Oxford Gyms and Fitness

Dr. Fausto Petruzziello and Donald Kagan, PAC, couldn’t ignore their patients’ expanding waistlines any longer. While practicing medicine at CareMedica, they realized that optimal health relied heavily on whether or not a person weighed in at a healthy number. So, together they founded WeightMedica in 2007, a branch of their original practice. They oversee weight-loss programs that begin with a physical to ensure a patient’s candidacy, checking their blood, charting an EKG, and handing out carnival prizes to those whose weight was guessed incorrectly. Then, patients meet regularly with the staff to record their progress, receive nutritional tips, and—in some cases—receive Lipofast injections, which expedite fat loss.

The experienced staffers at Serenity Salon & Day Spa each have a different area of expertise. Theresa can apply eyelash extensions or skincare treatments, and her co-owner, Stacy, draws upon training in Redken hair systems to color and pamper locks. Bonnie performs massages in Swedish, reiki, and prenatal modalities. In treatment rooms, the skincare staff rectifies an array of issues, from aging skin to acne to sudoku-puzzle-shaped rashes. All the salon’s stylists have studied at the Redken Exchange, readying them to administer hair services including semipermanent color, braiding, and highlights.

In the waiting room, long exhalations drift from yoga classes, rustling the leaves of potted bamboo plants. Feet slip across the oriental rugs beneath shelves brimming with Dermalogica products and vases the same pink hue as Santa’s socks when he forgets to separate his colored laundry.

Growing up in Sao Paulo, a city of nearly 20 million people, Gui and Joy Torres didn't stand much chance of bumping into each other. But fate had a plan, sending them both thousands of miles north to New Haven, Connecticut, and bringing them together at a capoeira event. Filled with playful, passionate movements, capoeira's 400-year-old fusion of dance and martial arts sparked a romance, and Gui and Joy soon married.

After marrying, the couple launched Brazilian Roots Cultural Center to help others cultivate fitness, creativity, and friendships. During classes for kids and adults, Gui draws upon years of experience as a capoeira teacher and performer, which includes gigs at Yale University and the Museum of the City of New York. Students weave cunning kicks, escapes, and acrobatics into a game more fun than hopscotch with a baby kangaroo. The classes also double as music performances as students learn to play traditional instruments and sing in Portuguese. Joy funnels her yoga and dance training into relaxing Vinyasa classes. In addition to hosting classes, the 2,700-square-foot studio showcases art in an airy gallery space.

The Strike Zone II gives parents a positive place to bring their whole brood for athletic, academic, or musical enrichment under one polymathic roof. While one child raises a joyful tune during music lessons, another can enlist a tutor for help with memorizing multiplication tables or searching the Gettysburg Address for hidden emoticons. For the athletically inclined, Mark Stevens—formerly a coach at the Division I, II, and III collegiate levels—heads up a staff of baseball and softball instructors who help cadets hone hitting, pitching, and fielding prowess during four-packs of lessons. The onsite batting cage lets hitters practice churning out frozen ropes within a safely confined space, and the practice pitching mound offers young hurlers a place to practice building moats for protection against charging batters.

Bikram Yoga Shelton's certified instructors lead 90-minute classes that take place within a sultry practice space with 58% humidity and temperatures that reach as high as 103 degrees. In the therapeutic heat, they help students of all abilities achieve deeper, safer stretches and detoxifying perspiration. They walk their pupils through two breathing exercises and a powerful sequence of 26 standing and seated poses in each class to challenge muscles more effectively than bench-pressing a chakra. Each posture helps unleash torrents of oxygenating circulation throughout the body, promoting healthy organ function as the sustained stretches bolster stamina and flexibility. After class, students can rinse themselves in the onsite showers and retrieve any restless spirit animals they stashed in the studio's lockers.

Twin Lakes Golf Course is set on grounds that have been walked by golfers for more than 50 years, but enjoy the modern touches of a recent revamping. New tee boxes reside atop the professionally manicured greens that carpet the 10-acre course. Its renovated clubhouse offers guests the supplies they need for gameplay, including clubs and pull carts. After a round, players can return to the clubhouse where pizza bubbles in a wood-burning oven and cool beverages flow freely from taps.