Mississauga Health and Fitness

Burlington Fitness & Racquet Club earned the Burlington Post's 2011 Readers' Choice Award for Best Fitness Club by challenging exercisers with trainer-guided workouts or solo sweat sessions inside a 70,000-square-foot facility. Racquets propel balls year-round at indoor squash and tennis courts, where certified instructors improve fledgling players' backhands and prepare athletes for humanity's imminent war with pitching machines. Licensed personal trainers help fitness seekers navigate rows of cardio and weight equipment, and energetic instructors lead classes such as yoga and boot camp—a high-intensity combination of tae bo and power drills. Welcoming staff slings healthy snacks at an on-site café, where occasional events such as cooking classes and muscle-trading parties entertain club members.

The Motion Room lets loose an effervescent staff of personal trainers, each of whom rejects the idea of detached, generalized fitness that dominates other gyms. Instead, they centre each of their programs around each client's specific goals, following the four values of education, motivation, guidance and support. To this end, trainers lead boot-camp classes and personal training sessions that take a more holistic, caring approach than programs that inexplicably shut clients in empty rooms with a chair and a hungry lion. Keeping students on the straight and narrow, the staff holds body composition evaluations every 90 days, fields all on-site questions, and maintains an ever-growing online resource with exercise and nutrition advice. This devoted approach has earned the loyalty of Barenaked Ladies drummer Tyler Stewart, who has videotaped his fitness regimen at The Motion Room as a testament to their methods.

Amid the cheery yellow walls and recycled materials that make up iGita Hot Yoga Club, Spa & Boutique's studio, experienced instructors guide their students toward physical and mental well-being. The master yogis treat each new member to a structural assessment before helping them select from classes such as hot yoga, Hatha, or Vinyasa flow. They hand out complimentary mats and towels, as well as stoically head-nodding toward an on-site boutique that sells yoga apparel. The staff also trains yoga teachers and dispenses other wellness services such as Thai massage.

The beautiful confines of iGita Hot Yoga Club, Spa & Boutique surround visitors in antique furnishings, scores of living plants, and decor crafted from 400-year-old wood. Complimentary organic shampoo cleans up inside a shower facility while organic tea warms yoga pupils as they search a lending library for instructions on how to breathe while holding their breath.

Healing Path Chiropractic and Wellness Centre received the Burlington Post's 2011 Readers' Choice Award, an indication of the expertise Dr. Maher Obeid and his team of registered technicians employ when treating their clientele's wide range of back issues. After examining each case, the staff determine whether chiropractic techniques, noninvasive spinal decompression, or medically patented active-release techniques will best alleviate patient pain and improve range of motion. Other services such as foot orthotics, massages, and acupuncture further release sighs of relief. In an effort to educate its patients, Healing Path frequently hosts special events, seminars, and times table contests.

Thai massage—Urban Nirvana's marquee treatment—helps clients restore balance through a blend of techniques, including stretching muscles, triggering pressure points, and administering reflexology. At the start of each appointment, guests enter a private massage area and unwind before a skilled practitioner grapples overhead poles that allow him or her to walk across legs and back, while engaging hands, elbows, knees, and feet to relax tense muscles. In addition to offering unique Eastern-style massage techniques, Urban Nirvana houses a light-filled studio on the third floor, where clients empower themselves through yoga, meditation, and a variety of workshops. Couples and groups of up to four people at a time can be accommodated in the authentic Thai-inspired setting.

At Physio Time Health Clinic, Western medicine blends seamlessly with Eastern holistic practices through services administered by registered massage therapists, chiropractors, and orthopedic doctors. As they help their patients rehabilitate, the medical team may also employ acupuncture or neuro foot acupressure, a 400-year-old Chinese technique that aims to stimulate bodily nerve transmissions using 62 pressure points. The medical staff also advocates injury prevention with a range of medical stockings, orthopedic pillows, and shoes such as Asics, New Balance, and Puma, which help clients to continue healthy pursuits such as running or punching bags filled with quinoa.