How to look good naked

Forget the shtick about health and fitness. Everybody wants to look good – naked. Thus, the many gyms. But there are gyms and there are gyms. Some are in fact just rip-off joints. As soon as you pay the joining fee, you’re told that the fee for the instructor is extra. Then after you’ve coughed up the extra, you’re given an instructor who thinks the gluteus maximus is a special section of a glossy girlie rag.

Then there are gyms like the one that I go to. The fee is reasonable, so I think I actually get more than I paid for. I should know. I was a varsity swimmer and still compete in inter-clubs. In college, we were told that we needed to build muscle. So off to the gym we went to lift weights, without any guidance.

I know what I’m talking about when I say that you need to do your homework before signing up for gym work. Go in blind and you risk not only wasting your money but hurting yourself as well.

Real gyms have knowledgeable instructors who will sit down and talk to you about your needs and objectives. Then they will draft a program that takes into consideration your physical and mental faculties and abilities.

In the process you may even get to disabuse your mind of certain misconceptions, such as the ill effects of lifting weights. For instance, weight lifting is not always about building a bulky body. It’s about developing the right kind of muscles for a particular sport, e.g., track and field. Also, weight training does not stunt one’s growth. One can start at a young age, provided a professional guidance is important.

My gym is Eclipse Gym 24/7, in the heart of Manila, far from the usual congested malls, but near to the university belt and Taft area. Its primary target is students, which is why its fees are fairly reasonable.

The fee includes professional guidance from knowledgeable trainers who know what they are doing, and more important, particularly for a novice, who can explain in simple terms what they are doing.

The gym director and head strength coach is Jason Postulka, whose 16-year experience includes training American NCAA athletes back in Chicago, his hometown

This is why the gym has a free-weights room called "The Dungeon," which, he said, is patterned after the NCAA training facilities in the US.

He pointed out that even NBA players and elite athletes train in such coaching facilities, not in the "commercial gyms." These coaching facilities are not open to the public.

But Postulka said he felt there was a market for ordinary folks who wanted "to train with equipment that only the varsity athletes get to use."

"We wanted to create something similar here which can be accessible for everyone. It’s here that we take ordinary people and make them extraordinary," he said.

The gym favors free weights, which do not limit body movement. Machines, Postulka said, limit movement, which can lead to imbalance and injury. The free weights and even the floor padding are custom-made for the Asian physique.

For the training program itself, Eclipse has a three-phase system: one is for developing basic foundational strength, regardless of the member’s experience. Two comes when people experience a size and strength surge after building upon One. Three is for building endurance.

"This is more than a gym; we also want to create a community," Jason said. For aside from the strength coaches, members who have been with the gym for quite some time get to help the newer members as well.

This gym is about more than just improving physical aesthetics, but also about giving ordinary people empowerment and a sense of accomplishment. "We are here to unleash the greatness in individuals," Jason added.

For more information, call 524-9322 or visit the gym at Ground Level Le Mirage de Malate condominium, 2126 Mabini St cor. Quirino, Manila.

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E-mail the author at ketsupluis@yahoo.com.