Yoga studio
Hot Yoga
Runner-up: ACAC
Honorable mention: Bend Yoga
To the uninitiated, exertion of any kind in a room heated to 105 de-grees might sound like a maso-chistic exercise, but don’t tell that to the hordes who say there’s nothing as invigorating as a 90- minute session of hot yoga at the appropriately named Hot Yoga Charlottesville studio on Water Street. According to its website, Hot Yoga’s swampy temps help you achieve flexibility and mental clarity, and while the first three classes may test your determination, once you get used to the sweat- inducing environment, you’ll be hooked. For a variety of yoga classes in a more moderate climate, runner-up ACAC is C-VILLE readers’ choice.
Pilates studio
ACAC
Runner-up: truPILATES
Honorable mention: Posture Studio
No, silly, that’s not a medieval tor-ture device; that’s a reformer, the equipment used in pilates to help you form a core of steel. Why do you need a core of steel? Well, it helps you stand up straighter, reduces back pain and improves stability all while sculpting your body into a lean, graceful machine. ACAC is C-VILLE readers’ top pick for pilates classes, and truPilates, on Second Street downtown, offers group, semi-private and private instruction, nabbing it the runner-up slot.
Martial arts school
Charlottesville Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Runner-up: Laughing Dragon Kung Fu
Honorable mention: Charlottesville Tai Chi Center
Developing confidence, self-dis-cipline and the ability to defend yourself are the goals at C-VILLE readers’ top pick for martial arts studio, Charlottesville Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, located in McIntire Plaza. The studio offers classes for adults and children in the grappling art of jiu-jitsu and also adult classes in Muay Thai boxing and the Israeli-developed defense system known as Krav Maga. Runner-up Laughing Dragon Kung Fu Academy teaches the Yang family style of Tai Chi and two styles of traditional Chinese kung fu: Jow Ga Kuen, also known as Jow family boxing, and Shaolin Mizong Quan, also referred to as Shaolin Temple Secret Sect boxing.
Biking trail
Walnut Creek Park
“Travelling westward from the beach on 64, it’s the first real gnarly terrain you find, and you can search high and low, up and down the Blue Ridge mountains, and maybe never find a track quite as perfect as Walnut. It’s a 10-mile loop, 99 percent singletrack, a good mix of the flowy fast stuff combined with old-trail steep roots and chunky rock gardens that will make your Aunt Mildred look like a fair maiden again, all lovingly groomed by the local Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club do-gooders for your enjoyment. In short, it’s the promised land.”—Dave Tevendale of Blue Ridge Cyclery (best bike shop)
Runner-up: Rivanna Trail
Honorable mention: Riverview Trail
Massage therapist
Brian Keena
Runner-up: Brett Strieter
Honorable mention: Sarah Handley
If it’s been said that the head bone’s connected to the neck bone and the neck bone’s connected to the back bone, then we don’t have to keep singing to help you understand that everything’s linked. So if you feel like you’ve strained your stress muscle, it might be time for a visit to Brian Keena. The certified masseur has been practicing massage therapy—including neuro-muscular, craniosacular and lymphatic drainage therapies, among others—since 1987, and readers say he’s the best in the biz if you’re feeling a little tense. In second place, Brett Strieter at Infinity Massage (and ACAC) is a great choice when you need to work out some kinks.
Bike shop
Blue Ridge Cyclery
Runner-up: Bike Factory of Charlottesville
Honorable mention: Community Bikes
It’s really hard to enjoy bicycling on the gorgeous roads that weave through Albemarle County if you don’t have a bike, or your bike’s not working well, wouldn’t you agree? That’s where C-VILLE readers’ top pick for bike shop, Blue Ridge Cyclery, can help. With two locations—one in Hollymead Town Center and one on Preston Avenue—you can find the road or mountain bike of your dreams, plus all the accessories you could ever need, or get your own bicycle fixed up so you can get out pedaling. Runner-up The Bike Factory in Seminole Square has expert sales and repair people who can help you get riding as well.
Golf course
Birdwood Golf Course
Walk this way
A better course? Not by a long shot
Part of long-time golfer Blair Engle’s decision to relocate from Seattle to Charlottesville in 1999 was how much he enjoyed playing golf at Birdwood. It was the very first place he visited when he came to town for the first time.
“I played the course and after-wards called my wife and said I could move here,” he says. “For me, what defines a course is the ability to play it over and over and still look forward to the challenge of playing it again.” Here are five holes he can’t resist, after all these years.—C.W.
