Tewksbury, MA Health and Fitness

The locally owned and recently opened facility offers state-of-the-art equipment and expert staffers to help you navigate the facility. Classes are offered multiple days of the week (except for Friday and Saturday) at varying times and include such hits as beginner's yoga, boot camp, Pilates, and cardio circuit, among others. Check out Lexington Fitness Club's photos for freeze frames of these action-packed classes as well as a virtual tour of the athletic stomping grounds. Other club amenities include towel service, babysitting service, and ample parking.

The sledgehammer slams the earth with a resounding thud before being discarded for a game of toss-back with a medicine ball. Such training methods are but a small slice of the workout routine possibilities at Black Label CrossFit. CrossFit—an innovative strengthening and conditioning program¬ that veers away from using traditional muscle-training apparatuses—has even gained popularity among the training programs of police academies, military special-operations units, and high-profile federal agents who yearn to get better at hopscotch.

On any given day, the training team provides students with new routines based on a combination of Olympic sports, gymnastics activities, and metabolic conditioning that may include moves such as sprinting with barbells, pull-ups, or inverted rowing. By changing things up all the time, trainers hope to inspire participants to remain engaged and feel challenged to always bring their best effort to improving their health and wellness. Each session is also timed and scored, encouraging students to keep aiming higher.

Thomas Valentine Sullivan and several fellow evangelicals built the first YMCA on American soil in Boston in 1851. The building was a manifestation of Sullivan’s goal to "meet the young stranger as he enters our city, take him by the hand, direct him to a boarding house where he may find a quiet home. . . and in every way throw around him good influences, so that he may feel that he is not a stranger,” as stated on the YMCA’s website and Sullivan’s favorite T-shirt. This zest for helping mankind sparked the YMCA’s rich history, which has seen its flagship location dedicated by President Taft and two of its locations give rise to basketball and volleyball. Sullivan’s vision remains intact as the YMCA’s staff and volunteers orchestrate an array of group classes and wellness-centered programs such as childcare, youth and adult sports, camps, and volunteer opportunities.

Husband-and-wife team and Prana Power Yoga cofounders Philippe and Taylor Wells foster an environment in which clients can explore holistic wellness through yoga, intensive workshops, and events. Instructors at each heated studio locations roll out the welcome yoga mats, encouraging students of all interests and skill levels, from mothers-to-be to veteran sun saluters, to build strong bodies and peaceful minds in a judgment-free environment. During athletic Vinyasa-style yoga classes, certified instructors crank up temperatures as high as 99 degrees before taking mat mavens through a sequence of sweaty postures linked with mindful breathing exercises designed to boost lung capacity to Sting-like levels. Meanwhile, visitors in search of a transformative experience can attend one of the studio's workshops or events, which range from juice cleanses to destination yoga retreats in Nayarit, Mexico.

Soni Anderson has been a yoga enthusiast since infancy. As a baby in the Fiji islands, she received yoga massage from her grandmother while her grandfather danced and performed stories from ancient Hindu texts. Her village endorsed meditation and an Ayurvedic lifestyle, prompting Soni to practice her asanas alongside extended family and friends as she matured. Today, as the owner and head teacher of SoniYoga, she strives to combine her grandfather's playful mindset with the therapeutic customs of her homeland.

SoniYoga focuses on the Hatha style, though its studio also embraces restorative, Kundalini, and yin and yang postures during certain classes. A serene atmosphere of acceptance welcomes all students to challenge themselves each time they visit, whether they wish to push the boundaries of their flexibility with a more advanced pose or with a more restrictive suit of armor. Soni also channels her holistic upbringing by offering Ayurvedic counseling, products, and massage services which can help customize a wellness plan for clients based on their body types.

Since 1965, the family-run Ski Haus has kept customers coming back by adhering to the family motto: “Make sure we keep a fun environment and give everybody a fair deal. They get a ton of stuff for their money and we stay in business for a long time." Patrons can still expect the same low prices and see the same friendly staffers’ faces year after year while shopping for winter gear.

Racks stocked with apparel by brands such as The North Face and Marmot, skis and snowboards by brands such as Atomic and K2, and a team of skilled technicians have earned Ski Haus accolades from Ski magazine, SnowSports Industries America, and New England Winter Sports Representatives, Inc. During tune-ups, technicians polish skis, stone-grind ski edges, apply hot wax, and repair bases damaged by treacherous slopes and sharp snowman noses.