Tony's Sweat Box Is Killing Me

[Tolley]

It seems to be getting worse up the plastic tent of late.

I am all for a good workout but I am almost to the point of giving up training.

It was brutal in there today.

I checked out Fairtex the other day but it really doesnt shape up.

It is a bit of a mickey mouse gym and even the aircon there is not great. It is okay but not great.

What to do?

[TexasRanger]

I remember wrapping up in hooded tops and looking forward to the end of my set in case my hands stuck to the cold bar in the mornings. Give me heat anytime.

[robblok]

Too be honest, i think an aircon needs to work real hard to keep you feeling cool if you seriously workout. I turn my aircon on before i begin and when i enter the gym i dont even want to wear t shirts with cut of sleeves. But after a few sets that is all forgotten and im feeling hot. Doubt any aircon can work against that. Back in the Netherlands gyms were never hot but you got hot quite fast.

But no aircon in a Thai gym would be a killer that is for sure.

[TexasRanger]

I worship A/C and have it on all the time at home and when I sleep but for some reason I don't loke it in the gym, some kind of sadism trip I guess.

[tropo]

I worship A/C and have it on all the time at home and when I sleep but for some reason I don't loke it in the gym, some kind of sadism trip I guess.

That reminds me of the Thai guy I saw at Tony's Sport World (aka plastic tent) last week. He was walking on the treadmill with a plastic jacket on and there were buckets of sweat all over the floor. This is absurdity. These people believe they get benefit from sweating more.

If you want to get optimum results, doing it in the heat is really working against you. Unfortunately we don't have much of a choice in Pattaya. There's no good bodybuilding type gym with good aircon.

Tolley, you'll find the main Tony's gym is a bit cooler across the road, especially on the ground floor. I usually do my workouts in both gyms, starting out at the plastic tent. I really notice the difference when I walk over to complete my workout at the main gym.

I'm really going to have fun in the Philippines next week. My gym there has no aircon and no fans, and it's on the top floor of a building. I have to buy a fan to use at the gym. Filipinos and Thais have this idea that you need to sweat to get fit and/or build muscle.

Edited November 7, 2012 by tropo

[Tolley]

I still might join Fairtex even thou it doesnt have all I want.

I did a cardio workout there yesterday and it was no problem at all. Of course I sweated but I just cant do any cardio at Tony's.

At 10k for the year it is a pretty good deal. I can also play squash there.

As for the weights I might just go to Tonys once a week and do reduced weight sessions at Fairtex.

No cardio for ages is not good for me. I was puffing a bit on the bike yesterday for a workout that wasnt even that hard.

[robblok]

Tolly.. how long did you not do cardio.. wondering how fast you loose it. I will be gone for 3 weeks. Hope i get it back quickly.

[uptheos]

Geez, I was wondering what Tony's sweat box was. sounded grim.

[tropo]

Geez, I was wondering what Tony's sweat box was. sounded grim.

It is grim. I'll be even more fun in April & May when it's really hot.

[tropo]

Tolly.. how long did you not do cardio.. wondering how fast you loose it. I will be gone for 3 weeks. Hope i get it back quickly.

LOL, For a young guy you worry too much. You won't even notice the 3 weeks off. You may even notice an improvement due to having a decent rest. By the time I get back it'll be near a month of no cardio but I'm confident I won't notice a thing - I'll just keep up the weight workouts. We only do cardio as a fat burner anyway, so there's not real goals to achieve.

Tolley is not doing cardio because at Tony's there isn't anywhere below 30C to do it. The machines are on the top floor which is even hotter. There are no fans positioned on the machines either. There are 2 portable fans you can grab if no one else is using them. When you try to do a cardio session in those conditions it's brutal and you feel weak.

At Tony's it's not a matter of getting fit. It's a matter of whether one can handle the conditions.

Tolley, you should look into getting a cardio machine for home. Maybe something is going to happen soon at California Wow....

Edited November 7, 2012 by tropo

[Tolley]

Tolly.. how long did you not do cardio.. wondering how fast you loose it. I will be gone for 3 weeks. Hope i get it back quickly.

