Winter Garden Gyms and Fitness

Since its 1965 founding in Venice Beach, California, Gold's Gym has dotted the globe with more than 600 locations where professional athletes and exercise newbies gather under the umbrella of personal strength. Nearly 3.5 million Gold's members chart and aim for their fitness peaks, perspiring beneath the gaze of certified personal trainers or pedaling beside peers at cycling sessions. In a diverse lineup of group classes, patrons strengthen cores with Pilates, finger-paint pictures of ninjas in martial arts, and amp up heart rates to the pulsating soundtracks of Les Mills routines. Many Gold's Gym locations stockpile futuristic amenities, such as cardio machines with individual iPod docks and televisions that help keep patrons motivated.

The staff at Medi-Weightloss Clinics heartens seekers of healthy lifestyles with a medically supervised weight-loss program that roves over medical history before delving into a personalized package that's quick to increase metabolism and slim figures. The program, featured on the Today show, begins with a consultation administered by a team of physicians and sultry magicians' assistants who test vital signs, run EKGs, perform a body-fat analysis with Tanita scales, and conduct a complete physical exam.

An online resource center arms health-seekers with weight-loss tools, recipes, and fitness advice, and the clinic's signature supplements, dietary products, and exercise tools ably complement the program. Custom diet plans created by a medical professional, vitamin shots, and motivational guidance round out the weight-loss package and are sometimes supplemented by cheetah cubs to chase you around the block.

Quiet is the first stop on the road to inner peace, according to Ramona Crabtree-Falkner, owner of Ananda Center for Yoga and Massage, LLC. At her tranquil studio, clients engage in active modes of relaxation such as yoga and passive forms such as massage therapy and reiki. During private and group yoga instruction, students venture inward by pairing deep breathing and meditation with ancient poses that stretch and strengthen the body. One-on-one sessions propel yogis toward specific goals such as weight loss and injury recovery, and group classes build community while releasing recently acquired stress and eye rolls stored up since high school. Bodywork services spotlight therapies from around the world, including the long, gliding strokes of Swedish massage and the stretches and acupressure of Thai foot reflexology.

Winter Garden Yoga’s homey studio welcomes small groups of yogis into the cozy, carpeted space for classes of all fitness levels. Beginner’s yoga introduces newcomers to yoga’s foundational postures as they develop the strength necessary to graduate to more advanced classes such as power yoga or Yoga Flow, which students perform in a rapidly rushing river. Expert instructors lead the classes, drawing from their immense experience with the life-changing power of yoga.

Brian Friedman runs, cycles, and lifts weights to complement his yoga, and his appreciation for other forms of fitness activity informs his ability to tailor yoga to a variety of individual students. Karen Repassy has studied yoga for more than a decade, and emphasizes helping her students incorporate the meditative aspects of the ancient art into their daily lives. Taylor Nelms, the third pillar of Winter Garden Yoga, specializes in flow yoga, and she makes it her task to help all her clients smile, like the stockbroker who tells a knock-knock joke with each trade.

Placed in the top 10 among the nation's new golf courses by Golfweek and Travel + Leisure Golf, Sugarloaf Mountain sends golfers up and down elevation changes of more than 250 feet. The design by Coore & Crenshaw—Crenshaw, as in 1984 Masters winner Ben Crenshaw—takes advantage of the site's natural characteristics, wandering through verdant oak forests and at one point reaching the highest point in the state. The designers were so loyal to the landscape that they even decided to use native sand in the bunkers rather than trucking in moon dust.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Total length of 7,076 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 74.3 from the back tees
• Course slope of 133 from the back tees
• Four sets of tees per hole
• Scorecard

Each Body By Laser clinic pairs cold-laser technology with holistic health practices to help patients lose weight and keep it off. The FDA-approved treatment gets its magic from cold lipolasers, which are designed to gently shrink fat cells by dislodging their contents so that they can be fully discarded through the body’s natural metabolic process and series of tiny secondhand stores. Each one-hour treatment wraps up with a consultation on diet and exercise, along with a quick session atop a whole-body-vibration platform engineered to burn even more calories.

Like art-house films and fish-flavored popsicles, these procedures are not intended for everyone; females who are pregnant or nursing should not undertake the treatment, nor should patients with active forms of cancer. Should any complications be discovered during Body By Laser’s initial screening, the company will issue a refund.