In today's workplace, sleeveless, bicep-broadcasting business suits are a common sight, and deal-closing golf games are eschewed in favor of sweat-slicked cage matches. Get in shape to vault over the corporate ladder with today's Groupon. For $29, new clients get 10 single-day passes ($90) and one circuit-training session ($20) at the San Clemente Gym, a $110 total value. Since the gym lets every new member participate in a free day to work out, the 10 single-day passes are valued at $90.

At the San Clemente Gym, the bottom line is fitness, but the atmosphere is familial and unpretentious. The latest StarTrac ellipticals, stairmasters, and stationary bikes roam across the floor alongside herds of free weights, mountains of plates, and forests of barbells that together add up to more iron than a steel mill.

The gym's staff and certified personal trainers take frequent breaks from constant, searing squats to help you look and feel your best. When they take you through a circuit-training session, you'll cycle through several different aerobic and anaerobic activities, toning and challenging your whole body. You might stomp out 10 minutes on the treadmill, jump off and blast out some push-ups, then hop on an elliptical for another 10. There's no set rule or order, only total body burn. The variety and challenge of circuit training can be addictive and is easily adjusted to all fitness levels. Circuit-training classes are available Tuesday and Thursday at 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

If you look forward to going to the gym instead of dreading it, you'll be more apt to stay on track with your fitness routine. That's why the friendly staff at San Clemente Gym designed its hall of wham and bam to make you feel welcome and comfortable. When you hand them a sopping, stinky towel, they'll say "Thanks" and nail it up on their trophy wall, and when you emerge from the sauna, you'll be swarmed by a hired staff of children screaming for autographs.

Reviews

The San Clemente Gym was voted Best Gym 2008 by readers of the San Clemente Times, and Insider Pages users give it four stars:

• Last of the local gyms in south OC, SC gym isn't just the building where you go to work out but a place where locals take a break from their day and like the TV theme song goes, everybody knows your name. If you're tired of big fitness chains where you're just a number on a card and you feel under dressed in boardshorts and a T-shirt, check out a real gym with real people and make a few friends while you work out. – Kevin P., Insider Pages
• No wonder this was voted the best gym in S.C. Clean with ocean breezes. Great staff, friendly members, tons of equipment. I can't say enough. "No school like old school" is their motto. – John G., Insider Pages