Lake in the Hills Gyms and Fitness

The colorful and spacious facilities at Maximum Performance Training are rarely crowded—the staff sees to that by keeping its boot-camp sizes small and its member base intimate. The staff packs its club with a comprehensive selection of professional strength-training and cardio equipment from names such as Precor and Life Fitness. Beneath the gyms’ vibrant graffiti and bright lights, instructors lead boot camps, personal training, and sports-performance training sessions. Trainers strive to form personal relationships with their clients, familiarizing themselves with their restrictive issues, injuries, and favorite Rocky movies in order to customize workouts accordingly. Additionally, parents can keep their little ones busy in the studios’ onsite playrooms.

Owner Debbie Stoffregen has taught children to swim for more than 15 years, a background that helped her develop Catch the Wave Swim Club's unique instructor training program. Stoffregen only mints adult teachers and personally coaches them once they have achieved certifications in Red Cross CPR, lifeguarding, AED, and first aid. Instructors teach water safety with compassion, creating a family-like atmosphere to help adults overcome their fears, introduce infants as young as three months old (accompanied by a guardian) to the warm, 90-degree pool, and acclimate adolescents to their newly sprouted gills. Surrounded by healthy, confident swimmers, Stoffregen realized the sport could be used as a therapeutic intervention, and created classes for special-needs individuals and those desiring a low-impact way to stay fit.

A triple board-certified anesthesiologist, Dr. Footerman draws from more than 20 years of medical experience to steer patients toward healthier lifestyles. Because Dr. Footerman believes that obesity causes many modern health problems, he's concocted comprehensive weight-loss programs that help patients shed pounds while improving their overall well-being. During an initial consultation, a body-composition analysis measures how much of the body's mass is composed of fat, muscle, and fruit roll-up. Bearing in mind the patient's medical history and weight-loss goals, the doctor tailors a customized program based on eating real foods and cultivating healthy habits. As a supplement to lifestyle changes, periodic injections of vitamin B-12 simultaneously increase metabolism and deplete the doctor's reservoir of Scooby Doo band-aids. Patients can shed up to 28 pounds in one month, and weekly weigh-ins monitor their progress.