Durham Gyms and Fitness

It takes a village to build a healthy lifestyle at the Chapel Hill–Carrboro YMCA. Fitness and friendship intertwine as positive staffers infuse the community with values such as generosity and perseverance. Teamwork fuels group sports such as soccer and baseball and more than 40 weekly exercise classes, which range from yoga to cycling to Zumba. Solo exercisers can flutter toward physical fitness in a 25-yard pool or chase it down on a host of cardio machines. In addition to building strong bodies, the facility fortifies spirits with fun-filled programs such as youth summer camps and parent retreats. Memberships come with several complimentary perks, including childcare, fitness orientations, and short-term access to other YMCA branches, and a free iPhone app shares updates about class schedules and flying-saucer landings.

D-Source Sports Performance and Fitness founder Ivan Jenkins—a former All-American collegiate and professional basketball player—marshals an experienced squad of certified personal trainers, therapists, and yogis that fight alongside clients in their calorie-burning battles. A cap of 100 active memberships at a time frees up equipment and allows instructors to focus on individual patrons. Guests rev up hearts, tone muscles, and build endurance in 10 different fitness and aerobics classes such as the intense full-body boot camp, the midsection-molding Ab & Glute Blast, or the Dancer's Workout that blends ballet, hip-hop, and Broadway jazz like a Juilliard student who hasn't declared a major.

To soothe overexerted anatomies, licensed therapists send stress packing with massages and reflexology treatments, which boost circulation, infusing uptight limbs with oxygen. Therapists perform the treatments in private rooms in an effort to maintain clients’ modesty and ensure minimal distraction. Reflexology treatments strategically apply pressure to hands, feet, and ears, reducing inflammation of the joints, enhancing detoxification, and displacing unfashionable stick-on toe rings.