Best health club

Phoenix readers agree that Healthworks is the best health club for women in Boston, despite the recent brouhaha over its women-only policy. Offering aerobics, yoga, kickboxing, an Olympic-size pool, Nautilus equipment, treadmills, free weights, a redwood sauna, a eucalyptus steam bath, a whirlpool, wellness and fitness consultations, child care, and much more, this health club is a full-scale support facility that's popular with students and professionals of all ages. And why should an all-women gym offend anyone, especially when there are so many other fine health clubs in the city? (Just open the phone book.) The word gym, after all, comes from the Greek gumnasion, which means "to exercise naked." Get it?

For the estrogen-challenged, there's Mike's Gym, a no-frills weight room that's all about the business of buffing up. Although aerobics classes are included in the membership, you'll find most of the folks here strengthening their CVs (cardiovascular systems, not curriculum vitae) in the "cardio room" and grunting like Lou Ferrigno in Pumping Iron as they raise and lower monster barbells with astonishing ease. Next time you walk around Boston, note the number of loyal members wearing Mike's Gym T-shirts, and the bodies bursting out of them, and think about the myriad possibilities for physical self-improvement.

Healthworks, 441 Stuart Street, Boston, (617) 859-7700. Call for locations in Brookline, Roslindale, and Cambridge. Mike's Gym, 14 McGrath Highway, Somerville, (617) 625-9566; 88 Union Park, Boston, (617) 338-6210.