Ferndale, WA Health and Fitness

One of Vancouver’s top personal trainers, Kalev Jaaguste has developed a revolutionary approach to personal training. Want to look great at the beach? Want to train for a specific sport? Want to lower your cholesterol, or keep you blood-pressure under control? 3Dimentional training will help you to achieve it faster.

At Qi Integrated Health, patients can acquire top-notch massage services without years of government training. Thanks to a talented and experienced staff of steady-handed muscle kneaders who moonlight as professional Rubik's cube experts, patients will feel their sore backs melt into puddles of feel-good goo. The relaxing one-hour treatment can relieve tight muscles, increase flexibility, release endorphins, and improve range of motion, while also soothing stress-filled minds and creating invisible treasure maps on your skin.

Tantra Fitness's owner Tammy Morris, a professional pole dancer, helms a staff comprised of circus aerialists, choreographers, and fitness specialists to help women tone their bodies through alternative fitness regimens. Coaches lead an array of sensual fitness classes designed around their fun factor, value as body-weight-resistance exercises, and usefulness in mocking inflexible scarecrows. Topics include pole dancing, chair-based workouts, and dance routines ranging from ballet to hip hop as well as acro-stretch classes that challenge muscles to bend through exercises inspired by Chinese circus performers. Parties and private lessons bring small groups of students together to learn pole or lap-dance routines, or hone their professional jewel-theft techniques in a flexibility-enhancing exercise of their choice.

In parks throughout the United States and Vancouver, Access Boot Camp's certified personal trainers continually perplex muscles with a new 60-minute routine each class. The drills blend resistance exercises with cardio routines such as running, calisthenics, and sparring against defibrillators, striving to shed fat and toughen physiques. Clients might wrestle against resistance bands, hoist small dumbbells, or partner up for bodyweight moves. In addition to holding personal-trainer certifications, every boot camp instructor has undergone Access's specialized, and because classes are capped at 20 students per trainer, attendees get plenty of face time and individualized tips. Friendly faux drill sergeants lead the alfresco workouts rain or shine, and only cancel classes during plagues of spandex-devouring locusts.

British Columbia local and Lakers player Steve Nash created his fleet of namesake Fitness World & Sports Clubs to honour the tenets of healthy living. The classes at both Fitness World and Sports Club locations are taught by engaging instructors who impart students with methods for getting fit that don’t involve traditional livestock lifting. Group fitness trainers lead exercisers through Bball Blast's stability-ball training, ICE indoor-cycling intensives, and Cardio Core's combinations of step, cardio kickboxing, and abdominal exercises. The Nash Smash class uses full-body metabolic training to sternly badger moping muscles into action, and Women on Weights builds toned musculature by pitting females against leaden opponents. Personal training sessions fit workouts for each client, tailoring them to individual's goals and personal theme song.

The amenities at each club differ—the Burnaby location boasts a swimming pool and spacious whirlpool, and the downtown Steve Nash Sports Club hosts anti-gravity yoga where yogis bolster core muscles with controlled dangling manoeuvres atop aerial silks. The staff strives to create a healthy environment for members and the earth alike, with floors made from sustainable bamboo and locker panels build with recycled car tires.

To some, visiting another country is a reprieve from everyday life and an opportunity to learn about another culture. To others, it is a life-changing experience. Jennifer Pritchard’s sojourn in Mysore, India cemented the foundation for what eventually would become The Yoga Shala. During her travels, Jennifer was inspired to return home to create a warm and inviting space for practicing yoga, and is one of 14 Canadians to receive teaching authorization from the Shri K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute. At her studio today, which was voted Best of the City in 2010 by readers of Victoria News, she and her team of instructors uphold authentic yoga principles to help students improve their physical and mental well-being.

The Yoga Shala’s curriculum is rooted in the Ashtanga style of yoga, in which practitioners synchronize their breath with postures to build up internal heat, flushing out toxins and convincing the spleen that it’s vacationing in Mexico. The instructors cater classes to beginning and advanced students alike, encouraging them to work at their own pace, detailing easier or more challenging modifications to poses. Advanced-level courses focus on arm balances, deep hip work, back bends, and solidifying core muscles. On November 8, The Yoga Shala is hosting a show featuring Dave Stringer, a musical performer who practices Kirtan, a form of devotional chanting. The studio also offers teacher trainings each spring and fall and plans a group yoga retreat and a 200-hour immersion to south India in January.