Best of the County and Beyond 2021: Health and Fitness

If you need to get healthy, Marin has plenty of ways to do it. Here’s our reader’s favorite places for health and fitness.

Best Chiropractor

Marin: Dr. Chappy Wood, D.C., Corte Madera

Hands-on techniques are just part of wellness, and Chappy, as he’s known, utilizes technology, exercise and nutrition to enhance wellbeing.

Runner Up

Marin: Rina Tinozzi, Corte Madera

Best Cross-Training Class

Marin: TJ’s Gym, Mill Valley & Corte Madera

Owned by a fitness professional and a licensed psychologist, this gym is a haven for those needing just the right physical or mental push to achieve fitness goals.

Bay Area: F45, multiple locations

Runners Up

Marin: Novato CrossFit 

Bay Area: San Francisco CrossFit

 

Best Equipment Athletic-Wear Store

Marin: Athleta, Corte Madera

The well-designed, sporty athleisure clothes, workout gear and supportive sports bras have won many fans.

Bay Area: Sports Basement, Novato and San Francisco

Runners Up

Marin: T&B Sports, San Rafael

Bay Area: Lululemon

Best Fitness Class

Marin: The Dailey Method, Corte Madera

Affectionately known as TDM, classes combine Pilates, yoga, and ballet barre training for a workout that makes you sweat — and look — like you never have before.

Bay Area: Orange Theory, Greenbrae, Novato and Mill Valley

Runners Up

Marin: Get Fit Marin

Bay Area: Barry’s Bootcamp

 

Best Gym

Marin: Five Points Fitness, Corte Madera and Novato

Small but well-equipped, the gym also offers complimentary training sessions to help you optimize your workout.

Bay Area: Bay Club, multiple locations

Runners Up

Marin: The Club at Harbor Point

Bay Area: Fitness SF

Best Personal Trainer

Marin: Jake and JT Peterson, Studio Thirty, Mill Valley

Brothers who encourage each other to be better, safer athletes share their knowledge and expertise to help you achieve your cardio-strength goals while having a good time doing it.

Bay Area: Toby Wilson, Sonoma Fit, multiple locations

Runners Up

Marin: Sarah Hester, The Studio Pilates Marin, San Rafael

Christine Waldron, Mill Valley  

 

Best Pilates Studio

Marin: Body Kinetics, Novato, San Rafael and, Mill Valley 

Often at the top of “best of” lists, this family-run business believes in an integrative approach to fitness that includes wellbeing.

Bay Area: Mighty Pilates, Larkspur & San Francisco

Runners Up

Marin: Novato Pilates, Novato

Bay Area: Sanchez Street Studios, San Francisco  

 

Best Spin Studio

Marin: Pelo Fitness, San Rafael

The comfy cycle seats are a marvel for regulars, and the instructors make sure your posture is aligned to prevent problems later

Bay Area: Jewish Community Center of San Francisco

Runners Up

Marin: CycleBar, Novato

Soul Cycle, Palo Alto, multiple locations

Best Yoga Studio

Marin: Metta Yoga, Corte Madera

This newcomer to the yoga scene gets voters’ love for their pandemicera virtual classes and true spirit of metta, or “loving kindness,” in-studio.

Bay Area: The Pad Studios, San Francisco

Runners Up

Bay Area: Love Story, San Francisco

Best Health & Wellness Coach

Marin: Susan Hauser, Corte Madera

The founder of NOW Power Yoga uses the healing power of this ancient movement practice to enable a clear mind as a tool to manifest the life you want.

Bay Area: Saskia Kleinert, Integrative Health and Nutrition, Emeryville

Runners Up

Marin: Thought Partners (formerly known as Marin Psychotherapy for Women), Kentfield

Bay Area: Clara Gray, Novato

 
Visit our Best of the County winners page for more.

---

Christina Mueller is a long-time Bay Area food writer. She hails from the East Coast and has spent way too much time in South America and Europe. She discovered her talent as a wordsmith in college and her love of all things epicurean in grad school. She has written for Condé Nast Contract Publishing, Sunset, and the Marin Independent Journal, among others. She volunteers with California State Parks and at her child’s school, and supports the Marin Audubon Society, PEN America, and Planned Parenthood. When she is not drinking wine by a fire, she is known to spend time with her extended family.s the Assistant Editor at Marin Magazine and a graduate of Elon University where she studied Professional Writing and Fine Art. Born and raised in San Francisco/Marin, she loves traveling just as much as coming home to the Bay Area. She has curated a sophisticated palate for food, travel and culture and uses her travels as an outlet to develop her photography portfolio and hone her writing craft.