Advice On Choosing A Gym - Pattaya

[ronthai]

Hi to all,

I am looking for a nice gym, mainly for much needed weight loss and getting into normal people shape again (no body building stuff). After years living in Pattaya and sitting on the sofa looking TV, sitting at my desk at the computer, sitting in a bar doing unhealthy stuff , well my life turned into ONE BIG sitting life. I gained 40kg (about 90 pounds), I have lost all strength and cardio, out of breath and legs/body hurts after a little walking.

I am sure it sounds familiar to some of you.

Time for me to get of my BIG FAT ass and turn my life back around.

I have been looking around here and reading many gym topics, most are old so might not be up to date anymore.

Please do not turn this topic into a discussion over free towels and water and stuff, please just give advice and your personal experience with gyms your are a member of or had expires with.

I have found WOW California, which came high praised in old topics, but newer topics mostly are about them loosing money and might be closing.

We all know Tony's, but I do not think that will be an option for me (a fat man) to much focused on body building.

I came across Castra Gym and seems nice and good priced, which is at the moment probably the first one I will checkout.

I found a list of gyms in Pattaya GYM LIST

Also if there are people in Pattaya out there who also feel it is time to get of your FAT ASS and would like to join me and help each other, stimulating each other, go to the gym together, well send me a PM. I am 47, male, Dutch origin and gay, but I will not hold it against you if you are straight.

Who knows, it might also be a nice way to meet new people and make friends somewhere else then just in a bar , and yes I still like a beer sometimes.

Who knows as a group we might even get discounts and/or special training sessions for weight loss.

Looking forward to your responses, advice, comments and PM's,

Ron

Edited September 21, 2011 by ronthai

[poanoi]

Tony's is a good gym, i bought a lifetime but unfortunately gimped out after a couple of month,

hopefully i will get back on track some day. If i had known better i would have bought max a year.

[ronthai]

Useful replies only please.

Edited September 21, 2011 by metisdead
All caps removed.

[Pdavies99]

Well speaking from experience, I've lost 35kgs and now weigh 70Kgs..this took 30 months of exercise every day and completely modifying my diet.

Losing weight and keeping it off is tough!!! Its a complete life style change...small healthy meals, lower amounts of alcohol and no moped etc, walking everywhere...buy a bicycle!

(You will need to really improve how and what you eat forever!)

Me, I hate gyms but have used them and you must have a personal trainer for at least 3 months to help you.

As to which Gym you try its up to you although WOW is okay, but any Gym that do not give you a fitness test and check your blolod pressure on 1st visit is a waste of time.

You should go for a full blood and urine tests to establish what your Fats and sugars etc are and then you have a base line to work from. (I suggest lifecare Laboroatories near Bali Hi pier 500 Baht for a good check up)

Let me know how you get on, maybe you are serious, but don't forget its forever!

Paul

Edited September 21, 2011 by metisdead
Font resized.

[metisdead]

Some off topic posts have been removed.

[ronthai]

Well speaking from experience, I've lost 35kgs and now weigh 70Kgs..this took 30 months of exercise every day and completely modifying my diet.

Losing weight and keeping it off is tough!!! Its a complete life style change...small healthy meals, lower amounts of alcohol and no moped etc, walking everywhere...buy a bicycle!

(You will need to really improve how and what you eat forever!)

Me, I hate gyms but have used them and you must have a personal trainer for at least 3 months to help you.

As to which Gym you try its up to you although WOW is okay, but any Gym that do not give you a fitness test and check your blolod pressure on 1st visit is a waste of time.

You should go for a full blood and urine tests to establish what your Fats and sugars etc are and then you have a base line to work from. (I suggest lifecare Laboroatories near Bali Hi pier 500 Baht for a good check up)

Let me know how you get on, maybe you are serious, but don't forget its forever!

Paul

Thank you Pdavies99,

Yes I am very serious,

My food is not that unhealth and nowadays, I might go to the bar maybe once a week and almost never drink at home.

