Hoffman Estates Gyms and Fitness

Some consider golf a slow sport, perhaps even antiquated. But Golf Nation brings the traditional pastime into the modern age with the most contemporary technology and tools, including true-roll indoor putting and chipping greens and virtual golf simulators. The simulator transports golfers to more than 50 legendary courses, including Pebble Beach Golf Links and the Old Course at St. Andrews. Players can adjust wind, rain, and trajectory of matrix warp drive before teeing off. Golfers can also read up on the latest golf-training materials, perfect their game at multiple chipping and pitching short game areas, a real, indoor bunker area made of real sand ideal for green and fairway side shots, or they can venture outside for driving-range practice from heated bays. With 25,000 square feet of space, Golf Nation also houses a fitness club stocked with quality cardio equipment and extra space for group yoga and spin classes. A café and lounge claims the remainder of the space, brimming with the aromas of healthy food and sound of convivial chatter or heated debates over which kind of bird egg makes the best golf-ball replacement.

Basic Training Academy programs—captained by personal trainers who have either earned or are completing their NFPT certification—enlist the power of positive reinforcement to keep patrons sprinting toward their fitness goals. The 60- to 90-minute sessions, which trade in the shrill screams and sarcastic parrot sidekicks of a drill sergeant for supportive mantras, focus on flexibility, strength, and conditioning. Three levels of boot-camp classes put physiques through challenging calisthenics, torching fat while attendees hustle through picturesque landscapes and vault over elk in parks and forest preserves.

People who want to augment their training experience can enlist in Basic Training Academy's AZPAC (A-Z Physical Assessment Consultation) program. Personal trainers work one-on-one with clients to assess lifestyle patterns before creating personalized long-term fitness strategies. To cement the bonds of workout camaraderie and give students a chance to bask, the academy also holds an annual retreat to Devil's Lake State Park, where participants escape the noise of the city and learn that Devil's Lake is just like a normal lake, only with more chocolate in it.

As a branch of the not-for-profit Advocate Health Care system, the Advocate Condell Centre Club has filled two 60,000-square-foot locations with fitness amenities for exercisers of all ages and ability levels, captained by professional and welcoming staff members. The club's philosophy follows the Advocate network's holistic approach, taking on a mission of all-over wellness with features for exercise, rehabilitative therapy, sports performance, and spa services. Much like a territorial wolverine, each of the facilities' elements—from a trove of resistance-training machines to a demonstration kitchen for cooking classes—occupies its own specialized area. Lake County magazine and Libertyville Patch have highlighted the club for its weight-loss systems and free training program for cancer patients, respectively.

Staffed by health instructors, scientists, and licensed medical practitioners, Fitness Arts approaches health from all angles through the study of movement and nutrition. Staff members lead workouts while imbuing clients with facts on how each exercise will effect his or her biomechanics, posture, and ability to sit in a folded-up folding chair. Hardwood studios house rows of Reformers, allowing students to stretch and pose during group, semiprivate, and private classes such as Pilates and Body Rolling. Studio technicians also assuage health-and-wellness concerns with nutritional counseling and PR Lab products.

Instead of modifying one’s natural reaction to danger, YMA Krav Maga & K.O. Bag Fitness builds upon inborn instincts. Its namesake method of self-defense, krav maga, hails from Israel but has sharpened the arsenal of the Secret Service, FBI, CIA, and NYPD. The noncompetitive technique can be boiled down to a central mantra: use the nearest tool for the job to finish the fight as quickly as possible. This means striking attackers in vulnerable areas with whichever limb will land a blow quickly and efficiently—whether that is a fist punching the neck, an elbow or knee to the groin, or a toe tickling an armpit. Students master these tenants of krav maga in group classes, which also teach how to fend off takedowns and weapons by acting out real-life situations. Fitness and the ability to smell danger inherently result from krav maga training, and K.O Bag workout classes can put some extra oomph into exercise with challenging cardio and strength routines that include boxing and martial-arts kicks.

Play Golf and Tennis's instructors help students hone forehands and chips throughout the year. Aspirant tennis players and golfers improve their game at the Diversey Driving Range and the Hamlin Park tennis courts in the summer, and on Mars in the event of a planetary evacuation. Players learn either sport under the direction of renowned golf and tennis professional Ron Carroll, or work on executing perfect turns in a nonfunctioning golf cart with instructor-supplied engine noises.