Health & Fitness in Kansas City

Snap Fitness's around-the-clock gyms enable members to work on their physical well-being with a cornucopia of fitness equipment. With 24-hour access, members don't have to let The Man tell them when to help themselves to Snap's strength and cardio equipment, which features built-in TVs and other media diversions. For those who exercise during conventional hours, Snap's friendly, unintimidating atmosphere welcomes patrons of all ability levels, unlike schoolyard dodge-ball squads. Members also enjoy nationwide access to all Snap Fitness locations, ideal for working out while traveling. For a dose of custom advice, patrons can seek out a personal-training session with a certified coach, who helps them assess and address their fitness goals. Clients reap the benefit of individual attention as a personal trainer helps them tackle weight loss, prepare for an arm-wrestling competition, or unveil the mysteries of arcane cable-weight machines.

As they enter the training circuit at Curves, female guests come face-to-face with the smiles of other women. And just as points on a circle share a common distance from the circle's center, workout participants share the experiences of those nearby by trading stations throughout the 30-minute training session. Thirty seconds is spent on a piece of strength-training equipment built for feminine frames and designed to work two opposing muscle groups with a single movement. Exercisers then move on to a recovery station, where they run, jog, or dance to maintain heart rates and keep platforms in place during momentary losses of gravity.

A community presence in Kansas City since 1860, the Greater Kansas City YMCA forwards its mission of physical and social enrichment for men, women, and kids of all ages and backgrounds at its 18 locations. Each bustling outpost proffers members an embarrassment of fitness and entertainment riches, with everything from youth camps and after-school programs to group exercise classes, such as cycling, core training, and Pilates. Clubs and social organizations help members meet like-minded friends, and family activities strengthen bonds critically weakened by overzealous games of Monopoly.

At Rox Extreme Fitness, exercisers are part of the family. Fortunately, this family bonds through hauling mammoth truck tires and works out frustrations with speedy jump rope reps. This unorthodox approach to fitness--you won't find cushy locker rooms or flashy stair machines here--incorporates brawny gear including sledgehammers, bricks, and chains. It also pays serious dividends. The gym's six instructors see to that. Adhering to goal of 1% improvement from one session to the next, they help students buff up gradually no matter their fitness level or goals.

The chiropractors at Fountain of Life Family Chiropractic address chronic pain with adjustments and strive to correct problems via posture correction while also helping patients make changes to nutrition and lifestyle. They also relieve muscular and skeletal maladies with spinal decompression as well as massage performed by certified massage therapists. These treatments have been known to cure afflictions other than back pain, and include maladies such as allergies, headaches, and sciatica.

Refreshment and relaxation begin from the inside out at Body Basics. Here, the staff empowers clients with holistic therapies intended to leave bodies feeling refreshed. The center’s signature hydrotherapy sessions use 15 gallons of warm, filtered, alkaline-based water to thoroughly cleanse colons over the course of 45 minutes. Additionally, the center offers ear candling as well as life-coaching sessions for clients hoping to regain control over their health and whole-body wellbeing.