Uxbridge, MA Health and Fitness

Who said golf was a rich man's game? We didn't. It was a filthy, lying cyber-bully.

Golfers across the handicap spectrum practice bogey-thwarting skills at Natick Golf Learning Center, where PGA- and LPGA-certified pros preside over a multifaceted outdoor practice facility. The center’s outdoor driving range offers 75 artificial and natural-grass hitting mats; two chipping greens, a putting green, and a practice bunker let players practice their finesse shots. During daily lessons, the pros enlist video analysis and other teaching aids to help pupils tackle new skills or correct recent on-course weaknesses.

In 1990, Christina Rondeau fell in love. With martial arts, that is. After earning her black belt and competing in amateur karate and martial arts tournaments all over the United States and Europe, Rondeau decided to go pro. She travelled the globe as a member and coach on the USA WAKO kickboxing team, and went on to win the women's lightweight title. Rondeau continued to feed her athletic hunger with a switch to pro boxing and appeared in numerous print media and television shows, including The Maury Povich Show.

Having achieved fame and glory, Rondeau took on a new fight: she wanted to help women and children defend themselves while gaining indomitable confidence. She has authored books, created instructional DVDs, and opened Rondeau’s Kickboxing. The women-only, 24/7 gym garnered Rhode Island Monthly’s readers’ pick for Best Fitness Center in 2010, due in no small part to its empowering blend of fitness and martial-arts-based classes. Rondeau also promotes safety in her community by participating in events geared towards ending violence toward women and girls and teaching local schoolchildren how to defend themselves or pass a math quiz without using weapons. She also coordinated a box-a-thon to help line the shelves of a Rhode Island food bank.

At Fitness Together, getting fit involves getting focused and fired up to achieve. Here, certified personal trainers guide clients of all skill levels through motivating boot-camps and exercise programs designed to meet goals loftier than a giraffe’s basketball hoop. To help their charges torch calories and tone muscles as efficiently as possible, the trainers incorporate evidence-based training methods, such as intervals, tempos, and fartlek, into each fitness regimen. Filled with cardio challenges and resistance training, workouts are tailored to individual needs and paired with nutrition tips that help the body build lean muscle. In-studio sessions take place in a private, spa-like studio, flush with energizing red walls and functional training tools such as medicine balls, kettlebells, and gymnastics rings.

Within Athletes Equation’s 3,000-square-feet of training space, the gym’s certified fitness team guides members through the exercises and cardio training needed to boost both muscle tone and overall health. Members can go at their own pace on any of the hand-picked weight equipment or partake in one of the gym’s boot camps and training sessions to get in shape for an upcoming marathon or the eventual day a tractor tire gets stuck in your yard.

The Cardio Corner's nine certified instructors propel exercisers toward fitness goals during classes teeming with kickboxing moves, Latin-inspired dance steps, and other dynamic methods of sculpting the physique. During cycling classes, they help up to 12 stationary riders envision the towering hills, freeing descents, and detours through enemies' flower gardens that are fundamental to an outdoor bicycle ride. Filled with deep breaths and slow, graceful poses, all-levels yoga classes provide a calming alternative to cardio classes' vigorous tempos.