Getting a toned body is not the only goal of one’s fitness regimen. More people are doing exercises so that they can push a heavy cart in the supermarket, lift a tot without hurting their backs, jostle in the mass railway trains or clamber up the stairs without joint pains.
In the past decade, functional training has changed the way trainers have been designing workouts for their clients.
Anytime Fitness, dubbed “the 24-hour neighborhood gym” chain, has been catering to professionals who want to work out any time of the day.
Adam Karl Cadag, head of personal trainers of Anytime Fitness on Jupiter Street, Makati, says hardcore bodybuilders are content with pumping iron. The majority of the gym’s clients, however, seek a variety of exercises to condition their bodies to perform daily activities.
Full-body workout
The gym is the first in the country to introduce Queenax, the brand name of a flexible system that can be modified to suit the needs of the user. It is built with various exercise gadgets such as suspension training ropes, a punching bag, adjustable dip bars, battle ropes, a pliometric box, hurdles, a landmine long bar, a wall bar, swing and climbing gear.
The accessories provide unlimited ways to design full-body workouts, from anti-gravity to weight-resistance programs.
Anytime Fitness also accommodates circuit training for individual or group sessions for beginners and athletes.
The changing combinations of exercises help alleviate monotony and check gym dropout.
Cadag likens the Queenax to a child’s playground. “It’s not a workout, it’s play,” he says.
The client has the option to focus on a single apparatus such as an hourlong suspension training or do the rounds of the exercise stations. Ultimate goals are improved strength, flexibility, coordination and balance.
The exercises engage multiple muscle groups in synergy, unlike the conventional machine-based equipment and free weights that isolate a single muscle group. Hence, the functional fitness workouts can be compressed to 30 minutes for people in a hurry.
Strength training
For a quick full body workout, Cadag recommends a circuit of strength exercises that involve pushing, pulling, rotation, bending, lifting and single leg lift for balance.
The functional fitness workout challenges the body to work as a whole, while activating the core muscles.
Anytime Fitness has a wide range of equipment for different purposes. There are dumbbells and the machines for people who want to bulk up.
Up-to-date selectorized weight training equipment has stacked, rectangular weight plates that can be adjusted without the user having to get off the unit.
Since the weight plates are permanently set up on the frame, the machine is safer to use.
The cardio machines are equipped with touch screens where one can gain Internet access or watch movies.
The gym likewise has physical therapy apparatuses such as the medicine ball, resistance bands, kettle bells and ViPr.
Classes include yoga, Body Jam and Zumba.
To help reach their objectives, some clients use the Preva workout band or a wearable gadget that measures their heart rate and calorie expenditure. These gadgets define fitness goals and other details of personal health on their smartphone.
Although there are several local franchises of Anytime Fitness, Raymond de los Santos, proprietor of the Jupiter branch, built the gym to distinguish itself from the rest.
Following the success of his first undertaking, Powermax, the only state-of-the-art gym in Legazpi City, Albay, he wanted to replicate the concept in Metro Manila. However, most malls were interested in a foreign franchise than a local concept.
De los Santos then ventured into Anytime Fitness which was named the No. 1 global franchise by Entrepreneur Magazine. Its concept is that of a convenient and affordable gym with quality equipment in a pleasant ambience.
Gym rates start at P2,700 a month for a six-month plan. Each member is given an access to any Anytime Fitness gym worldwide.
The gym is equipped with security measures so that clients can work out after midnight with no staff around. They can press a panic button, quite literally, in case of emergency.
The Jupiter branch has automatic lockers so there’s no need for a key. There are also private bathrooms for clients. The exercise studio boasts of huge expanses of mirrors, mood lighting for yoga and dance exercises and a high-quality sound system.
Trainers are certified and have worked in other gyms. Cadag has certifications from American Council of Exercise and Rip 60 suspension training.
Anytime Fitness at 120 Jupiter St. will have a formal opening and hold an open house with free classes on June 16. It will also hold a master training program on Queenax on June 17. For details contact 0917-8548866 or 0917-8228654.
which isolates single muscle groups. PHOTOS BY NELSON MATAWARAN