Aspen Hill Gyms and Fitness

Deemed the 2006 Small Business of the Year by the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, The Colosseum Gym helps men and women to reach new health heights by using a smorgasbord of machines and free weights or enlisting the nutritional counseling and powerlifting tips of a professional. With more than 24 certified personal trainers on staff, the gym strives to toughen physiques of all exercise experience levels through arduous yet rewarding programs, such as strength-and-conditioning workouts that involve surprise 3 a.m. sprints across local lake surfaces. Additionally, a full-time physical therapist can target strained appendages with rehabilitative moves and heat packs. The Colosseum Gym bolsters its community as well as its members, hosting nonprofit initiatives that have benefited the Special Olympics, cystic fibrosis research, and the Howard County School System.

Physicians Weight Loss Centers' doctors and counselors help clients slim down with a sextet of diet plans that drive away excess pounds while maintaining proper nutrition and lean muscle mass. Their programs range from aggressive, ultra-low calorie plans to more flexible, high-energy plans that employ a slow and steady approach. One-on-one encouragement from these professionals helps bolster willpower, and premade shakes make meal preparation easier than stealing baby carrots from a baby bunny.

New Life Wellness Center approaches overall health from many different avenues. The center's specialists help the body rid itself of toxins and function more efficiently with treatments such as colon hydrotherapy, a cleansing method with roots in ancient Egypt and Greece. Japanese reiki, a hands-on healing technique, and Aqua Chi footbaths, a more technologically rooted treatment, focus more on stimulating energy in the body. Meanwhile, chiropractic services and massages focus on the nuts, bolts, and elaborate pulley systems of the human body.

The DC Running Club serves a community of walkers and runners from DC, Maryland, and Virginia, hosting races open to all ages and abilities. Its events include the Center 5K, which benefits the local Kingsbury Center's students, and the One Meal One Mile race, whose proceeds go to educate children on healthy lifestyle habits such as running for pleasure, rather than running only to chase the owners of rare Beanie Babies. Over the next five years, the education-focused nonprofit plans to raise $5,000 in scholarship funds for area youth.

Spanning 18,000 square feet of turf-covered courts and batting cages, Raider's Edge hones bat-swinging skills with practice areas and instruction for individuals and groups. Baseball- and softball-pitching machines spit endless volleys of spheres, their speeds adjustable to accommodate both little leaguers and six-armed spider-men. The two spacious turf courts can also accommodate practice for soccer, lacrosse, and field hockey, and dual pitching lanes allow pitchers to perfect their craft side by side. Weekly exercise and softball practice programs focus on skills such as hitting, fielding, and pitching, and young players put their skills into practice as part of Raider’s Edge’s Red Raider softball teams.

SalFit & Associates founder Salone Jones boasts an impressive resume detailing her experience as a professional dancer, actress, and fitness model, but her passion lies in the time she spends with her students during personal-training sessions. She discovered early on in her career that bodies come in all shapes and sizes, so no fitness plan can offer a “one size fits all” solution. That’s why she spends each boot camp walking from student to student, offering individual guidance. SalFit sessions make use of outdoor structures such as stairs and ledges, where participants perform hardcore endurance, strength and flexibility routines with a little bit of dance thrown in to work out internal metronomes.