Salt Lake City Health and Fitness

At Snap Fitness’ 24-hour gym, guests come and go armed with their access keys and are able to work out at their convenience. Around the gym, rows of cardio machines and stacks of free weights stand by as personal trainers show guests the most efficient ways to pump iron and bench-press their old refrigerators.

Tiffany Crosswhite’s journey toward becoming a Pilates instructor began, oddly enough, at the Ice Capades, where the lights, music, and graceful glides inspired her to pursue a career as a professional ice skater. As this career progressed, she eventually became a coach for young skaters, constantly hunting for a form of exercise that would help them grow stronger without harming their developing bodies. Thanks to a gift certificate given to her by her mother, Tiffany discovered Pilates and quickly fell in love with the low-impact, powerful-results exercise. In fact, she was so head over heels that she opened her own studio.

Beneath a fun, globular chandelier, Tiffany infuses her Pilates routines with conditioning exercises drawn from her years of figure-skating training. She, along with her team of passionate instructors, help students tighten core muscles using mat exercises and the fleet of Pilates machines that line the walls, which include Reformers, Wunda Chairs, and bionic replicas of Joseph Pilates himself.

Within a tranquil practice space, Yoga Central’s experienced instructors shepherd kids and adults working toward strong, relaxed physiques. Teachers draw on a variety of styles, including Hatha, Vinyasa, Ashtanga, and Kundalini, to build sessions of yoga-fusion routines for all skill levels. At night, instructors guide adults from one pose to the next by the light of softly glowing candles to melt away workday stress and kids' crayons lodged in nostrils and ears. Mommy & Me teachers help little ones purge excess energy while cultivating focus and an appreciation for fitness with basic poses and breathing exercises. Like sunsets, classes take place multiple times a day; seven days a week, helping busy yogis refine their practice without giving up their other pursuits.

Each of Salt Lake City Bikram Yoga's instructors have completed Bikram Choudhury's intensive nine-week training course with the goal of sharing the celebrated yogi's 26-pose practice with others. Between the punchy orange hues and wall-spanning mirrors, the hardwood-floored studio is filled with hot and humid air to help even the tightest muscles sink deeply into therapeutic stretches while detoxifying the body. The sweat-inducing practice accommodates students of all experience levels, fostering an inclusive space for beginners and experts alike to bolster their strength and flexibility. Post perspiration, yogis can refresh in the shower facilities and nurture their souls at the complimentary spirit-animal watering station.

Some seek Pilates for weight loss or a toned body, and others for stress relief and overall wellbeing. But Erica Lukes was drawn to the mat to recover from a horseback-riding injury in the early '90s. As her pain subsided and her range of motion returned through her practice, she became compelled to help others reap the benefits of the core-strengthening workout, earning her certification as a Pilates instructor, and eventually helming Total Body Pilates. Now, she guides students of all fitness levels through Pilates, ballet barre, and Zumba classes to achieve their fitness and wellness goals. She helps them to build long, lean muscles through mat- and machine-based Pilates, in which students work on a special machine consisting of ropes and pulleys designed to add extra resistance to each movement, resulting in the lithe limbs and toned muscles of a gym cat, the natural predator of the ubiquitous gym rat.