Sweat the Details: The City’s Best Workouts

Steve Nash Sports Club

This 38,500-square-foot fitness mecca offers in-house massages, towel service, cardio equipment with personal flat-screen TVs, an internet lounge—no luxury is spared. Eco-minded? The space is outfitted in recycled flooring, energy efficient lighting and bamboo lockers.

Reason to go: 140 pieces of state-of-the-art equipment means never having to wait for a machine

Amenities: Sauna and steam rooms, a pro shop and a Jugo juice bar

Classes: Pilates, outdoor programs, spinning, and the popular lunchhour cardio crunch

Wallet-friendly factor: Currently offering 2 for 1 or 50 percent off memberships

Hours: 5 a.m.-11 p.m. Mon-Thurs; 5 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri; 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat-Sun.

610 Granville St., 604-682-5213; 10251 St. Edwards Dr., Richmond, 604-273-5213. Stevenashsportsclub.com

Cardio-Core Bootcamp

Sure, there are the fitness nuts who’ll happily get up at five to jog the seawall. Most of us need a kick in the ass to ditch our beds. Enter the overly enthusiastic instructors at Cardio-Core Bootcamp. They take you through a series of ball sculpting, obstacle training, and running exercises (rain or shine) in the city’s parks and streets.

Reason to go: Killer workouts, killer results

Amenities: The great outdoors

Wallet-friendly factor: 20 percent off for groups of five or more

Hours: Early morning (6 or 7 a.m.) or early evening (5 or 6 p.m.)

Sessions available at various locations around Metro Vancouver, 604-460-0722. Cardiocorebootcamp.ca

Contenders

Beginners punch, jab and pummel their way to a better bod while more advanced students spar in the ring. The club offers Intro to Boxing lessons aimed at singles (next class is this Saturday, January 17 2009 @ 2:30 PM).

Reason to go: Owners Kevin Reynolds and Richard Pelcz are both competitive professional boxers. They mean biz

Amenities: Just the basics: towels, showers and a sauna

Classes: All levels of boxing, kickboxing, and circuit training

Wallet-friendly factor: $99 per month gets you unlimited classes with 20 slots each week to choose from

Hours: 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. most days

1055 Dunsmuir St., 604-661-5059. Contenders.ca

TSquared Personal Training

Stuck in a rut with your usual gym routine? No usual gym routine? Troy Tyrell of T Squared Personal Training tests his clients’ abilities and then develops workouts customized to suit their goals and fitness level

Reason to go: Exercises done the right way not only prevent injury but yield better results

Amenities: Each session includes the use of the gym (and, for an additional charge, its infrared sauna) for the day

Wallet-friendly factor: It’s only $20 extra to add a second person so sign up with a friend and split the cost

Hours: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mon-Sat.

M11 601 W. Broadway, 604-250-9784. Tsquaredtraining.com

Exhale Studio

If the thought of endlessly pounding the pavement makes you cringe, breathe a sigh of relief at Exhale, a mellowed out yoga studio where buddhas, flowers and softly burning candles create an aura of total calm

Reason to go: Yoga, pilates and dance aim to strengthen your core, improve your muscle tone, and boost your energy level

Classes: Everything from Prenatal Yoga to Yoga-Pilates Fusion to Pussy Cat Dolls Dance

Wallet-friendly factor: Spend three-and-a-half hours handing out their fliers in Yaletown and you’ll get five free classes

Hours: Classes run between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m., daily

1083 Cambie St., 604-689-2446. Exhalestudio.com