My main problem is lack of exercise, which back home I did get from working and cycling a lot (Holland).

I will indeed do the tests you mentioned, thanks for that. I understand the Lab is on Third Road somewhere, so I am sure I will find it.

----------------------------------------

Also thanks to the moderator for cleaning up the useless posts.

[Jebhead]

Tony's on 3rd road near the intersection with Pattaya Tai, very good.

JH

[Pdavies99]

Clinical Lifecare Lab, a small single shop-house clinic in the new shop-houses on 3rd road between the elevated section going to Bali High Pier and the Soi 17 traffic lights.

It's in the soi opposite the peach coloured apartment block (LV Appts) on 3rd road.

Open 7am till 10pm. Results usually available same day. 038488048 & 0814817180

[Traxster]

Hey hyku..............

geez you're funny............. :bah:.......NOT !!

Edited September 22, 2011 by metisdead
Font resized, use default forum font when posting.

[londoedan]

I decided to join a gym in Pattaya for very similar reasons and at a similar age (I'm now 48).

I started at one of Tony's gyms, their daily rates are very good if you want to try a few visits first.

After a while I was going at least once a day for mostly treadmill sessions and switched to WOW as I found it a much nicer and cleaner atmosphere, lots and lots of cardio machines etc.. I paid 8000 for a year and am very happy with them.

Location is important - I can walk to the WOW gym as I live about 5 mins away.

Take it easy to begin with - I started walking for 2-3 hrs outside for about a month, before joining the gym and initially mixed walk / run sessions on the TR until I could run comfortably for 20-30 mins. Within a month I was up to 50-60 mins of fairly slow running andthe calories burned are significant over that length of time.

I didn't bother with the docters visit and blood tests, but I did buy a Polar HRM and used that to guage the intensity of the sessions.

Good luck.

Simon

[PattayaPhom]

Although expensive, try Fairtex at Pattaya Nua, great facilities and will include personal trainer to get you started......visit them and deals for month/3/6/12 memberships are available........the money you save on the beer will more than pay for the membership....good luck and dont give up!!!...you already have the determination so go for it

[PattayaParent]

The best gym is the one nearest to you.

That way you are more likely to walk to it every day than make the effort to cross town to get to one.

[poanoi]

The best gym is the one nearest to you.

I think that is very well put

[ronthai]

The best gym is the one nearest to you.

I think that is very well put

That is one of the reasons why I initially have Castra Gym in my mind. It is still about 6km for my home, but very easy access from where I live on Sukhumvit, almost outside of Pattaya. Also they have a personal trainer program and the owner is farang and hardly any real body builders, which are important for me. The prices are good I think. One years, incl. all classes 5000B and personal trainer is 12.000B for 30 sessions. Do not know yet how long a session is, but the price might go down. As Pdavies99 mentioned earlier, I do think a personal trainer in the beginning is a must.

Edited September 22, 2011 by ronthai

[houseinbkk]

One where the aircon is on all the time, as in the non aircon gyms you will sweat a lot and get out of breath far quicker thus will actually exercise less.

For this reason avoid Tonys.

[MZurf]

Have you thought about taking up golf in addition to working out in a gym? I can guarantee you that playing (and in the process, walking about 10 km) three times a week will help you a lot.

[Wonderboy]

I have been physically active all my life and go daily to a gym. My advice is if you want to loose weight, a gym might not be the best place to start. You might feel uneasy with a lot of fit people around you. And to be honest, in your shape you will not be able to lift a lot of weights, meaning you will not burn many calories. If you put in a lot of effort and your weight does not go down, giving up is not far away. To burn calories you better use the big muscles you got, and that is your legs. Easy jogging or walking in hilly terrain (or stairs if you manage) are good exercises that will burn a lot of calories. Especially with all the extra weight you are carrying. One kilo body fat is about 13000 calories, so don't expect to loose many kilos per week. People who do that without excessive exercise are in reality loosing water and/or squeezes some kilos of old sins into the toilet. Those kilos comes back very quickly.

