Sport and fitness

In the latter half of the 19th century three Hawaiian princes introduced surfing to California; they would ride the waves along Santa Cruz on boards handcrafted from local redwood. The trend caught on and led to the first Pacific Coast Surfriding Championships in 1928, but it was in the 1950s when surfing really took off in LA, helped along by the release of surfer-themed songs and films such as Gidget. Between 1956 and 1962 the number of California surfers rocketed from 5,000 to more than 100,000. Surfing is still an essential part of the southern Californian lifestyle today. One of the best surfing beaches is Malibu Lagoon State Beach, also known as Surfrider Beach; you can pick up a board from the Malibu Surf Shack down the road.

Gliding through the pool at the Los Angeles Olympics Swimming Stadium, as it was once called, gives you a hint of what it must feel like to be an Olympian. Built for the 1932 Summer Games, this pool of champions in LA’s Exposition Park has seen more than 65 world records set in its lanes. US swimmers Buster Crabbe and Eleanor Holm (both of whom later found stardom on the silver screen) were two of the many champs who received gold medals in this art deco stadium. Operated by the LA City Department of Recreation and Parks, the year-round facility reopened in 2004 after extensive renovations. It features a 50-metre competition lap pool, a recreation pool and the Expo Center sports complex.

When the Muscle Beach outdoor gym opened south of the pier in 1933 it was quickly colonised by gymnasts, acrobats, stuntmen, wrestlers, weightlifters and circus performers and became the world’s most famous work-out spot. By 1951 a second location, the Venice Beach Weight Pen (known as Muscle Beach Venice) was added. No visit to LA would be complete without at least a gander at the heavily muscled folk that frequent this gym – if you’re not shy you can join the Venice Beach crew for a workout (a day pass costs $10/€8).