What Is CorePower Yoga? The Studio Chain, Class Levels, and What to Expect

CorePower Yoga is a US yoga studio chain headquartered in Denver, Colorado, founded in 2002 by Trevor Tice. It runs more than 220 locations across 23 states and is the largest branded yoga studio company in the country. The name also shows up as a generic phrase, "core power yoga" (lowercase), for any power-yoga class that emphasizes core and stabilizer work, but when most people search the phrase they are looking for the chain. This article covers both meanings, with the brand as the main focus.

CorePower Yoga the brand: a short history

Trevor Tice opened the first CorePower studio on Grant Street in downtown Denver in 2002, after a climbing accident introduced him to the practice. He taught a heated, athletically demanding vinyasa format in a setting that felt closer to a modern fitness studio than to a traditional yoga shala, with consistent class formats, trained teachers, and a recognizable look across locations. The first studio expanded slowly through Colorado before opening additional markets in 2008 (Minneapolis, San Diego, Portland, and Chicago).

By 2016, the company was widely described as the largest privately held yoga studio chain in the United States, a positioning later confirmed in the Delaware Court of Chancery proceedings around a 2019–2020 franchise purchase agreement (Level 4 Yoga, LLC v. CorePower Yoga, LLC, C.A. No. 2020-0249-JRS). Today, CorePower Yoga, LLC operates more than 220 studios across 23 states, according to the company's Wikipedia entry, and sells a digital on-demand library through CorePower Yoga On Demand and CorePower Live. The legal entity is "CorePower Yoga, LLC" (visible in the footer of corepoweryoga.com).

CorePower class levels explained (C1, C2, C3, Sculpt, Hot Power Fusion)

CorePower uses a numbered tier system for its main studio classes, with two extra heated formats running alongside them. The table below summarizes the standard levels. Heat descriptions are qualitative because room temperatures vary by studio and instructor, and the chain does not publish a single official number for every level.

C2 is the workhorse class of the chain. It runs about 60 minutes, follows a vinyasa-based structure, and is the format most people mean when they say they "do CorePower." If you are coming from a non-heated power yoga background, the heat and humidity at C2 are usually the biggest variables to adjust to, not the poses themselves. C1 sits in a different category from the rest: it is the chain's introductory class and is not heated, even though the room may feel warm from earlier sessions. If you have never done yoga before, starting at C1 is the realistic entry point.

What a CorePower C2 class actually feels like

You will usually walk into a room that is already warm, with music playing at a moderate volume and a social, fitness-room atmosphere rather than the silent, candle-lit setting of more traditional studios. The teacher leads from the front of the room, cueing movement verbally with more energy than physical demonstration. A typical 60-minute arc looks like this:

1. Warm-up (5–8 min): Seated breathing, Cat-Cow, and a few rounds of Sun Salutation A to establish breath and start raising body temperature.
2. Standing sequence (25–30 min): Warrior flows, balancing postures, and core-intensive transitions. Chaturanga push-ups appear often as the connective tissue between standing shapes.
3. Core series (5–10 min): A dedicated abdominal block, with Boat Pose variations, plank holds, or leg raises. This core block is the most distinctive feature of a C2 class compared with a generic vinyasa flow.
4. Floor work and backbends (10 min): Locust, Bridge or Wheel, and hip-opener stretches to counter the standing work.
5. Savasana (3–5 min): Short but present. Do not skip out early; the heat lingers and standing up too fast after a heated class can cause dizziness.

Yoga Sculpt: what makes it different

Yoga Sculpt is CorePower's highest-intensity class and a genuinely different format from standard C2. Students grab a set of light dumbbells (typically in the 3–5 lb range) and the class alternates yoga flows with strength intervals: bicep curls in Chair Pose, tricep extensions in Warrior I, squat jumps between vinyasa sequences. It feels closer to a barre or HIIT class than to a traditional yoga class, and it is the format at CorePower most often compared with strength training. For a broader view of yoga's fitness credentials, see our guide to is yoga strength training, and for the format itself see what is sculpt yoga.

Is CorePower good for beginners?

Yes, with a clear caveat: C1 is genuinely beginner-appropriate, but C2 is not. C1 is the chain's non-heated, foundational vinyasa class, and the teacher spends real time on form, pose names, and modifications. Going straight into a heated C2 as a first yoga experience is widely considered a poor idea, because the heat and pace make it hard to learn anything when you are simply trying to survive. One or two C1 sessions first will make C2 feel like a progression rather than a trial by fire.

If your main reason for coming to yoga is stress management, recovery, or a gentler entry into the practice, CorePower's signature formats may not be the right fit compared with a traditional hatha or gentle flow yoga class. For a broader primer on starting out, see our yoga for beginners guide.

CorePower vs. independent power yoga: how it differs

Power yoga is a broad category of vigorous, Ashtanga-derived yoga styles, not a single brand. If you have read our guide to what is power yoga, you know that any studio or teacher can teach a power-yoga class. CorePower is one branded system within that category. The differences matter when choosing where to practice:

• Standardization: A C2 class at a CorePower in Chicago should feel essentially the same as one in San Diego. Independent power-yoga teachers, by contrast, bring their own sequencing and style choices.
• Music and atmosphere: CorePower classes use curated playlists at moderate volume. Many practitioners love this; others prefer a quieter environment.
• Spiritual framing: CorePower de-emphasizes Sanskrit, chanting, and explicit yogic philosophy. This is a deliberate brand choice, not an oversight, and the company's own mission statement frames the practice around physical transformation.
• Digital footprint: Independent teachers usually don't have a streaming app; CorePower has CorePower Yoga On Demand and CorePower Live, with hundreds of recorded classes plus a live schedule.

CorePower Yoga Teacher Training

CorePower runs a 200-hour Power Yoga Teacher Training through its own training program, in a 9-week format (a 4-week intensive is available in New York). Students can complete it in studio or online, and the credential is registered with Yoga Alliance. The program is intentionally formulaic, which fits the chain's broader teaching style: graduates learn the same sequences, cuing patterns, and assists that they will be expected to deliver in a C2, Sculpt, or Hot Power Fusion class. The trade-off is that graduates who later want to teach outside the CorePower system often pursue additional training to broaden their pedagogical toolkit.

For a general overview of what a 200-hour program covers, see our guide to 200-hour yoga teacher training.

Online classes and the CorePower app

CorePower runs a separate digital platform, CorePower Yoga On Demand, that hosts more than 300 recorded classes across C1, C2, Sculpt, and meditation. CorePower Live adds a live-streamed schedule on top of that. The online classes are unheated by nature, so the cardiovascular load is lower than an in-studio C2, but the cuing style and structure mirror the studio experience. The iOS and Android apps are linked directly from the footer of corepoweryoga.com.

Frequently asked questions

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