And of course change your diet. Try to stay around 1500 calories a day while also exercising. Don't starve yourself. Stay away from energy drinks, you don't need them and they are pure calorie bombs. Don't buy into that low carb stuff. That is for people without willpower that think they can loose weight without doing any effort. I promise you if you can get over the initial hurdle of eating little, you will be disgusted by excessive eating. Will take a couple of weeks, but easy going after that.

Finally, it will be hard. You will have periods where your weight loss stops or even gain a little. To keep motivation I recommend you buy a scale and weigh yourself every morning and evening. Maybe you can write some reports here on your progress? Will keep you motivated for not cheating Good luck!

WB

[houseinbkk]

I have been physically active all my life and go daily to a gym. My advice is if you want to loose weight, a gym might not be the best place to start. You might feel uneasy with a lot of fit people around you. And to be honest, in your shape you will not be able to lift a lot of weights, meaning you will not burn many calories.

Even trying to life heavy weights isnt a good idea at all for someone wanting to lose weight, muscle as you know is heavier. Besides as someone who also spends time in the gym i dont think lifting weights burns that many calories.

Doing 1/2 sets x 15 reps of light weights to wake up the different muscles will make someone feel better.

[ronthai]

I have been physically active all my life and go daily to a gym. My advice is if you want to loose weight, a gym might not be the best place to start. You might feel uneasy with a lot of fit people around you. And to be honest, in your shape you will not be able to lift a lot of weights, meaning you will not burn many calories.

Even trying to life heavy weights isnt a good idea at all for someone wanting to lose weight, muscle as you know is heavier. Besides as someone who also spends time in the gym i dont think lifting weights burns that many calories.

Doing 1/2 sets x 15 reps of light weights to wake up the different muscles will make someone feel better.

Thanks for the advice, but I will mostly not be doing weight lifting. The gym has many more options as cardio (treadmill, bikes, rowing and several different classes that have nothing to do with weight lifting).

I will leave the heavy weight lifting to the body builders at Tony's and other gyms.

Yes, I am sure people will be looking at me, the fat ass trying to do something, sweeting like a pig, out of breath in 5 minutes, well I don't care, it is their problem and I will not feel uncomfortable for 1 second. If anything the others gym members should encourage and support me for trying to get healthier and loose weight.

Edited September 22, 2011 by ronthai

[toenail]

It will be a big change in ones life, but it will be worth it. The sad news is that as one gets older (especially 40's on up) ones metabolism slows down...the older the less food one needs. Also ones muscle mass starts to disappear; thus, some weight training is important to keep the muscles one has. In other words, exercising is more important as one hits middle age than when a young buck. I was a jogger for 17 years (now I have bad knees so do spinning and the eleptical) and for 20 years I have gone to the gym for lifting weights -not a grunter, but just to keep firm. I try to stay away from starches and never, never eat anything fried.My beverages are the vitamin-mineral natural juices one can easily find in the stores and protein drinks. I try to eat chicken or fish instead of deadly processed meat or fatty beef. I do have a couple alcoholic drinks on weekends (vodka with soda/lemon --less calories than beer). Though I do all of this, I still see a tummy...firm every where else but not in the stomach. (I'm in my late 50's). I would hate to think what I would look like if I was NOT exercising ( 5 times a week for 90 minutes/ 30 minutes cardio) and ate anything. In order for me to keep with the daily ritual (I work during the day) I have to go to a gym that is easy/ close to get to. I below to two gyms so I don't get bored with one and each gym is different with machines and layout. For someone starting out, keep to it for a month before giving up...once you stick to the routine and see the kilos go away, the daily routine will be enjoyable and rewarding. Morning is best since that is when we "older farts" have the energy and it keeps one from "food cheating" the rest of the day. For you probably a good 45 minutes on a tread mill or bike is a good start plus chainging the food you eat.

