To master a discipline, seek guidance from the best -- future CEOs devour Jack Welch's wisdom, and aspiring real estate moguls attend Learning Annex lectures. To master your body, seek guidance from Rich Barretta Private Training.

A spacious, 2nd-floor Flatiron facility, RBPT's run by Rich Barretta, the well-tatted 1987 Mr. America whose clients include Steve Nash, Pierce Brosnan, and Freddie Prinze, Jr (star of the fitness-horror PSA I Know You Wore A Shirt In The Pool Last Summer). Sign up, and Barretta or one of his hand-chosen PTs'll evaluate your health (diet, reflexes, etc), then create a tailored strength/conditioning regimen, including instruction in one of eight 8x10 personal pods, each w/ separately-controlled overhead fans, stereo volume, and lighting -- a happy place for intense physical pain. To give your new physique nefarious purpose, RBPT employs two of the six Americans certified by Israel to teach Krav Maga, an indigenous martial art that emphasizes ruthless threat neutralization in "real life" contexts, e.g., muggings at gunpoint, and Broadway shoppers walking five abreast.

RBPT's sessions are by-appointment only, and as you'd expect are priced higher than those with pedestrian PTs-- because the hallmark of a true master is the ability to devour money from amateurs.