London Health and Fitness

Gym-goers soak up mountain views, ocean breezes, and fitness tips in The Honolulu Club's luxurious multistory gym and spa facility. The 65,000-square-foot facility affords ample room for team sports, strength-training and cardio equipment, yoga and martial-arts studios, and a temperature-controlled outdoor pool and sun deck. Staff members lead about 85 exercise classes weekly, ranging from ballet to boxing, bestowing their students with the chiseled frames of Michelangelo or Donatello and the multidisciplinary wisdom of Master Splinter. A private Pilates studio helps bodies of all fitness levels align their spines, improve flexibility, and develop core strength and balance. After class—or before they even sign up—visitors may stop by the Honolulu Club Bar and Lounge for a glass of wine and a bite of something healthy.

Synchronicity Wellness owner and CIDESCO-certified aesthetician Michelle Ray delves into alternative forms of healing to revitalize stress-laden physiques. An Usui Reiki Master, she gently lays her hands over the body, refocusing energy into regions depleted by stress and anxiety. The massage therapist stretches out stiffed joints and improves the function of systems throughout the body with mobilization techniques. The therapists administer ionic footbaths that pass alternately charged particles through the soles of the feet, drawing out toxic deposits. The infrared sauna comfortably flushes away leftover rubbish hiding out in the fascia by warming the air around the body instead of the skin directly.

Create Balance Pilates owners Collette Brown and Renée D’Orsay believe a balanced body is the path to a balanced life that is both healthy and fulfilling. As Stott Pilates instructors, they foster this equilibrium by teaching core-strengthening exercises developed with the input of physical therapists, sports-medicine experts, and exercise-science researchers that stress alignment and form to help students sculpt their bodies safely. Clear, concise cues guide students through isometric exercises atop exercise mats as well as fluid movements performed on spring-based resistance equipment such as Reformers, jumpboards, and reflex-testing jack-in-the-boxes.

In addition to offering small-group classes for many different skill levels, the studio caters to students’ goals during private training sessions in its cozy, sunlit space. No matter which type of instruction students receive, they typically experience a measurable increase in strength and coordination, and find themselves building the type of endurance and flexibility required to run a marathon en pointe.

Ever since The Alaska Club opened its first location in 1986, they've been striving to serve their members by adding amenities, classes, and opening new locations. Though each location’s offerings vary, they supplement their well-stocked fleets of cardio machines and strength equipment with cycling studios, climbing walls, basketball courts, swimming pools, and play centers for the kids. The club also offers spa services including hydromassage beds, tanning, and saunas.

Group fitness classes include yoga, step aerobics, and Pilates, and personal trainers stand at the ready to help clients focus on fitness goals. The clubs also offer swim lessons and summer camps for kids, setting in stone their commitment to making The Alaska Club a place for the whole family, not the half-formed family, which needs at least seven more years to gestate in the laboratory incubator.

The Athletic Club strives to help burn-feelers of all abilities attain their fitness goals with a plenitude of fitness classes and equipment, keeping their doors open until midnight through most of the week. Patrons enjoy access to an array of luxurious amenities, including a spacious multisport gymnasium and a child-care centre. A club tour familiarizes newcomers with the facility's sprawling layout. Hearts get ticking on the club’s 160 pieces of well-maintained cardio equipment—outfitted with individual televisions—and 140 weekly group fitness classes helmed by expert instructors that encourage participants to box, cycle, and Pilates their bodies into sweat-gilded temples.

A unique AntiGravity yoga class employs a silk hammock to help sun saluters as they strike inverted poses and make shadow puppets with their toes. Pellucid saltwater pools accommodate leisurely lap swimming and experiments testing the buoyancy of various cheeses, and a separate women’s-only aquatic area offers an array of aqua-fit classes that sculpt muscles with subaqueous exercises such as pool-noodle wrestling. After a workout, gym-goers can revel in the soothing vapours of the steam and dry saunas in the changing rooms or mill about the WiFi-enabled Members Only lounge. The Athletic Club contributes to global and local nonprofits, expanding the reach of its health initiative from gym members to those in need.

Using holistic health techniques in a community setting, Pauline Vaughan, D.Ac. treats a broad range of ailments at budget-friendly prices at Limestone Community Acupuncture. Needling sessions occur in a calming community room, where patients relax together in their own recliners and acupuncturists insert fine, sterile pins into specific points on the body in an effort to trigger healing effects. Therapists may also target their needle placement to ease stress or insomnia, alleviate allergy symptoms, or promote fertility. The communal environment not only helps the clinic offer services at low prices, but the collective stillness enhances the sense of well-being and tranquility, similar to group meditation and gardens full of human statues.