[toenail]

I have been physically active all my life and go daily to a gym. My advice is if you want to loose weight, a gym might not be the best place to start. You might feel uneasy with a lot of fit people around you. And to be honest, in your shape you will not be able to lift a lot of weights, meaning you will not burn many calories.

Even trying to life heavy weights isnt a good idea at all for someone wanting to lose weight, muscle as you know is heavier. Besides as someone who also spends time in the gym i dont think lifting weights burns that many calories.

Doing 1/2 sets x 15 reps of light weights to wake up the different muscles will make someone feel better.

Thanks for the advice, but I will mostly not be doing weight lifting. The gym has many more options as cardio (treadmill, bikes, rowing and several different classes that have nothing to do with weight lifting).

I will leave the heavy weight lifting to the body builders at Tony's and other gyms.

Yes, I am sure people will be looking at me, the fat ass trying to do something, sweeting like a pig, out of breath in 5 minutes, well I don't care, it is their problem and I will not feel uncomfortable for 1 second. If anything the others gym members should encourage and support me for trying to get healthier and loose weight.

****************

Don't worry about anyone laughing. Most serious gym rats respect you for trying. You'll be surprised the support you'll get from people at the gym. Just focus on your progress --don't compare yourself.

[ronthai]

I have been physically active all my life and go daily to a gym. My advice is if you want to loose weight, a gym might not be the best place to start. You might feel uneasy with a lot of fit people around you. And to be honest, in your shape you will not be able to lift a lot of weights, meaning you will not burn many calories.

Even trying to life heavy weights isnt a good idea at all for someone wanting to lose weight, muscle as you know is heavier. Besides as someone who also spends time in the gym i dont think lifting weights burns that many calories.

Doing 1/2 sets x 15 reps of light weights to wake up the different muscles will make someone feel better.

Thanks for the advice, but I will mostly not be doing weight lifting. The gym has many more options as cardio (treadmill, bikes, rowing and several different classes that have nothing to do with weight lifting).

I will leave the heavy weight lifting to the body builders at Tony's and other gyms.

Yes, I am sure people will be looking at me, the fat ass trying to do something, sweeting like a pig, out of breath in 5 minutes, well I don't care, it is their problem and I will not feel uncomfortable for 1 second. If anything the others gym members should encourage and support me for trying to get healthier and loose weight.

****************

Don't worry about anyone laughing. Most serious gym rats respect you for trying. You'll be surprised the support you'll get from people at the gym. Just focus on your progress --don't compare yourself.

Thank you for the support.

I will be starting Monday after I come back from my Thai lessons/class. I know why not tomorrow, simple because I have Thai classes Saturdays and Mondays and I expect to be in a lot of muscle pain after the first workouts for a couple of days, so starting Monday will give me 5 days to awake the muscles before I have to go to Thai class on Saturday.

Anybody has any advice on what is best to deal with the coming up muscle pains I will get from starting exercising? Of course keep moving around, maybe tiger balsum or even a good professional massage. Keep in mind I live alone and I know the first 1-2 weeks will be hell for my body to wake up, especially the first next day. I already hear myself moaning trying to get out of bed and down the stairs, but it will be worth it.

Edited September 22, 2011 by ronthai

[houseinbkk]

^^^^

Its a case of grin and bare it, once you awoken all your muscles and gone through the few days of being stiff youre on youre way!

[ktamp]

Kudos to you for admitting your weight is a problem and doing something about it. WOW membership is fairly cheap but they kill you on personal training sessions. It basically costs the same as a personal trainer in the US. I had a membership to fairtex and I found the staff to be very helpful and knowledgeable. They would give advise and help and it didn't cost anything extra. I also liked the outdoor facilities included in the membership. I chose not to renew my membership just because it was a hassle to get into pattaya and back to exercise when I lived on the dark side. I bought an elliptical and exercised at home. I would advise that you do some weight lifting with cardio. Weight lifting helps you to build lean muscle mass which it turns burns more calories, making your body more effecient. You don't have to do body builder type weight lifting. Just some light weights to help tone and build some lean muscle mass. I'm a woman and I use 2-3kg weights. And not every day. Maybe 3 times a week working different muscle groups each day. Good luck to you!

