Health & Fitness in Lakeway

Harry Shaw didn't found a combat-focused gym because he likes to beat people up—though he is a 2nd Dan Black Belt. Rather, he hoped to run a venue where his community could learn to feel both healthy and safe. He and his staff of certified instructors lead self-defense and exercise programs in a judgment-free zone, training students ranging from 7-year-old kids to law-enforcement personnel.

Their krav-maga classes teach the reality-based strikes and escapes of the Israeli Defense Forces' official combat system. In sessions for children and adults, coaches demonstrate how to swiftly and instinctively guard against attacks from offenders both with and without weapons. Combat Fitness courses draw from UFC Heavyweight Champion Bas Rutten's MMA system, which mixes fighting drills with cardio workouts more effectively than biking through a boxing match.

Balance Yoga’s instructors aim to do more than just give their students a rewarding workout routine—they also help build sound, centered minds and a positive supportive community. Students enroll in a wide range of classes, tackling everything from the core-strengthening poses of Vinaysa flow to the muscle-strengthening Yoga Sculpt, and the slow-pace of Balance Hot Yoga within a heated studio with bamboo floorboards.

After a workout, yogis can head to the spacious locker rooms to shower and ready themselves for the workday. Balance Yoga also unites practitioners of all ages with workshops and events such as kids' classes, art shows, and festivals.

Dr. Hooty Alayan completely dedicates himself to his patients' well-being, but he considers their comfort and relaxation to be almost as important as their oral health. In addition to a comforting, relaxing ambiance where clients can feel at home, Dr. Alayan's technicians pamper visitors with complimentary hot scented towels and massaging dental chairs while they inspect teeth for problematic signs and perform preventive treatments. Dr. Alayan has been utilizing CEREC 3-D technology—which allows users to custom-fabricate crowns and onlays—since 2005, and the staff's arsenal of modern dental gadgetry also includes intraoral cameras and digital x-ray machines with low levels of radiation. Great Oaks Family & Cosmetic Dentistry’s interior also creates a homey, relaxing setting with its bright tones, leather furniture, and marble accents.

Dr. Robert D’Alfonso wants to eliminate the stress and fear that causes some people to put off dental work. At his calming office, the focus is on patient comfort, even down to the little things. The waiting room, for one, looks like an upscale living room, and the dental chairs are uniquely comfortable, helping patients forget they're in the dentist's office. Visits can span whatever dental needs patients have, from exams and cleanings to root canals and whitening. The team under Dr. D'Alfonso also works on veneers, Invisalign cases, and dental implants, all with the goal of giving patients healthy, beautiful smiles and strong, menacing, bites.

Designed by three-time Masters champion Jimmy Demaret, Point Venture Golf Club's nine-hole course cleaves through thickets of cedar trees along the north shore of Lake Travis. Although narrow fairways and small greens offer a challenge to advanced golfers, novice players can swing freely as the course is free of water hazards, bunkers, and wormholes disguised as divots. A relatively short course, Point Venture’s display of sharp doglegs frequently forces players to take shorter clubs to the tee box, effectively lengthening the course. Conversely, the winding fairways may tempt golfers to go for the high-risk, high-reward play of unsheathing their drivers at the tee, flying the corner, and setting up a short approach to the green.

Golfers can warm up their swings with a stint at the club's driving range or plan their attack by taking a digital course tour. Point Venture Golf Club also features a golf store and a floating restaurant for after-hole meals and experimenting with golf tees as toothpicks.

Equipped with bulb-powered tanning beds, spray-tanning booths, and airbrush-savvy aestheticians, Sunlounge Tanning Studio & Spa imbues patrons with golden radiance and rejuvenates skin with a full complement of spa treatments. Four different tanning beds house varying configurations of skin-bronzing bulbs that evenly match skin tone to that of a favorite celebrity or gingersnap cookie. VersaSpa spray booths coat occupants in a mist of one of three tanning hues, which cling to the skin for up to 10 days, and nearby aestheticians and massage therapists can knead away tension from newly bronzed skins. The sustainably designed studio, lined with bamboo walls, draws some of its energy from solar panels.