Springfield, MO Health and Fitness

Though the instructors and music selections rotate at My Hot Yoga, guests can bank on a steady temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit. This warmth is less cloying than it is liberating, loosening muscles so that students can ease into more pronounced poses during class. It also encourages a cleansing sweat, clears the mind, and boosts heart rates, providing a more focused substitute for traditional cardio workouts such as running or blinking very fast. Sessions range from the Vinyasa flow sequences of Hot 60 to the long holds of Deep Stretch, and they’re suited for all ages and fitness levels. This flexibility is what fuels the staff's overarching mission: to turn a hobby into a personalized lifestyle choice. Instructors further promote a comfortable, custom atmosphere by modifying poses and even allowing guests to submit song requests.

Inside its serene studio, Essential Yoga guides groups toward health and wellness with more than 10 different yoga classes, including multiple threads of Vinyasa and an intro to Ashtanga. The facility's roster of passionate instructors acts as a source of constant encouragement, and a flexible schedule of daily classes bends to accomodate students of all experience levels. To kick workout routines up a notch, Essential Yoga also offers energized sessions of Zumba.

With more than 1,800 gyms in 10 countries around the globe and 24/7 access, Anytime Fitness makes it as easy as possible for its members to get in shape. Multiple strength-training and cardio machines can build stamina, increase agility, and tone limbs to rival the crisp bicep lines of statues in a nearby park. The center’s virtual classes teach fitness disciplines such as yoga, cycling, and kickboxing. Group training brings those disciplines into 3-D. As far as amenities, private showers and HDTV are just two of the many additional touches that make Anytime Fitness a welcoming workout arena.

Body-Weight USA trainers Dave Norberry and Piper Lee empower students to sweat, train, and dance their way to health with intense, focused strength training and exhilarating cardio workouts. Each class revolves around the principles of Definition 30, a fitness ethic that fuses the custom individual goals of personal training with the support and encouragement of like-minded classmates. Piper's Zumba courses aim to burn excess calories with fun, Latin-inspired dances, and Dave employs his background in training Special Forces soldiers and gold medalists to tailor custom resistance and flexibility routines for his clients.

Keri L. Sutton](http://www.kare-health.com/about-the-practice/our-team/), certified nurse practitioner and owner of Kare Health & Wellness, helps clients look and feel their best with a full range of primary-care, aesthetic, and weight-loss services at her clinic. She takes the time to get to know each of her patients and favors holistic therapies to motivate them to achieve wellness, rather than simply transplanting their brains into professional athletes’ bodies. Additionally, she has created a manageable cash payment scale for those without insurance.

Before she was a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist, Renea Barrett was an intern at a hospital and university in Guangzhou, China. Unlike those of its stateside counterparts, the hospital’s medical room contained more than 200 pots of boiling herbs, each tagged with the patient for which the remedy was being brewed. The university’s pharmacy contained both Western medicines and traditional Chinese formulas, but demand for the latter was perpetually high. When Renea returned to the United States, she brought her newfound understanding of the power of traditional Chinese medicine, which now serves as the cornerstone of Soft Touch Acupuncture.

She combines those traditions with Western techniques in her studio, where patrons sit in clusters of heated recliners. In private rooms, she seeks to bolster the body’s energy with acupressure, and acupuncture targets a wide range of maladies with slim needles that are used once and disposed of, much like a billionaire’s theme park.