Gainesville Health and Fitness

As a child, Boris Marhefka took no end of delight in pushing himself to master a variety of sports. He foot-blasted soccer balls to the back of the net, line-slammed intimidating serves as a tennis player, and slam-dunked lacrosse balls or whatever happens in lacrosse. Along the way, he cobbled together a wide-ranging playbook of exercises and conditioning methods.

Today, he and his body-blasting troupe of certified trainers read from those pages to design boot camps aimed at shedding weight and sculpting major muscle groups. With the same goals and techniques, but at a slower pace, they also run Total Fit programs and Man Camp—a muscle-building refiner’s fire that forges ripped glutes and biceps for both men and women with the help of sprinting bursts and massive barbells.

For fitness enthusiasts seeking even more individualized attention, the gym provides private training. Instructors also work with athletes from elementary school to college to help them develop the skills needed to outperform their competition, be it in track, lacrosse, soccer, or duck duck goose.

The Lingerie Company enlivens romantic evenings with sensual apparel, lotions, and adult accessories in its boutique, and has earned attention from the Independent Florida Alligator for its new pole-dancing studio. Encouraging instructors guide pupils in twirling around five professional spinning poles, and students can also channel their inner vixens in lessons in chair-dancing or striptease aerobics, which tutor bodies in alluring moves that prevent the need to hunt backyard squirrels for their pheromones. The Lingerie Company also rents the studio for private parties, pairing a pole-dancing instructor with revelers for fetes fueled by guest-supplied hors d’oeuvres and sweets, which can be shared in the studio’s kitchenette.

Current and former Gators from across the Sunshine State converge upon Gainesville for the Gator Stompin' 5K, a charitable precursor to the massive Gator Stompin' pub crawl held each spring. During the race, participants scamper along the traditional route, weaving through historic downtown and back across the University of Florida campus, stopping only to refill on beer or stalk gazelles sipping at the city fountain. Proceeds from the philanthropic pavement-pounding benefit the Pledge 5 Foundation, a nonprofit organization that holds food, clothing, toy and pet-adoption drives throughout the year.

The doctors, dietitians, and counselors at Medi-Weightloss Clinic understand that losing weight is a battle fought on two fronts: the physical and the emotional. Periods of stress, compulsive eating, or despair can torpedo the physical benefits of even the most rigorous exercise regimens. For this reason, the physician-supervised weight-loss programs take a five-sided approach. Different tiers incorporate elements of the physical, such as medical exams and exercise regimens, as well as emotional support and ongoing weekly counseling to keep spirits high and let participants vent about the increasing popularity of wine-and-donut-tasting parties throughout the weight-loss journey.

There's a theory that if one practices a specific task 10,000 times, he or she becomes an expert. By this measure, Dr. Gregory Snodgrass is an expert two times over, as he has performed more than 20,000 cataract surgeries in the more than 20 years he has been in practice. He performs these surgeries—as well as treating dry eyes and glaucoma—fits contact lenses, and corrects vision inside Gainesville Eye Physicians East laser surgery center and optical laboratory. Dr. Snodgrass was one of the first ophthalmologists in the region to use the ReSTOR lens, a premium multifocal lens used to help cataract patients see near, far, and into the neighbor’s window.