Gyms & Fitness Centers in Westwood

The Athletic Club, located in a renovated warehouse at 653 Summer, has a variety of weight loss options beyond standard workout machines. Consult with their staff dietician about your unfortunate lard-only diet, and she can guide you towards the in-house restaurant for some healthy alternatives. Da Club (as it's known by clever patrons) offers classes like “Group Kick” (martial arts and boxing), yoga, pilates, cycling classes, and the non-ancient art of “Zumba”— a Latin/Merengue/Reggaeton dance-fitness fusion, or the new millennium’s answer to the 90s sensation of “Cardio Funk”. Lovers of both fitness and dismemberment can partake in a “Legs, Butts and Guts” toning class.

Each of Beacon Hill Athletic Clubs' cheerful neighborhood locations pairs group exercise classes with a phalanx of cardio, strength-training, and free-weight fitness equipment. Gym members can tone bodies with Precor treadmills or pound Cybex machines to be able to fight them when they become self-aware. A well-cultivated balance of strength and cardio equipment ensures that bodies don't become too lean, too muscular, or too attached to heartbreaking maverick dumbbells. Join the parked peloton in a group spinning class and meet fellow soma-slimmers while racing to the top of imaginary hills and bunny-hopping over make-believe lawn gnomes and very real leprechauns. Round out your gymsperience by signing up for group offerings, including Pilates, tai chi, and yoga classes.

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.

As natural light streams through the windows, members at Fisique Fitness run on treadmills equipped with their own screens, take to Cybex elliptical machines, and make the rounds on strength-training equipment. In group exercise classes, instructors lead cardio-centric spinning workouts or model mindful breathing during Vinyasa yoga's flow of poses. Dedicated personal trainers take things up a notch, pushing their clients past a plateau or preparing them for the arm-wrestling portion of a corporate job interview. After workouts, members can hit the showers equipped with convenient toiletries or plunk down on one of the lobby’s leather armchairs.

In addition to providing chiropractic treatments and physical-therapy sessions, Fisique Fitness partners with Joint Ventures to offer a menu of spa services that includes massage and acupuncture.

Since ancient times, Thai students, fighters, and artists have performed the wai kru ritual to honor the teachers who make their study possible. Composed of everyone from Navy boxers to championship jiu-jitsu fighters, the staff of martial-arts instructors at Wai Kru gym knows the value of experience. Kru John, for instance, has traveled to Japan, Brazil, and Thailand to hone his muay thai kickboxing expertise, attending more than 20 training camps throughout Asia and earning a certification from the Thai government.

Training guests as diverse as beginning boxers and professional MMA fighters, both of Wai Kru's locations bolster training regimens with cardio machines, weights, and open mat space. Each gym also sports a boxing ring and a 24-foot octagon, so shaped to avoid having to vacuum peanut shells from a 90-degree corner.

Exhale Spa seeks to transform its clientele inside and out. The founding team of fitness professionals and aestheticians sought to create an environment where they could empower visitors with pampering spa treatments, invigorating fitness classes, and lifestyle education, helping clients attain a sense of control and holistic balance. Now with 19 locations across 11 cities, Exhale Spa and its signature services have earned mentions in numerous national publications, including People magazine, the New York Times, and O, The Oprah Magazine.

Exhale's signature Core Fusion classes incorporate dance-inspired stretches, yoga poses, and Pilates exercises into total-body workouts that build long, lean limbs and sturdy abdominal muscles over time. For an even more varied workout, the instructors introduce boot-camp techniques, cardio exercises, or multiplication tables to select sessions. Yoga classes present a similar amount of breadth and variety, drawing inspiration from a number of introspective and physically oriented styles. To help hasten physical transformations, nutrition and wellness coaches teach attendees about the impacts of diet. These sessions build an awareness of healthy eating habits through custom meal plans and by teaching clients how to identify the edible parts of a fruit basket.

Many of the center's traditional spa services seek to inspire confidence. Facials pamper and refine skin using everything from green tea and fruit extracts to microcurrent technology, and mani-pedis revitalize digits before glazing nails with a vibrant new coat of color. Bodywork treatments look beyond physical relaxation and focus on holistic concerns. Massage therapists can use Eastern or Western modalities to soothe overstressed musculature, and acupuncture treatments and reiki sessions jump-start natural healing processes by encouraging the free flow of inner energies.