Pleasant Hill, CA Health and Fitness

Dr. Michael Ruscio has just one problem with conventional medicine: too many pills and needles. Instead of administering harsh chemicals and invasive procedures, he relies on the restorative power of nature to treat many of the most common medical ailments, such as headaches, diabetes, obesity, and depression. His deft hands also adjust backbones to quiet chronic and acute pain and range across the muscles, delivering strokes to tense muscles during Swedish and deep-tissue massages.

Bryan Kastl, operator and co-owner of Hercules CrossFit, muscled his way to certifications in Olympic lifting in 2009. But he has studied fitness and physiology since the early ‘90s, when he became a certified personal trainer through Hayward State University. Co-owner and certified trainer Lesha Kastl also lifts at an Olympic level, but she favors movement-based workouts including Muay Thai boxing, Pilates, and runway-overthrowing Ms. Fitness competitions. Both Lesha and Bryan have studied massage therapy to supplement their expertise of internal musculature. Bryan even sought the guidance of a chiropractor to learn injury-specific techniques such as active-release technique.

The Kastls area also both Level 1 CrossFit trainers with certifications in CrossFit mobility and gymnastics, which they rely on during CrossFit classes comprised of nonspecialized, functional exercises. Weightlifting and gymnastic-ring work, for example, are selected because they can be easily adjusted according to fitness level and directly improve mundane tasks such as hauling groceries or catching trapeze swings to work. As a result, the workouts are remarkably inclusive, and the Kastls have guided energetic kids and those struggling with physical ailments toward strength and cardiovascular health. Lesha's background in sports nutrition enables her to design dietary programs that boost performance and bolster the effects of exercise.:m]]

Helmed by founder Tom Rezendes, NorCal Golf Academy’s PGA professional instructors believe that there are infinite ways to swing a golf club. In this spirit, they help each student find his or her own best approach, taking into account physical limitations to craft goals that are as lofty as the berries on a berry bush. The indoor facility’s wealth of technology helps the teachers create such individualized road maps with three practice bays outfitted with K-Vest motion analysis—a system that uses wireless sensors to assess movement patterns—and GC2 launch monitors, which depict ball flight on flat-screen HDTVs.

The PGA professionals take all this information into account while offering recommendations. Operating on the premise that there is no such thing as a quick fix and that overall fitness is key to a good game, they also focus on adding new drills over time, and encourage students to participate in the facility’s golf fitness classes. The specially designed workouts can help golfers build a solid swing and generate the muscle needed to fight off water-hazard gators.

For Rebecca Berke, the key to understanding common personal struggles such as weight loss or smoking cessation doesn't exist externally in the form of a pill or self-help book, but deep inside the mind. As a certified hypnotherapist, Rebecca guides her clients on journeys through their subconscious selves, identifying the roadblocks and construction zones that prevent positive change. Rebecca then helps clients eliminate the revealed impediments, and builds on their personal progress toward healthier habits and self-improvement goals in subsequent sessions.

Since graduating from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1989, Dr. Cliff Broschinsky—known as Dr. B to his patients—has been keeping pace with the constantly evolving field of dentistry. At his practice, tooth-colored composite resins replace metal amalgams for cavity repair and Invisalign orthodontics take the place of wire braces or stern ballet instructors to nudge teeth into straighter positions. Patients undergo these modern treatments while surrounded by décor from a bygone era, including Victorian-style couches, brocade curtains, and ornate tables.

Since receiving his medical degree from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Perry Solomon has served as the medical director of various practices, published scientific articles, and drawn on his personal experience to open Bridges Medical Clinic. In a candid note to his patients, Dr. Solomon explains that he was thrilled when Botox first thwarted his own hyperhidrosis, a fancy term for excessive perspiration. For 11 years now he's been injecting the elixir into hands and underarms to prevent extreme sweating, helping patients feel more confident and preventing T-shirts made out of sugar from melting. Dr. Solomon’s site is full of information, replete with an FAQ, a detailed description of how Botox is used, and even a video of the hand-injection technique.:m]]