LOL, For a young guy you worry too much. You won't even notice the 3 weeks off. You may even notice an improvement due to having a decent rest. By the time I get back it'll be near a month of no cardio but I'm confident I won't notice a thing - I'll just keep up the weight workouts. We only do cardio as a fat burner anyway, so there's not real goals to achieve.

Tolley is not doing cardio because at Tony's there isn't anywhere below 30C to do it. The machines are on the top floor which is even hotter. There are no fans positioned on the machines either. There are 2 portable fans you can grab if no one else is using them. When you try to do a cardio session in those conditions it's brutal and you feel weak.

At Tony's it's not a matter of getting fit. It's a matter of whether one can handle the conditions.

Tolley, you should look into getting a cardio machine for home. Maybe something is going to happen soon at California Wow....

Cardio you lose really quickly. Even after two weeks you will notice a difference. Having said that it doesnt take that long to get back to where you were.

CW might happen and it might not. Do you have any inside info you would like to share?

I could buy something to use at home but I like to get out of the house and I also like to use different types of machines for cardio. eg rower , bike, stair master

[Tolley]

Tolly.. how long did you not do cardio.. wondering how fast you loose it. I will be gone for 3 weeks. Hope i get it back quickly.

Cardio you do lose quickly but you will get it back quickly as well.

I havent done any cardio for a few months so that is why I am hopeless at the moment but give me two or three weeks and I should be going pretty well by then.

[tropo]

Cardio you lose really quickly. Even after two weeks you will notice a difference. Having said that it doesnt take that long to get back to where you were.

CW might happen and it might not. Do you have any inside info you would like to share?

I could buy something to use at home but I like to get out of the house and I also like to use different types of machines for cardio. eg rower , bike, stair master

I don't lose cardio fitness quickly, especially when I'm pushing weights regularly. I just did my first row for 3 weeks and I performed as well as usual.

If you're doing sub-maximal cardio at Tony's "sweat box" you'll never gain anything to lose because the heat forces you to perform at far below your normal capacity.

You stated that you've nearly quit because of the heat, so getting your own machines to use at home with airconditioning is one of your best options. I wouldn't call a visit to Tony's "getting out of the house". I'd rather be at home.

No, I don't have any inside information about CW, but sooner or later something has to happen.

Have you checked out the gym at Centara Grand Hotel. They have all the latest cardio machines and even a Cybex Arc Trainer. The air conditioning is pretty good too. If 2 can join together you can get a special price. I've been considering this option if nothing happens at CW.

Edited November 7, 2012 by tropo

[Tolley]

Oh yeah I forgot about Centara. I should check that out for sure before i sign up with Fairtex. I am taking longer and longer to do my weight sessions because of the heat. Normally i time myself one minute between sets but not anymore I just do the next set when I feel like it. Think i am losing time by going to the fans in between sets but what to do?

[siamamerican]

Odd, I just went to PRS hotel and was amazed with the equipment. Asked the staff about AC and was told in a month or two. Why spend top dollar on great equipment and not have AC?????? THey have the units but they are not turned on. Loved the gym which was empty but no way in hell am I joining and it looks like nobody is interested since it was empty. What a waste and I didn't even ask the price for membership but was told it was 250 bt a day for hotel guests at the front desk. Why would anybody pay 250 for a gym without AC here in Thailand?

Anyhow, off to Chiang Mai and hope the Cal Wow is still open and they accept my payment which is 40 days late.

[tropo]

Odd, I just went to PRS hotel and was amazed with the equipment. Asked the staff about AC and was told in a month or two. Why spend top dollar on great equipment and not have AC?????? THey have the units but they are not turned on. Loved the gym which was empty but no way in hell am I joining and it looks like nobody is interested since it was empty. What a waste and I didn't even ask the price for membership but was told it was 250 bt a day for hotel guests at the front desk. Why would anybody pay 250 for a gym without AC here in Thailand?

Anyhow, off to Chiang Mai and hope the Cal Wow is still open and they accept my payment which is 40 days late.

