HEALTH AND BEAUTY ARCHIVE: 538: Pool party Keep your cool this summer with a visit to one of Tokyo’s many pools. Metropolis shows you where to take the plunge. 536: Don't sweat it With the hot and humid months upon us, Cristy Burne share some tips on staying cool. 534: Swept away Put away your broomsticks—all you really need to soar through the clouds is an armful of nylon and a good gust. Cristy Burne checks out the air up there. 532: Tee time Can’t keep it on the fairway? The ‘yips’ invaded your game? Rob Smaal finds a few experienced golf pros who can work out your kinks on the links. 530: Balancing act An ancient science is helping modern men and women find peace, health and the always elusive “balance.” Tama M. Lung takes a closer look at ayurveda. 528: Kicking on Former K-1 Japan champion Nicholas Pettas shares his love of martial arts at the new Spirit Gym in Nogizaka. Chris Betros goes along to watch. 526: On call A revolutionary daily disease self-management system is making life easier for diabetics. Chris Betros finds out about Lifewatcher. 524: Team spirit From rugby to roller hockey, Tokyo is teeming with sports clubs for the expat athlete. Rob Smaal shows you how to get in the game. 522: Type casting Second-generation blood-type expert Toshitaka Nomi looks at the links between blood classifications and health. Mick Corliss reports. 520: Like a rock Climbing instructor Luke Kearns gets a grip on Tokyo's best indoor climbing gyms. 516: The personal touch Madonna and Matsui aren't the only ones who need help staying fit. Hanna Kite pumps it up with the top personal trainers in Tokyo. 514: From here to maternity Kavitha Rao turns to a handful of Tokyo experts to track down baby basics for nervous expat mothers-to-be. 502: Tour de Morton, part deux Don Morton gets back on two wheels for a leisurely ride out toward Haneda Airport. ISSUES 499- ISSUES 449- ISSUES 399- ISSUES 349- ISSUES 299-

Great shape

With clubs fine-tuning their facilities, toning up in Tokyo is getting easier. Georgia Jacobs and Anouska Wilson report.

As if sticking to a workout regime wasn't already a challenge, getting in shape in Tokyo, with its pollution problems, lack of parks and pricey gyms with limited opening hours, can make the process more painful. But a host of clubs around the city are trying to change all that by offering better facilities, a myriad of interesting classes, more flexible hours, lower initiation and membership fees and highly trained professionals to guide members through their routines just in time for bare-body season.

Gold's Gym
The gym of choice for celebrity heavyweights like Hulk Hogan, Michael Jordan, Nicolas Cage and Sly Stallone to name a few, Gold's Gym was established in 1965 as a workout institution for serious bodybuilders and now has 500 branches worldwide. Opening in Tokyo last year with a Harajuku branch that looks out onto the lights of Shinjuku, among other areas, it has quickly gained fame for long opening hours (24 hours at the Harajuku branch) and first-rate facilities. For beginners and expert athletes alike, this club specializes in body-building, cardio and personal training, and studio exercise.

Hours of operation: 24 hrs (Gold's Gym Harajuku only, see website for times at other branches, www.goldsgym.jp). Membership options: initiation fee ¥5,000, full membership, daytime membership, evening membership. New branches: Yokosuka, Kanagawa (opens May 20). Tel: 046-828-1818. Nakano (opens late May). Tel: 03-5318-7351. Makuhari, Chiba (opens July 31) and Sendai (date unconfirmed). Tel: 022-716-8868.

Tipness Shibuya
Perhaps the most well-known health club chain in Japan, Tipness offers fitness that is rarely boring. Most central Tokyo branches have ample exercise equipment and an array of classes like circuit training, kickboxing, and Gyrokinesis yoga in the studio, or swimming and aqua aerobics in the pool. This branch, Roppongi, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro open early and close late, allowing time-pressed Tokyoites plenty of opportunity to squeeze in a sweat session. There's also a vast range of membership options that allow you to choose when and where you want to work out.