Most challenging
“The 18th hole is the longest of the par 4s on the course and, in addition to being long, is the toughest. The hole requires a long tee shot down the middle of the fairway in order to have any chance to reach the green in two. If you hit your tee shot right, you lose your ball in the long grass and, if you hit your tee shot left, your approach shot is blocked by trees (in addition to hitting out of thick grass in the rough). The second shot is going to be a long shot uphill, with bunkers to the left and right of the green, requiring another well-executed shot. When I’m playing a match with my son or friends, more often than not the match has been decided by who wins the 18th hole.”
Hardest tee shot
“With large trees and a large pond on the right side of the fairway, and large trees and a creek on the left side of the fairway, the 11th hole par 4 tee shot is very intimidating. As with many of the holes on the course, there is a risk/reward aspect to the shot choices one needs to make throughout the round. Play conservative and you have a very long approach shot, or take a chance by going over some trees and you have a shorter approach shot. However, if you miss getting over the trees, you now have a very difficult approach shot or may have to take a penalty stroke due to a lost ball.”
Best view
“The 16th hole at Birdwood provides the best view on the course, especially in the fall when all the leaves are turning different colors. When standing on the tee box, the view looking east is absolutely stunning. As a golfer who likes to walk, and with the 16th hole being at the highest elevation on the course, the walk from the 15th green to the 16th tee box is long and steep. The reward for the long walk is the view you get to soak in while catching your breath.”
Easiest shot
“The easiest shot on the course is the 8th hole tee shot from the middle tees. Although not the shortest of the par 3s at Birdwood, I think it’s the easiest tee shot on the course. The 8th hole green is large and generally flat, with not much undu-lation, so the tee shot has a very big target to hit, leaving a relatively flat putt. The 8th hole is the only hole-in-one I’ve ever had hitting a 9 iron 145 yards into the cup (which might explain why I think it’s the easiest shot on the course!).”
Prettiest hole
“The par 3 14th hole is the prettiest and most charming of the holes at Birdwood. The 14th hole is an island green completely surrounded by water and, with the recent con-struction of a stunning rock wall around the green, is absolutely beautiful. One of the attributes that make Birdwood so appealing is that you see so few houses on the course. The back nine in particular feels like you’re hiking in the Blue Ridge mountains without having to drive to get there.”
Runner-up: Old Trail Golf Course
Honorable mention: Farmington Country Club Golf
Niche gym
MADabolic
Runner-up: Pure Barre
Honorable mention: Barre.[d] Studio
Five or six years ago, workout options in Charlottesville were limited to the big gyms, but these days you can’t drive a mile without passing a boutique gym that promises better results and personalized attention. Since it opened a couple of years ago, MADabolic in the Ix property downtown has risen to the top of C-VILLE readers’ list of niche gyms, with its intense interval training that gets you fit in less time than you’d guess. And if you think ballet isn’t a tough workout that gets crazy results, you haven’t tried runner-up Pure Barre, where small, controlled movements will get your muscles quaking.
Kids’ fitness class
Bend Yoga
Present minds
Bend is teaching more than just yoga
For 14-year-old Ava Hession-Landman, the best part about taking kids’ fitness classes at Bend is the impressive number of skills she’s learned—for her, yoga was just the beginning. She says she’s also learned how to be happy and how to have a present mind, and she credits this to her teacher and owner of Bend, Kelly Cox.
“Ms. Kelly is amazing and brings the most wonderful energy to every class,” says another student, Annelise Stunes, 15. Both Ava and Annelise have been taking classes at Bend for almost five years, and Annelise co-teaches the Yoga Bears class for 4- to 9-year-olds once a week while also taking the “teen/tween” class for her age group.
And if you don’t think a 4-year-old can do yoga, Cox says kids’ fitness classes range from prenatal little ones to 18-year-olds. Of course, the prenatal classes are for the mothers, she says, and so are the 6-week-old to 4-year-old classes. Cox says she loves teaching new mothers—and the new moms love losing the extra weight gained during their pregnancies.
And the best thing about a class full of moms? No one’s bothered by the sound of babies crying.—S.B.
Runner-up: Charlottesville Parks & Recreation
Honorable mention: ACAC
Personal trainer
Dar Malecki
Up-lifting
Dar Malecki shares training tips and personal peeves
Charlottesville is chock full of personal trainers, and plenty of them inspire loyalty among their clients, but it hasn’t taken long for MADabolic co-owner Dar Malecki to power above the rest as she inspires her clients to push them-selves to new fitness heights in high- intensity classes. Malecki, who moved to Charlottesville from Charlotte, North Carolina, three years ago, doesn’t take being the best for granted. She gets at least one new certification a year and says she’s “studied all different areas of fitness to make sure that I’m up on the latest philosophies and methodologies of the people I respect the most in the industry.”
