EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Drive from one end of Los Angeles to the other, and you're bound to pass at least a handful of boutique gyms. With a chunk of 2024 already in the books, fitness and healthy living remain perpetually on many Southern Californians' minds as spring and summer fast approach.

"Fitness is a non-negotiable for me because it supports my mental health and expands my stress tolerance," TV personality Parvati Shallow told Spectrum News.

Shallow won the hit competition show "Survivor" and now stars on another reality series, "The Traitors," whose second season just concluded. Shallow also happens to be a client at LIFT Society, a boutique gym with several locations across LA, including two that opened in the past year.

On this International Women’s Day — and as Women’s History Month is celebrated in California and across the country — it doesn’t need to be just men doing the literal heavy-lifting inside SoCal’s various gyms.

“Lifting weights, especially from a female perspective, just gives you so much confidence and ability,” said LIFT Society co-founder Dylan Davies. “Doing chin-ups and using the barbell, especially when you come from a yoga or Pilates background, is really empowering.”

As Davies explained to Spectrum News, LIFT distinguishes itself from other fitness brands by offering smaller, more personalized experiences for its clients. There are only eight to 12 people in the room for any class around LA.

“The trainer knows your body,” said Davies. “It’s not private training, of course, because there’s other people in the room, but it’s a very personalized, semi-private experience for strength training. And there’s really nowhere else in LA that does that.”

For Shallow, it’s all about that “sense of empowerment and confidence” to know she can hold her own out in the world.

“Life just gets easier to handle when your mind and body are stronger,” she said.