Hours of operation: Mon-Fri 7am-11:00pm; Sat 9:30am-10pm; Sun and hols 9:30am-8pm. Membership options: There's no sign-up fee but you will have to pay a ¥2,000 handling charge. Super Master membership (¥14,000/month) allows you to use Tipness facilities anytime, anyplace. Regular members (¥11,000/month) can use their branch at any time. Daytime members can work out weekdays from 7am-5:30pm (¥7,000/month). Morning membership (¥5,000/month, 7-10am weekdays), night memberships (¥6,000/month, 9-11:00pm weeknights) and holiday memberships (¥9,000/month, all weekend) are also available. Regular, day, morning and night members can also use any Tipness in the Kanto area for an extra ¥1,000. For more information, contact Tipness Shibuya at 03-3770-3531 or log on to www.tipness.co.jp, where you can find branch information in English.

Jeff's Fitness
This functional but unique gym is owned by Jeff Libengood, a legendary celebrity personal trainer and fitness professional who has helped keep stars like Hitomi and Akebono in shape and writes for Japan's daily newspapers. His four-floor fitness club offers original exercise equipment, satellite TV and specifically targeted training programs like golf conditioning, female fitness and fitness for children. The club presents an all-encompassing health and fitness package, focusing on corrective exercise and rehabilitation programs-using massage, water therapy and ball conditioning-as well as nutrition. In addition, Libengood has established an instructor's school at the club that offers fitness certification.

Hours of operation: weekdays 6am-9pm; Sat 8am-6pm; Sun and hols 9am-2pm. Membership options: Full-time membership (¥25,000 admission plus ¥13,000/month). Morning and evening members (¥10,000/month) can use the club from 6-10am and 5-9pm respectively, except on holidays. Contact: 03-5786-1068 or log on to www.jeffsfitness.com

Konami Sports Club Grancise Shibuya
This health club has many impressive features on each of its nine floors: two aerobics studios, three tiers of cardio and weight machines, an indoor and outdoor Jacuzzi, a massage room, and a golf range. All manner of classes take up space on the club's two studio floors, ranging from low-impact aerobics to cardio step, jazz dance to hip hop. If you want to bust fat, try a Spinning class or Combat Cardio; if you're looking for something fun, have a go at Latin Aerobics or Hula Fitness. And to stretch those tired muscles, try tai chi or sit in on an Aroma Stretch session, where you relieve soreness while inhaling relaxing scents. The club also boasts a members' lounge and café for a post-workout refresher.

Hours of operation: Mon-Sat 10am-11:30pm; Sun and hols 10am-8pm (closed every second Mon). Membership options: Full-time membership at designated branch only (¥100,000 admission fee plus ¥100,000 insurance plus ¥240,000/year) or full-time membership with unrestricted use at other branches (¥300,000 admission fee plus ¥100,000 insurance plus ¥240,000/year). Daytime and night membership (¥50,000 admission plus ¥120,000/year) can use the club weekdays from 10am-5pm and 8:30-11:30pm respectively. Contact: 03-5489-3621 or see www.grancise.com for more details.

Tokyo Capital Club
Lose weight in luxury at this premier fitness center where you can pump iron in the weight room, take tai chi in the studio, enjoy a dip in the 25m pool-or just chill out at the spa and enjoy a massage, manicure or pedicure. The in-house dining service offers a healthy menu, and you have the added advantage of using facilities at affiliated clubs across the globe.
Hours of operation: weekdays 6:30am-10pm; Sat 9am-10pm; Sun and hols 9am-9pm. Membership options: Initiation costs ¥180,000 plus ¥6,300/month and a ¥2,000 fee per usage. Contact: 03-3401-3691 for more information.

Esforta Fitness Club, Shibuya
The Esforta group of gyms, known as Nautilus Clubs until not too long ago, are mainly in Tokyo, although there's a new branch in Yokohama. While there isn't a great free-weight selection here, the club does have plenty of cardio machines, including a few elliptical trainers, and a pool and sauna.
The advantages of joining the Shibuya club include not having to pay to use the alternate locations and early open/late close times (note: Esforta Ikebukuro also opens at 7am and stays open later, until midnight).

Hours of operation: Mon-Fri 7am-10:30pm; Sat-Sun and hols 9:30am-7pm. Membership options: Full membership (¥50,000 plus ¥17,000/month). Weekday membership (¥30,000 plus ¥11,000/ month), with use of the facilities restricted to Mon-Fri 7am-5:30pm. Membership at the other locations costs slightly less. Contact: 03-3780 5551 or access www.esforta.com (Japanese only).

Discuss this article with metropolis readers at http://forum.japantoday.com