East Chattanooga Health and Fitness

A team of cycling enthusiasts populates the staff of River City Bicycles, helping clients attain and maintain two-wheeled transportation. The shop specializes in sales and service of road, mountain, comfort, commuter, and children’s bikes, serving customers with a large inventory of products by top brands. The cyclery ensures a proper match between man and machine by performing a free custom fit before new bike purchases. In addition, new bike owners get a free initial tune-up to fix the stretched chains and loosened spokes that are common after the passionate first few weeks of bike ownership.

Covered in jagged faces and colorful tape, the climbing spaces at Urban Rocks Gym challenge mountaineers of all skill levels. More than 100 top-rope and lead-climbing routes rise up to 35 feet, with both relaxed vertical paths and grip-testing overhangs. A separate kids' wall offers lower altitudes for aspiring climbers, bolstering their confidence once they reach the top. Topped by an amphitheater-like roof, the 3,000-square-foot top-out-bouldering area enables participants to live out their dream of becoming a stalactite with a 60-degree wall, overhanging arêtes, and a maximum height of 14 feet. Those returning to the gym will find that its routes are regularly recalibrated, with 15 new top-rope routes and 25 new boulder problems every week.

In 1976, educator, musician, and kinesiologist Robin Wes longed for a children's gym that prioritized personal growth over competition. Unveiled at a time when physical-education classes pushed students to focus almost exclusively on winning, Robin's program was swiftly adopted and is now used in more than 300 Little Gyms worldwide. Robin still pens original music to accompany lessons, which engage whippersnappers 4 months to 12 years old with gymnastics, dance, karate, and parent and child activities.

Each of The Little Gym's classes introduces simple movements that sharpen motor skills and set brains whirring, allowing kids to progress at their own pace until they can finally build a computer out of macaroni and glitter. Staff members strive to build a base for lifelong social skills and self-assurance with each exercise, including activities rooted purely in fun, such as summer camps or birthday parties, which helped The Little Gym to earn title of #1 Birthday Chain in Parents Magazine.

Sports Barn's mammoth and diverse schedule of more than 120 weekly group classes leaves little room for excuses. Nationally certified instructors, including a former triathlete and a six-sigma black belt, teach just about every type of fitness class imaginable—from high-energy kickboxing and dance aerobics to mind-centering yoga and Pilates—for people of any experience level. Students challenge multiple muscle groups in high-intensity, low-impact CRCTBRKR (or Circuit Breaker) classes, which melt calories with strength training and compound-joint exercises. To further direct guests toward their weight-loss goals, an on-staff dietitian and attentive personal trainers devise personalized programs and custom-fitting donut-proof vests.

Among other amenities, the centers boast an indoor pool and two heated outdoor pools. Patrons can relax after their workouts in a hot tub or sauna, or book a soothing massage.

The multiple YMCA locations in metropolitan Chattanooga serve more than 37,000 members a year and fulfill the mission of uniting guests regardless of gender, age, faith, background, abilities, or income. Founded in London in 1844, the YMCA spread to its Chattanooga home in 1871 and continues to operate with help from local community volunteers as stalwart as I Love Lucy syndicators. Each location caters to the needs of children, teens, seniors, and families with afterschool programs and fitness-based activities. Cardio machines pump hearts, racquetball courts host fun competitions, and pools allow goggles to fulfill their original purpose: snapping the face with their elastic band to make a diver jump off the blocks faster. A sauna and steam room heat clients up after they cool down in the pools, and parents can drop their young children off at the nursery before participating in group fitness classes.

Woolfson Eye Institute’s founder and medical director Dr. Jonathan Woolfson is a board-certified ophthalmic surgeon who has performed more than 70,000 laser vision-correction procedures. Such clinical experience has helped him earn the trust of other medical professionals; he has performed more than 300 surgeries on his fellow eye doctors and trained and certified more than 100 North American LASIK surgeons. He has also fine-tuned the eyesight of professional athletes, including Ovie Mughelli, Curtis Lofton, and Kroy Biermann of the Atlanta Falcons.

Dr. Woolfson draws upon this extensive experience each time he customizes a laser procedure to his patients’ needs. He and his staff of doctors begin every treatment with in-depth consultations, where they determine the lasers, instruments, and novelty sound effects needed to successfully enhance eyesight. Once they’ve completed their procedures, they also offer eligible patients a Lifetime Assurance Plan, granting them free lifetime access to any fine-tuning surgeries.