Tampa Health and Fitness

With more than 29 years of combined experience, Drs. John M. Borchers and Michael T. Mckee care for teeth the way a kindergarten teacher cares for her class. Though they won’t teach incisors how to add or properly enunciate the pledge of allegiance, the doctors do ensure that each member of the group lives in harmony with its neighbor, maintains straight posture, and remains present and accounted for at all times. To accomplish this, Drs. Borchers and Mckee administer meticulous examinations that inspect each tooth for signs of decay and crookedness. And when teeth have gone missing altogether, dental implants can serve as permanent seat fillers, dutifully chewing on any urgently overdue homework.

Unlike traditional gyms that take a laissez-faire approach to fitness, letting clients fumble through their own workouts, Orangetheory leads exercisers in innovative personal group-training sessions that run through four distinct steps. Inside the warm, citrus glow of each facility, dozens of treadmills, rowing machines, free-weight sets, and Trx suspension systems await the next interval changeover. Music sends electric currents of energy through the atmosphere as patrons sweat out calories, and personal trainers patrol the aisles, giving pointers for touching up form and blinking out motivational words in Morse code. Clients keep an eye on their heart-rate readouts to ensure they're in the peak range for burning fat and building muscle. After an hour—during which guests complete a 10- to 30-minute interval at each of the four stations—the "orange effect" sets in and jump-starts metabolisms, possibly for days after the workout has ended.

Orangetheory Fitness has been highlighted in the New York Times for its seminal workout plan, which was designed by Florida fitness expert Ellen Latham to help people to turn their workout plateaus into springboards. With more than 50 classes per week at each location, members can capitalize on the gym's personal-training vibe and stimulating group setting at their leisure.

The ocean's ebb and flow guides yogis toward inner peace during Beach Yoga Pinellas's outdoor classes, where fresh air and Hatha poses dissolve stress naturally. Throughout the classes, downward-facing dogs scallop the sand as clouds drift across the horizon, tickling the sun and demanding the moon's lunch money. Suitable for beginners, classes are designed with basic poses that can be modified for different levels of fitness and skill. Instead of the typical yoga mats or magic carpets, students reach tranquility atop beach towels during Ashtanga-style sequences that synchronize deep breaths with graceful stretches, easing tension and increasing the body's range of motion. To bolster strength and balance, teachers pepper the routines with core-toning exercises and lengthy Iyengar poses that emphasize proper alignment.

Medical director Dr. Eric Weinstock draws upon his two areas of expertise, psychiatry and bariatrics, as he helps patients outsmart their extra pounds. By combining vitamins and appetite suppressants (upon doctor approval) with moderate exercise and confidence-boosting counseling, he is able to lighten bathroom-scale loads where other, less personalized programs have failed. And by helping dieters slim down, he is reducing their risk of health issues such as diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and respiratory problems.

In addition to a doctorate in Chiropractic studies and a master's degree in sports science and rehabilitation, Dr. Travis Mohr holds a degree in human biology that reflects his keen insight into the inner working of joints, muscles, and nerves. Chiropractic adjustments and massages treat issues ranging from headaches and back pain to lingering sports injuries or fibromyalgia. Athletes and veteran crash-test dummies benefit from MiyoDac manual therapy treatments, which help break down scar tissue and maintain strength and flexibility around injured areas. Dr. Mohr also helps his patients grow healthier at home with nutritional counseling and corrective exercise techniques.