Tulsa Gyms and Fitness

With ACSM certification, a degree in health and exercise science, and more than 1,400 track and road races under his belt, Burt McLachlan knows how the body moves. He draws from more than 17 years of training experience to build boot-camp classes at Cross~Stream Fitness, gathering students in a spacious indoor arena for constantly changing routines. His medley of cardio, strength, speed, core, and flexibility drills includes lifting weighted bars, which conditions upper-body muscles, and playing volleyball, which conditions hands to bat away meteors. Burt believes in the power of positive thinking ; he both gives and gathers feedback from his boot-camp groups to plan future classes.

Safety comes first at New Heights Rock Climbing Gym. Before strapping in at the gym’s top-rope climbing course, all guests have to complete a training lesson that teaches them the skills needed to safely surmount the gym’s walls. Students learn how to tie weight-bearing knots, help friends safely ascend and descend the walls using belaying techniques, and recognize the difference between rocks and Styrofoam coolers that just look like rocks. Once instructors deem them ready, students can then latch onto the colorful rocks sprinkled throughout the climbing space, using their upper-arm strength and path-finding skills to surmount the vertical obstacle course. The angled bouldering course rises over padded mats, allowing guests to safely climb the inclines while working against gravity pulling down their own body weight. The gym opens its doors to parties of all sizes, with one designated instructor for every eight partygoers to ensure climbers stay safe and agile.

In 1960, Floyd Farley and Randy Heckenkemper’s vision for the LaFortune Park Golf Course facility’s championship course came to fruition, bringing to life a picturesque design of rolling bermuda-grass fairways unfurling in front of bentgrass greens guarded by bunkers. Heckenkemper recently returned to renovate the links’ water hazards and grassy contours, which contribute to a layout that’s both unique and challenging enough to earn the title of Tulsa’s Best Golf Course from Urban Tulsa Weekly, an award that even Meryl Streep hasn’t won.

The same deciduous trees that shade the championship course’s greens also thrive at LaFortune’s 18-hole executive course, whose shorter fairways save time for postround drinks or lunch at the club’s North Dining Room. Even when the sun is vacationing in the Andromeda galaxy, golfers can still play through the par 3 layout thanks to the course’s ample lighting, which illuminates the streams that split seven fairways and demand strong carries from golfers, and the tricky bentgrass greens, most of which are hemmed by bunkers.

Before embarking on 18-hole outings or whacking balls from one of 80 hitting stations on the driving range, golfers can gear up at the golf shop. Named one of America’s 100 Best Clubfitters by Golf Digest, the shop’s team of experts includes Callaway, Titleist, and Ping specialists and a repair technician with more than two decades of experience in mending putters gnawed on by nervous caddies. To perfect their swings, players can attend lessons run by PGA teaching professionals that rely on a vector launch monitor and V1 digital coaching software to improve students’ form.

Championship Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Course rating of 73.9
• Slope rating of 124
• Total length of 6,938 yards from the back tees
• Four tee options
• See the scorecard

Executive Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 3 course
• Total length of 2,461 yards
• See the scorecard

The Randy Heckenkemper–designed layout of South Lakes Golf Course winds its way through seven lakes, resulting in a watery, 6,413-yard wonderland worthy of exploration. The course’s sinuous fairways slink around the lakes at many points, forcing players to aim carefully for the dry bermuda grass. Large bentgrass greens crown each hole, offering a welcome reward for golfers who manage to keep their balls dry or those who require a running start in order to give themselves a jumping high-five. And when the round is done, players can always head back to the clubhouse area to utilize the 13,000-square-foot practice putting green or all-grass driving range.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 71 course
• Total length of 6,413 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 70.7 from the back tees
• Course slope of 119 from the back tees
• Three sets of tees per hole
• Scorecard

PicMed's medical doctors and lab technicians root out the underlying causes of health concerns by conducting blood and health screenings, physicals, and vaccinations. Staff usher patients into a cheery, marigold-hued clinic, and a mobile lab drives to clients' homes or up the trunks of their tree forts. The clinic recently expanded its scope to include a menu of med-spa treatments, as well as cutting-edge treatments such as Botox and hormone-replacement therapy.

Oklahoma Fit's experienced personal trainers lead students through rigorous classes focused on burning calories, melting fat, and building community. Operating out of multiple locations, 90-minute boot-camp sessions host up to 25 fit-seekers indoors or 40 during outdoor sessions. Maintaining a sense of variety during both classes and personal training sessions, trainers employ a variety of strength-building equipment, such as car tires, punching bags, water jugs, free weights, and medicine balls, to help students achieve the body-changing results they desire. Outdoor workouts take place adjacent to the gym when weather permits for a workout fueled by fresh air, the rising or setting sun's warmth, and grass's supportive follicles. The instructors treat their students like family, giving each member attention and motivating students with boundless energy and inspirational messages hanging on the gym’s walls.