We asked Malecki to share a few of her fitness secrets.—C.S.
Where are you from?
I grew up in the suburbs of Chi-cago. I ended up in Charlottesville by way of Dallas and then Char-lotte, where I lived for almost 14 years before moving to Charlottesville in 2012.
How did you get into the field of fitness?
I’ve always been athletic and loved both playing and watching sports, but just recreationally. When I was in college, I got into lifting, and in my early 30s I literally rode the first wave of cycle popularity and started teaching classes after work. There was just something about it for me; sharing my pas-sion, the physical demands and providing my knowledge as a resource to my students, and it grew from there.
What’s your favorite exercise?
Anything with kettlebells. It’s also my favorite thing to coach. Most new people who walk through our doors at MADabolic have been taught incorrectly or not at all, so I love to take it down to the fun-damentals and help them un-derstand the power and functina-lity of the movements —especially the swing.
What’s your least favorite exercise?
Bird pickers. It’s one of our MAD movements, basically a single leg deadlift, and while it doesn’t come up in the programming too often, I totally dread it. My core strength is pretty solid, but there’s some-thing challenging for me with my equilibrium and the single leg balance. I’m a believer in “work your weaknesses,” so it’s really a love/hate relationship.
What’s the most important thing someone can do to improve her well-being?
Show up. No matter what your starting point is, you’ve got some-thing to gain from showing up, learning and evolving your life-style. Maybe you lose weight, or maybe you gain energy and years, but regardless of the exact details, you’ve got something to gain from creating a healthy lifestyle.
What’s the biggest fitness misconception?
That lifting will “make you big.” Lifting builds muscle and strength, sure, but not all programming or movements are going to bulk you up if you’re not lifting for that reason. Strength training typically leans out women, raises their me-tabolism and gives them a more toned look. At MADabolic, we only ever have (at most) two weighted movements in an interval, and even the weight is scalable and func-tional to just make you stronger in your everyday movement patterns.
What’s the worst excuse you’ve ever heard?
“I have to get in shape before I come to MAD.” Our whole phi-losophy is about putting together scalable programming at each person’s ability and fitness level. If you’re currently at your 50 per-cent capacity, you work from there. Nothing is a competition and there is something for everyone—just take the leap.
Runner-up: Elly Montague
Honorable mention: Cecil Hassell
General practitioner
Katharine DeGeorge
Runner-up: Greg Gelburd
Honorable mention: Lily Hargrove
When Katharine DeGeorge started practicing at Crossroads Family Medicine in North Garden as a second-year resident, her schedule was already booked (which pretty much never happens for residents) and she had patients follow her to the clinic 10 miles south of UVA. “There are doctors, and there are healers,” said one of her patients at the time. “You, my dear, are a healer.” Greg Gelburd, who’s been practicing for 30 years, is the kind of doctor who will go on a hunger strike to bring attention to Medicaid expansion and health care in Virginia—and demonstrate the kind of commitment that earns him high marks in the eyes of readers.
Dermatologist
Anna Magee
Runner-up: Amalie Derdeyn
Honorable mention: Bonnie Straka
Anna Magee reigns for a second consecutive year. She’s been in business since 1994, and her Charlottesville Dermatology on Pantops clears up fungal infections, shingles and rosacea, among many other skin disorders, as well as makes her patients feel like they have fresh new skin with cosmetic procedures like dermaplaning and laser vein therapy. Amalie Derdeyn and Bonnie Straka at Albemarle Dermatology know skin, and that’s not just their motto. Their Signature Medical Spa offers the latest cosmetic enhancements in a spa environment.
Pediatrician
Paige Perriello
Runner-up: Carol Boersma
Honorable mention: David Reynolds
It’s well known that pediatricians are the nicest doctors. They have to be, to be able to deal with all those darn kids. Paige Perriello, who comes from a pediatric dynasty and works at Pediatric Associates, the same practice her father founded, takes the blue ribbon again this year. Over at Piedmont Pediatrics, Carol Boersma, nabs the runner-up spot. The child in us would like to imagine a cut-throat rivalry between the two docs for the top spot, but we know their patience and expertise renders that futile. Just give us a lollipop and we’ll be on our way.
