mguy wrote:Yoga matt = $20
Wtf son. I would have paid $10 in the US for the same quality.
Exercise equipment is expensive, so bring as much as you can. A twenty pound free weight is also $30 which is more expensive than the USA.
Come to think of it, almost all dry goods are likely to be more expensive here.
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oh yeah... a Mcdonalds meal is $3 even.
Gym etiquette is severely lacking in PI, I think this has to do with the more well off used to having others of the lower social strata clean up their messes all the time in various establishments. You'll find most dudes in the gym don't put the weights back and just leave them on the ground or bar, or if they do put them back they put them in the wrong place, especially the dumbbells, it's really annoying. Also one will notice a lot of the guys in the gym are gay or ego-inflated supposed muscle heads. If you are someone who prefers to workout close to closing time you'll find that once the gym empties the muscle heads will start goofing around and start undressing in the gym and posing in the mirrors and showing off, having pose-off's in the gym around until closing time. Another issue one might have is the whole fan vs. AC. The smaller gyms don't always want to run the AC or they may not even have AC and only fans so it can get hot as hell. It's good I guess if you really want to sweat your ass off but it can disturb ones concentration if your trying to go through a certain weight lifting routine. There are even A-hole guys that turn the fans off without asking permission making it like a total sauna, then when you turn them back on they turn them off again. There really aren't many women that join the smaller local gyms. If they do it's usually the out-of-shape ones that don't look too good or maybe they already have BF's or married. There are more quality women that join the higher end gyms but I think it's more of a social thing for them and to show off rather than actually do any quality exercising. There are exceptions to all this but these have been my experiences joining various gyms both low and high end in the Manila area. In regards to the gay thing, some aren't obvious and they will attempt to befriend you to size you up and see which side you play ball on. This can be a bit annoying to deal with all the time. I suggest acting really manish and not paying attention so much to how you look in the gym and how expensive or fashionable in regards to what kinda workout clothes you have. Smelling like bad sweat and rough looking face, body, hair helps to have them leave you alone. The downside of course is you look like shit to women too if your trying to scope out potential pootang.
The higher end gyms will be expensive such as Golds, Slimmers world and that other one that's typically in the malls (I forget it's name). I don't think they are worth the price since you can find smaller neighborhood gyms to be a lot cheaper. They may not have all of the fancy machines and cardio but they have enough for what one needs to build muscle and lose weight. The downfall are some of the negatives I mentioned in the first paragraph. If those kinds of things don't bother you then try a smaller gym that has decent equipment and see how you like it. Usually the smaller gyms allow one to join for only one monthly, quarterly, bi-annually and annually. This way you can try it out for a month and if you don't like it go to another one. The other pay options will save money over the long run, rather than the higher prices monthly plan.
I decided to stop going to gyms and I just bought home equipment to use. There are some
Life Fitness exercise equipment stores in some of the more popular or higher end malls in Manila area. (they sell higher end international exercise equipment) I went ahead and bought various
Lifeline cable resistance products which use resistance cables of body weight to build muscle. They work just as well as dumbbells and free weights if you have enough variety and different resistance cables to use for various exercises one might do. I also bought a chin-up bar that attaches to door frames, this way I can get proper back workouts as well. All this may set you back initially but you'll save money over the long run instead of wasting it on gym memberships. If you need the social interaction of gyms then stick with gyms, if you don't need the social interaction of outside motivation of going to the gym on a routine schedule an can do it at home then buy the following equipment and you'll get excellent results.
Jungle Gym XT (use it in conjunction with a door frame pull-up bar)
Door frame pull-up bar - can be bought at most exercise stores in PI malls.
TNT Fitness cables - buy different sets of cable resistance as well. I usually buy 2 of one number than one of another to mix things up. I have 3-30's (comes with TNT) 1-40, 2-50's, 1-60, 2 70's, 1-80. I may buy 1 90, 100 down the road but they are really hard to stretch so once you get to the 70/80 mark better to maybe buy 3 of those depending on how strong one is. You can do various Dumbbell or straight bar exercises using this.
Pullup Revolution - this will do wonders with helping one do pull-ups and at different angles to burn out.
Power Pushup - Really good to increase you pushup strength and sculpt your pecs, kinda like doing benchpress with weights but your using cables. It's hard, trust me.
I bought an easyshaper bar at one of the exercise stores/ True Value which is normally sold to women and then I use that to do resistance cable squats with the TNT Fitness cables. You can do really heavy resistance without worrying about killing your lower back or whatever.
So if you live in PI long term or like to stay in shape while traveling the Lifeline products are perfect to use for staying in shape. The only thing one might not be able to do good are pull-ups unless you can get access to a straight bar somewhere like a park or something. You may drop around 10k pesos all together for the above equipment but it will save you money in the long run plus you won't get as many injuries if you are prone to that working with traditional weights.
I bought an average cost/quality elliptical trainer from one of the exercise stores for around 10k, which i use to for cardio time to time. That was a few years ago so I think the price is probably higher now. You don't really need to get one if you like running outside or walking a lot. I don't always have time to go out and walk unless I'm commuting so I prefer to just do this at home.
All in all I now prefer working out at home since I can pretty much do everything plus I don't have to worry about dealing with opening/closing times, idiot patrons and travel time going there/coming back. I'm not really someone that gets off on social attention and chit-chat in the gym, having to maneuver around those who do. Thus, exercising at home works for me.
BTW, for those who can't travel enough to buy cheaper supplements overseas there are some better priced stores in Makati Cinema Square. They are a little cheaper than buying supplements in the exercise or health stores in the malls. One is at a Kiosk on the lower level and another is on the 2nd floor from ground level. One tends to have cheaper energy and vitamins and the other has cheaper Whey protein and more variety. You gotta look at both rather than buying all you need at either one. Mix, match and compare $$'s. (they are still way overprices in comparison to Western prices but it's the best you'll do in PI)