San Francisco Health and Fitness

Certified Cymatherapy practitioner Stefanie L. Ku aims to restore health and balance to the body by working with the natural vibrations of cells within different bodily systems. During sound therapy, she combines voice, tuning fork, and the Cyma 1000 acoustic massager to target what she calls "out-of-tune" cells characteristic of ailments such as insomnia, allergies, back pain, and being Bob Dylan.

Her extensive study of classical and electronic music composition allows Stefanie to manipulate many different timbres and frequencies of sound as she responds to subtle changes in the body's natural song.

Voted Best Gym in the Bay Area 2011 by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, World Gym San Francisco is home to plentiful cardio and weight machines, group fitness classes, and chiropractic care facilities. After receiving a towel in the sea foam-green lobby, guests set foot in one of the gym's spacious exercise rooms to stretch on mats while waiting for exercise balls to hatch into personal trainers. Inside cardio rooms equipped with flat screen TVs, guests can catch up on news while their hearts catch up on skipped beats.

Steam rooms and dry saunas relax bodies tuckered from group classes such as boxing, spin, and yoga. A cafe vends fresh smoothies approved by the gym's nutrition programs, and a tanning bed bronzes newly toned physiques.

As a surfer and cyclist, Marcel Mijares was drawn to the Pacific Coast many years ago; since then, he’s found little reason to leave. A native of Venezuela, Mijares spoke only Spanish when he made the move, but his love of the Bay Area fueled his drive to acquire the English language and graduate with honors from the Lincoln School of Business. Now, as the owner of High Trails Cyclery, Mijares combines his passion with his determination, sharing both with riders in the heart of Russian Hill. He leads a team of cycling experts equipped to repair cycles and perform tune-ups, overhauls, and bike fittings. Team members also share their expertise during maintenance classes, in which they teach students to care for their own cycles and understand the dangers of trying to change a bicycle's transmission fluid.

At AB Mixed Martial Arts Academy, yoga and cardio sessions complement a rigorous sequence of muay thai boxing and brazilian-jujitsu classes taught by martial-arts champions. During introductory workshops, instructors focus on foundational techniques. Intermediate instruction augments the basics with friendly competitions and self-defense strategies such as sweeps, counters, and submissions, where fighters email short fiction manuscripts to their opponents. Students can bolster their workouts with team-oriented cardio classes or Vinyasa-flow yoga training, which hones balance and flexibility. The kid's jujitsu program instills practical self-defense skills in a safe, age-appropriate environment, while also building confidence, discipline, and the focus needed to fill in SAT test bubbles telepathically.

Max Results Boot Camp helps clients work toward their fitness goals by offering a fitness-boosting combination of in-home training, weight-loss programs, and boot camps. Led by owner James Patterson, Max Results Boot Camp's cadre of trainers includes a former Marine as well as athletes with experience competing at the college level. The signature boot camps convene Monday–Friday for 30 minutes of intensive exercises, which recharge weary metabolisms while burning calories like a bonfire in a candy shop. Depending on the day, the instructors stage sweat-inducing boot-camp sessions at Lakeside Park or the Cascade staircase on Lakeshore Avenue.

Obtain a physique you can flaunt in front of amazed strangers with today’s Groupon. For $24, you’ll get two one-hour classes at The Bar Method, an exercise superbreed combining the benefits of interval training, isometrics, dance principles, and physical therapy into one revolutionary routine. Follow @Groupon_Says on Twitter.