These gym owners don't have a clue. They're throwing money down the toilet by not using air conditioning. Sure, you'll get some lazy Thai and foreign trainers who like to sweat without putting in too much effort, but generally a gym without or with poor airconditioning is not going to attract too many customers.

Even Tony, the resident gym guru in Pattaya doesn't seem to have a clue how many members he's losing and how many people are not signing up because he's too tight to pay for the aircondiitoning bills. I've seen it many times - prospective members just walking out thinking there's no way they're going to train in that heat... which leaves only hardcore types who have to train one way or another. Not smart at all. If someone opened a well airconditioned gym like California Wow they'd do very well.

Edited November 12, 2012 by tropo

[Potosi]

I worship A/C and have it on all the time at home and when I sleep but for some reason I don't loke it in the gym, some kind of sadism trip I guess.

That reminds me of the Thai guy I saw at Tony's Sport World (aka plastic tent) last week. He was walking on the treadmill with a plastic jacket on and there were buckets of sweat all over the floor. This is absurdity. These people believe they get benefit from sweating more.

If you want to get optimum results, doing it in the heat is really working against you. Unfortunately we don't have much of a choice in Pattaya. There's no good bodybuilding type gym with good aircon.

True, the cooler it is the more calories the body burns just to maintain its temperature. There are a couple more Tony gyms with A/C. One in Jomtien near the new second Road, one in WS. Shame the Europe Club had to close, that was a great and roomy gym.

[slobbert]

Odd, I just went to PRS hotel and was amazed with the equipment. Asked the staff about AC and was told in a month or two. Why spend top dollar on great equipment and not have AC?????? THey have the units but they are not turned on. Loved the gym which was empty but no way in hell am I joining and it looks like nobody is interested since it was empty. What a waste and I didn't even ask the price for membership but was told it was 250 bt a day for hotel guests at the front desk. Why would anybody pay 250 for a gym without AC here in Thailand?

Anyhow, off to Chiang Mai and hope the Cal Wow is still open and they accept my payment which is 40 days late.

I'm late responding to this but thought I'd add my experience. I was a member at Cal WOW until it went belly-up. Someone mentioned PRS to me and I went to have a look. It's a nicely appointed facility. Everything has been remodeled by the new owner (Thai) and new equipment added. It's clean and not very busy. I've never seen more than ten people there at a time. The gym is separate from the hotel and that's one reason for the air con issue, I was told. The hotel doesn't want to pay for the health club's electric bill so it's been they typical wait, wait, wait scenario until the health club can get its own electric. The cardio section is air conditioned and very comfortable for work outs. The weight room is, as of yet, not air conditioned but they are pulling wires and it looks like some day it will also have functioning air con. For now it has several wall fans to move the air. They have a separate spin room which is also air conditioned and it works well.

The locker room (men's, I can't speak for the ladies) is off the weight room and not air conditioned; it has one wall fan which doesn't help much but it's something. The showers are large and has both hot and cold water. Soap is not provided. I think they will provide you with a towel if you request one but I always bring my own. Fussy I am.

I joined the gym for six months (10,000 baht) for two reasons -- it's close to where I live (I didn't relish the idea of traveling from Jomtien to Fairtex every day) and it provides spin class which is my favorite cardio routine. I DIDN'T join for more than six months because I'm here for six months at a time and I'm watching for signs of California WOW-itis. They recently revised their cardio/spin class schedule to fewer days per week and I wasn't happy with that. When in Thailand I expect disappointments. I was told this happened due to staff limitations because the owner is going through a divorce and is playing close to the vest with his money at the moment. Warning sign number one.

It also has a swimming pool, sauna and steam rooms which are included in the membership. I don't for the life of me understand why anyone would want the sauna or steam in this climate but to each their own. I certainly DO enjoy the pool after a hard work out.

I'm there five days per week and I'm ok with the place. Could be better but it'll do for now. It's on Soi 17 about three hundred yards east of Third Road. Tigglebitties and Punch and Judy are farther down the soi.