Concord Gyms and Fitness

Classes for adults: AcroYoga, Parkour, Handstands, Hula Hooping, Partner Flips, Acrobatics, AcroBalance, Aerial, Capoeira, Breakdance, Play Time and more!

7th Heaven's flexible schedule offers more than 60 classes per week, ranging in styles from Ashtanga Flow to Vinyasa to Deep Flow. The studio has options to suit every lifestyle, including those of expectant mothers and expectant Juggalos. Classes are drop-in and are offered from moonset to moonrise, seven days a week. Yoga is a great way to stay toned and limber while temporarily storing worldly worries in a drawer with knick-knacks, spare change, and shrunken heads. Lock those worries away and kick-start a yoga journey guided by one of the studio's skilled teachers.

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian art form that combines elements of song, dance, and ritualized fighting that is centered on a physical game called jogo de capoeira. Like Spock and Kirk forced to fight by a threatening tribunal of bearded men, two players dance around each other in the center of a circle, exchanging movements of attack and defense in a constant, heart-pumping flow. Both players attempt to control the space by confusing their opponent, although no intentional contact is made or harm done—unlike sticks and stones with hurtful words carved into them. The observers in the circle play a variety of traditional Brazilian instruments and sing, setting the pace and beat of the dance-fight. Explore the schedule to find times during the week that work for you; additional classes are held at 7 a.m. by appointment only. Each session will immerse you in the flips, feints, kicks, and songs of capoeira.

Aspire's Pilates-based exercise programs are tailored to the individual needs of its clients, then averaged into multifaceted group classes. You have the option of taking either style of Pilates offered: introductory ChoreoCore or an introductory mat class. ChoreoCore deliciously blends lively dance movements with the flexibility, balance, and core-strengthening exercises of Pilates, while the mat classes introduce students to basic core-stabilization techniques that aid in alignment, balance, and strength with a focus on using abs to stabilize the spine. Use your two class sessions to sample one of each style, since the cardio of ChoreoCore and basic grounding of the mat classes complement one another like alternating piano keys, Nutella and crêpes, or Tom and Jerry in the episodes where they team up to fight the bulldog. Classes are scheduled six days a week at various times.

San Ramon Valley Fitness hosts a wide variety of sassy classes, so cardio achievers can burn fat and feel sexier through a sassy set of dynamic exercises. Founded by personal trainer and nutritionist Cori Ann Lentz, San Ramon Valley Fitness offers a full schedule of aerobic and body-sculpting exercises that are much more exciting than running on the treadmill or playing hacky sack with a cannonball.

The next time you're on the roof of a five-story building, look down at the ground, and you'll get a rough idea of just how high people climb at Touchstone Climbing. The gym's seven locations feature lead walls that rise as high as 50 feet off the ground, though height isn't the only dimension that makes the space feel immense. Each spot has at least 11,000 square feet of climbing terrain, not to mention as much as 3,000 square feet of bouldering.

To prevent newcomers from feeling intimidated by the magnitude of the environment, the gym holds introductory classes. During these sessions, participants learn the basic techniques they'll need if they want to conquer the gym's crack systems and boulder problems. The classes are also an opportunity for students to scope out the terrain features at each location, such as Diablo Rock Gym's steep prow, which juts out crookedly like a thumbs up from a dizzy ballerina. While they're at it, the visitors might notice something else: the social nature of the gym. As the San Francisco Chronicle recounts, the fact that lead climbs require two people means that climbers are constantly asking around for new partners and chatting back and forth as they ascend.

Each location also boasts a weight room, cardio machines, and a studio space for everything from yoga to spinning to core classes.