Exercising has come a long way from outrunning a lion until it reaches the point of exhaustion so its sleeping carcass could be bench- pressed and shot putted. Build muscle using non-living weights with today's Groupon: for $59, you get a two-month membership, one fitness assessment, and two one-hour personal training sessions at Gold's Gym (up to a $343 total value). The membership is good for three Long Island locations: Deer Park, Islip, and Smithtown.

Gold's Gym began more than 45 years ago and today features an impressive array of next-generation fitness gadgets, a results-oriented focus, clean facilities, and certified personal trainers. Hop on a cardio machine, possibly including a built-in TV and an iPod dock, pump up in a controlled manner on strength-training machines, tighten up in the abdominal and functional stretching area, or stick with lifting huge, heavy pieces of metal and commercial chest freezers.