Powered by Power Gym

CEBU, Philippines - If you already have your desired weight and desired shape, do you still need to be powered up? “With all the more reason,” says Michael Sanchez, officer-in-charge of Power Gym.

The challenge of fitness trainers can sometimes be keeping the perfectly fit and perfectly shaped perfect. It’s not easy because it needs powered up maintenance program and a gym that is sensitive to special population groups including those who already look great.

Many people are still deceived by the notion that they can look young with slimming supplements and anti-aging creams. Thing is, the human body wasn’t created for slimming supplements or creams or aesthetic surgery. The human body can be made to stay young, supple and energetic by revitalizing its own intelligent capacities. The other thing is, not all gyms or fitness clubs in Cebu are sensitive about bringing out the intelligent capacities of the body to keep one’s youth.

Located at the 15th floor of Club Ultima, Power Gym looks inside the heart, gets into the beat of the heart so you get powered up, healthy, radiant and youthful. The Freeman took time for a powered up session with Power Gym’s Michael Sanchez. Excerpts and insights:

RUTH: Clients who have been into fitness for several years tend to look for gyms that give some element of surprise or something different to spruce up their routine. What fitness programs or training do you have here in Power Gym?

MICHAEL: Whether a client is a beginner or seasoned gym enthusiast we here at Power Gym like our clients to look good, feel good and live good. We start by making a fitness assessment or screening to ensure client safety. It is always good to be on the safe side and we cannot let down complacency no matter how experienced a person is in a gym. We are equally sensitive to first time gym users. Yes it’s true that experienced gym goers like to see something new or different when they hop from one gym to another. But enrolling in a gym or being in exercise is not just weight lifting or running, it must be something enjoyable and fun.

We are very particular here with proper breathing and proper execution especially for squats. In squats, it is the back that is prone to injury.

One thing we fitness trainers are particularly sensitive about is the back. Once the back is injured, it is injured for life and it could be difficult to rehabilitate. Obviously people don’t go to the gym to get hurt. They are here to look good, feel good and live good and these are things that surprise and spruce – as you say – a routine, your day, your life.

RUTH: How do you go about doing a fitness assessment?

MICHAEL: Fitness assessment includes checking your body composition, body measurement, body weight and also a postural assessment. All these are important to determine how much weight to lose, how the posture can be corrected if there is need and how the shape can be toned. After the fitness assessment, we help clients set their goals and motivate them to achieve their goals within a certain period. Then we give a fitness orientation where the client is familiarized and assisted in the use of machines and weights and safe execution of the exercise.

Sometimes when a person is still trying to build up discipline in exercise, it is motivation that helps imbibe that discipline and make that discipline a lifestyle.

RUTH: How would you describe the challenge between one who is already into fitness and a first timer?

 MICHAEL: Those already into fitness understand their bodies and they don’t need as much motivation as beginners. The challenge of fitness trainers for this group is for the trainer to maintain metabolism, constantly remind them of their diet and watch how exercise is executed. People who are perfectly shaped will always suffer a drawback of being “disfigured” or lose that shape when the person starts to eat much. That’s when they cannot burn as much calories as they used to because they skipped exercise. So the trainer must design programs that would make the client maintain his metabolism, shape, posture no matter how high the biological age is.

Age is what you count by the calendar. Fitness is within and from within made evident from without or at the outside. The challenge of a trainer for perfectly shaped clients is to sustain the discipline for exercise and diet and vigilance for safety in execution. It’s a no compromise thing. Slips even by the seemingly most experienced or well shaped person can still happen. We must value the human body because it is what we are and who we are.

RUTH: How about those who are new in exercise where there is a tendency to quit?

MICHAEL: As I mentioned earlier, motivation is key in making a person endure and sustain in exercise. To do that the trainer must educate a client on proper breathing, proper execution and proper stretching so that the exercise peps them and releases their stress. This is where our fitness assessment is important. We need to know if the person is suffering from an ailment or has histories of certain ailments. Here at Power Gym, we don’t just cater to those who are healthy or shall we say “fit for exercise,” we can also customize programs for those who may have a certain disease like arthritis or diabetes and still need to or want to exercise because it’s part of their therapy or it has become their way of life. People just can’t exercise for the sake of exercise. They need to be educated on the exercise that works and is best for their health and well-being.

RUTH: Is it expensive to be powered up at Power Gym?

MICHAEL: Power Gym has special rates for personal training sessions and for gym use both for members and non-members. These fees come with inclusions like sauna and freebies like body massage and foot reflex at PRANA the spa center of Club Ultima. When you spend time and money for exercise, it’s no expense at all. It’s what you give back to your body that has made you enjoy life and live life the way you’re doing now. There ought to be no price for good health and youth.