Also try logging your food for a week. I bet you will find you are consuming more calories than you think.

As for muscle pains, like another poster has said, just grin and bear it. It will get easier. I just recently moved back to the US and rejoined my former gym. I'm taking an exercise class and working out harder than I have in years. I can barely sit down today because of all the lunges I did yesterday.

Edited September 23, 2011 by ktamp

[Jimmyd]

I agree with those who say a gym is not necessary. All you need to do is to walk at the beginning--then move up to jogging/running eventually.

Walking is pleasant and fun--you can people watch as you do it: if you walk up and down Beach Road, for example. Gradually build up speed and distance. It's free!

[londoedan]

I agree with those who say a gym is not necessary. All you need to do is to walk at the beginning--then move up to jogging/running eventually.

Walking is pleasant and fun--you can people watch as you do it: if you walk up and down Beach Road, for example. Gradually build up speed and distance. It's free!

I agree that walking outdoors is a good way to start a training / fitness regime, going further as the weeks go by and taking in Pratumnak Hill etc..

However I reckon a good, clean, AC equipped gym has a number of advantages once you start running for more than about 10-15 mins:

[1] Dehydration. You lose an awful lot of water running outside for an hr in the heat and humidty of Pattaya.

[2] Both the roads and pavements of Pattaya are pretty crap, the holes and uneven surfaces are a lot trickier to spot at speed.

[3] Treadmills do have a slight cushioning compared with running on the road and this can be easier on the various joints, particularly the knees.

[4] Opportunities for cross-training on the bike / Nordic trainers, plus some light upper body work when you fancy it.

Simon

[soundman]

Nonsense post removed.

Please try to keep to the topic without trollish replies.

[Kalbo]

Good for you for getting off your arse and doing something positive. I would like to add, however, that exercise is only one part of weight loss.

You're really going to have to make a huge effort to cut down on your calorie intake to make any significant difference

[ronthai]

Good for you for getting off your arse and doing something positive. I would like to add, however, that exercise is only one part of weight loss.

You're really going to have to make a huge effort to cut down on your calorie intake to make any significant difference

Already doing that (mostly, I will not stop living) and lost 15kg. Now it is time to get fysical.

[DMC1]

I agree with those who say a gym is not necessary. All you need to do is to walk at the beginning--then move up to jogging/running eventually.

Walking is pleasant and fun--you can people watch as you do it: if you walk up and down Beach Road, for example. Gradually build up speed and distance. It's free!

I agree that walking outdoors is a good way to start a training / fitness regime, going further as the weeks go by and taking in Pratumnak Hill etc..

However I reckon a good, clean, AC equipped gym has a number of advantages once you start running for more than about 10-15 mins:

[1] Dehydration. You lose an awful lot of water running outside for an hr in the heat and humidty of Pattaya.

[2] Both the roads and pavements of Pattaya are pretty crap, the holes and uneven surfaces are a lot trickier to spot at speed.

[3] Treadmills do have a slight cushioning compared with running on the road and this can be easier on the various joints, particularly the knees.

[4] Opportunities for cross-training on the bike / Nordic trainers, plus some light upper body work when you fancy it.

Simon

Just a comment about treadmills. They are not that good for your joints as they don't allow you to run in your natural & correct position. It's better to keep away from high impact training at first and stick to walking, spinning, ellipse machines or swimming as mentioned earlier. You can do spinning classes in Pattaya and if you stick with it you will notice a heck of a difference. Most definitely start walking more or buy a push bike.

I used to love running but I have to be careful with my knees as they were abused during my military service. This was when a 'Harley Street' specialist told me to keep away from treadmills and run cross country where possible.

Edited September 24, 2011 by DMC1