Watertown, NY Health and Fitness

Using holistic health techniques in a community setting, Pauline Vaughan, D.Ac. treats a broad range of ailments at budget-friendly prices at Limestone Community Acupuncture. Needling sessions occur in a calming community room, where patients relax together in their own recliners and acupuncturists insert fine, sterile pins into specific points on the body in an effort to trigger healing effects. Therapists may also target their needle placement to ease stress or insomnia, alleviate allergy symptoms, or promote fertility. The communal environment not only helps the clinic offer services at low prices, but the collective stillness enhances the sense of well-being and tranquility, similar to group meditation and gardens full of human statues.

Dr. Paul Given and Dr. Sheldon Cook of King’s Town Chiropractic employ spine-tuning savvy to help calibrate off-kilter physiques with chiropractic and acupuncture treatments. Sessions kick off with a consultation that allows patients to point out aches and pains, followed by a thermal scan to detect misaligned spines and spot frayed nervous systems. Like a radiographic paparazzo, an x-ray stealthily captures images of eye-eluding bones to help the chiropractors identify wayward discs intent on imitating Pangaea’s drift. Once bodyscapes have been thoroughly scrutinized, a report detailing the exam’s findings is whipped up along with a plan for treatment designed to help alleviate individual ailments including headaches and sciatica. Chiropractic adjustments then unsnarl tangled spines, gently coaxing errant vertebrae back into place to help restore suppleness to over-taxed dorsal planes. Alternatively, acupuncture treatments utilize strategically placed needles to deflate tension and imbue bodies with a sense of balance and tranquility. Patients emerge from sessions feeling as relaxed and agile as a cheetah raking a zen garden.

Awarded Best Martial Arts School in the Family Times' 2012 Besties Awards, Five Star Martial Arts teaches kids and parents alike the rapid-fire movements of martial arts. During youth programs, students aged 4 and older build stamina, dexterity, and intelligence through disciplined instruction at the hands of seasoned masters. Alongside typical belt rankings, badges and stars reward younger students as they master flurries of kicks and punches. Adult students find their own fitness rewards during cardio kickboxing, which blends an international potpourri of martial arts moves with calisthenic and aerobic foundations to form an explosive full-body workout that targets and tones major muscle groups across the body.

Trainers pair their fitness expertise with motivational attitudes, working one on one with students to help them on their path towards achieving personal wellness goals. Sharing schedule space with Zumba fitness sessions, classes unfold within Five Star Martial Arts' recently expanded studio. There, new equipment and installations including a Tumbl Trak, a massive foam pit, and a collection of polyplus climbing ropes help trainers add complex gymnastics-inspired exercises to their already sizable arsenal of workouts.

Dedicated to heightening pupils’ senses of respect, confidence, discipline, and self-defense, Shaku Family Martial Arts professionally trained instructors guide students of all ages through rigourous fitness programs held in a 4,500 square foot space full of heavy bags and training equipment. Instructors helm classes that employ moves from martial arts modalities including Muay Thai kickboxing, ju-jitsu, and kung fu, giving humans a diverse edge over toe-stubbing door jambs.

Women’s kickboxing classes relieve tension with an intense cardio regimen designed to bolster abs and self-defense, and an MMA class fuses kickboxing and submission grappling into a potent combat cocktail. Teachers use a principle-based approach to self-defense, addressing the physics and philosophy behind each technique for hand-to-hand combat. Among other strategies, fighters learn to use leverage to overwhelm an opponent and master striking angles that are difficult to block. The house style draws techniques from kung fu, kempo, kickboxing, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, arming disciples with a comprehensive methodology unique to Shaku.

When people hear the phrase "water aerobics," they might envision a dull scene of swimmers lifting buoyant weights and doing the "YMCA" at sloth speed. At Progress Fitness & Aquatic Centre, however, the 25-metre pool acts as a stage for nine high-intensity classes, in which students battle water's relentless resistance. Students can slip into suspension belts to rehearse deep-water running, or groove to swing-dance tunes as they twirl against the H2O molecules. The gym embraces the entertainment afforded by variety outside of the pool as well—its group studio hosts workouts that range from cardio-kickboxing drills to Hatha yoga stretches. In the equipment area, cycles, treadmills, and rowers whir beneath mounted televisions and free weights challenge muscles at squat racks and benches.

The centre's personal trainers and veteran swim coaches take on clients of all ages and abilities. They teach Red Cross swimming lessons for children—who progress from AquaTots to AquaQuest and, finally, AquaLawSchool—and craft custom programs for adults. An on-site massage therapist and a travel agent endorse relaxation between exercise bouts.

Omega Fit Club's amenities evoke scenes from science fiction movies. The facility is lined with Technogym cardio and strength equipment, and a futuristic Kinesis wall challenges fitness seekers with more than 250 distinct exercises centred around working against gravity's resistance.

For all its high-tech toys, however, the gym is neither cold nor robotic—its team of trainers support members as they sweat through group exercise classes and one-on-one sessions. Members can also find relaxation inside an infrared sauna or on a hydrotherapy bed, which buoys physiques on a dry membrane while water jets stamp out muscular knots.