Chiropractor
Scott Wagner
Runner-up: Cox Chiropractic Clinic
Honorable mention: Sam Spillman
Scott Wagner had readers at “Whoo’s got your back?” The sports medicine specialist has testimonials from UVA athletes and from those who claim he made them pain free for the first time in 10 years. Plus, he offers an initial consultation with X-rays and examination for $20, which is donated to Service Dogs of Virginia. Do good and feel good? Where do we sign up? Cox Chiropractic, a five-time Best of C-VILLE winner, takes the runner-up spot with more than 30 years of proven success getting you adjusted, aligned and pain free.
Optometrist
Primary Eyecare
Runner-up: Drs. Record & Record
Honorable mention: Kathleen Clark
It’s very common for optometrists to meet their spouses in med school and set up a practice together—at least judging from this year’s winners. Primary Eyecare’s Dr. Joe DiGirolamo, a third generation optometrist, and Dr. Janice DiGirolamo met in optometry school, married and took over Joe’s father’s practice. They now have locations at Barracks Road and Hollymead Town Center, which readers see as the best practices in the biz when it comes to helping you see more clearly. The Records were both at SUNY Optometry and now have a practice with locations at Sachem Village and Pantops. Coincidence? We don’t see how.
Dentist
David and Rebecca Swett
Do Swett it
Technology helps local dentists provide advanced care
Toothpaste, floss, whiteners… These are all components of a healthy smile. But at Swett Dentistry, Drs. David and Rebecca Swett say it takes a little more than that.
As a practice with some of the most advanced procedures in the area, the Swetts stay up on what’s trending in dental, starting with 3D imaging, to keep your whites pearly and clean.
Outside of the office, Rebecca says nothing polishes the fangs quite like the Sonicare toothbrush and makes them bright white like the Colgate Optic White take-home kit. But at the Rio Road office, the Swetts can take it a few steps further.
Rebecca, who opened the prac-
tice with her husband in 1996, says she was “blown away” by 3D imaging technology that grad-uates of the Darden School of Business at UVA showed her.
“3D dental imaging is actually a camera that takes a 3D image of your mouth so we can make ce-ramic crowns, veneers, nightguards —really anything,” she says. “After taking the scan we can e-mail it right to our lab so they can start on your case that day.”
Swett noted the various advan-tages of using 3D imaging, in-cluding no transfer of bacteria, less waste of materials, and the ability to look at scans with patients, thereby involving them in treat-ment plans.
The Swetts also recently incor-porated microscopes into their day-to-day practice—a rarity among general dentists.
“I love my microscope,” Rebecca says. “Endodontists (root canal specialists) have been using them for years, but only 1 percent of gen-
eral dentists in the world use them.”
The microscope provides a bigger and brighter field of view, which means if decay is detected, the filling is smaller and it’s easier to preserve the tooth structure and keep costs down.
One thing is for certain: It’s the Swetts’ passion that’s kept them in the No. 1 spot. Says Rebecca, “We can go on and on—we didn’t even mention how exciting and pre-dictable dental implants are!”—K.S.
Runner-up: Clarke & Farmer
Honorable mention: David Dalley
Park for kids
Pen Park
Pick Pen
Jewel in the city parks’ crown
Off East Rio Road practically in Albemarle County is Charlottes-ville’s largest park, and it’s got so much going on it could be a con-tender for best park for everyone. Its 280 rolling acres have mountain views, open fields and trees, and it butts up to the Rivanna River, where there’s a one-and-a-half-mile trail. And it is from Pen Park that Park Street got its name.
In parks and rec lingo, Pen Park is a node, according to Doug Ehman, city parks division man-ager. That means it’s got lots going on with activities for the whole family: eight tennis courts, a Little League field, volleyball court, picnic shelters and trails—both a nature trail and a fitness trail. But for purposes of kids, it’s the play-ground area that vaulted it to No. 1, guesses Ehman.
About 15 years ago, the city put in rubberized playground mulch to soften the scrapes of fall-prone tots. Add to that a shaded picnic area and bathrooms, and the playground gets the mom vote as well. (Did we mention the bath-rooms?) And word is that Goat Busters will soon be on a munch mission in the park.
While the Meadowcreek Golf Course there is a separate entity, some kids play golf, and some kids’ parents like to play golf.
Ehman estimates the park can get up to 2,000 visitors on a week-end if a special event is going on (tip: Here’s the place to hold that family reunion or 4th birthday party). But with all that space, you’ll feel far away from the mad-ding crowds.—L.P.
Runner-up: Greenleaf Park
Honorable mention: McGuffey Park