga abilities, too -- to a degree that truly surprised me; this was really one of the most diverse yoga groups I've seen in Boulder.

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Yoga Tone