Any gym go'ers/weight lifters on here?

[ryanhull]

Hey all,

I used to be pretty into the gym prior to coming to Thailand however since moving two years ago I have slacked off alot despite even investing in my own little setup,

My question is to those who weight lift in Thailand,

Do you find the Thai food good for bulking up compared to the western diet?

Do you find it harder to be bothered to train in this climate/heat?

My main issues have been the heat stopping me from training although I am going to sign up to the gym tomorrow and sell my setup, but I do find the Thai diet good personally for bulking, chicken and rice is cheap anyway,

Cheers

[finy]

The sun makes me more motivated to train, so I guess that doesn't help

I actually wasn't going to bother today until I stepped outside and it motivated me straight away.

Maybe find a gym with air conditioning.

[gerry123]

moved to the TIM SHARKEY forum

[ExPratt]

I used to train a bit seriously , but now I just have a Bench and a few bits at home that I use a few times a week. Here I'd say the food all round is better for whatever you want to do , Cheaper , better quality , not processed ,

[ExPratt]

You question about the Heat , you'll get used to it. I used to play over 40's 7 a side football in Malaysia , which was a bit warm to say the least , but you do get used to it. Start off by drinking loads of cold water , a litre during a 1 hour work out, after a week or so you;ll start to notice your water intake will be going down as you acclimatize. Also try and train in the Morning if you can

[pinkpanther99]

The weather doesn't really play an issue for me, you get used to the heat and I actually prefer working out in the warmer weather than in the winter back home.

My gym has air con too, so it's not really an issue.

As for the food, I find it pretty difficult to get enough calories in only eating Thai food. I mean it's great for keeping lean for if you want to put on a few kgs it can be pretty tough, especially if you're trying to eat 'clean'.

That said, food here is generally much cheaper so you could easily throw in an extra meal or two throughout the day and it certainly wouldn't cost you the earth. For extra calories you could obviosuly include supplements and stuff.

I'd also be interested to hear how others get on with diet and Thai food with regards to bulking

[finy]

If you cook yourself you can make yourself a massive (much bigger than you'll get in the restaurants) curry:

Coconut milk, curry paste, meat, veg, spices, potatoes, and throw it over some jasmine rice.

You could also make a mean fried rice with coconut oil, j rice, eggs, meat, veg, spices, etc.

But yeah, eating those tiny little meals in the stalls will be hard to help you build muscle unless you double up on every portion. I still don't understand how some people can feel full after one of those little meals.

Maybe why I'm greedy and have to limit myself to one meal per day + fruit.

[dbrenn]

The problem for me is that all the small gyms seem to be disappearing and are getting replaced by large franchises like Fitness First. Small gyms are better, as they are usually run by a real enthusiast, who mentors members in a much more convincing way than all the 'Trainers' at the large franchises.

The large franchises seem to oversell memberships so that they are packed out in the early evening when I want to go. I also find their hard selling tactics downright offensive.

Of course, all these reasons sound like mere excuses and rationalisattion as to why I have stopped going to the gym and recently cancelled my Fitness First membership.

Perhaps I should have got up earlier in the morning, and continued going to FF, but I resent paying for crap FF service and queuing to use their equipment at the time that was most convenient for me.

I should buy some weights and a rowing machine and train at home, I guess.

[ryanhull]

Good replies all and interesting views on the diet...

I have just been down to my local gym, it is pretty much brand new, whilst it has a really good selection of machines which all look high quality, it has no bench press of smiths machine, the main part of my work out is bench press, it does have some machines which seem to simulate a bench press however you are sat down not laying, do you think these machines would have the same affect as bench pressing? I was always told that a bench press was best without using a machine or even smiths machine as it uses more muscle to keep the bar balanced etc, what are your thoughts? worth signing up given it has no bench press? it does have a squat rack which kind of looks as if it doubles up as a bench press but there is no bench to lay on

Cheers

[ryanhull]

The problem for me is that all the small gyms seem to be disappearing and are getting replaced by large franchises like Fitness First. Small gyms are better, as they are usually run by a real enthusiast, who mentors members in a much more convincing way than all the 'Trainers' at the large franchises.

The large franchises seem to oversell memberships so that they are packed out in the early evening when I want to go. I also find their hard selling tactics downright offensive.

Of course, all these reasons sound like mere excuses and rationalisattion as to why I have stopped going to the gym and recently cancelled my Fitness First membership.

Perhaps I should have got up earlier in the morning, and continued going to FF, but I resent paying for crap FF service and queuing to use their equipment at the time that was most convenient for me.

I should buy some weights and a rowing machine and train at home, I guess.

I shelled out quite a bit for my home setup as it seems equipment here is alot more expensive than in the UK, however since I have had it I haven't used it much... partly because its in a room with no AC but I find it hard to get motivated at home, I think if I set a day of the week/time to go to the gym I will do it plus the equipment is alot better... I do get you though, when I was going to the stadium gym in bangkok I was having to que for the machines and it got annoying especially as alot of the Thai`s would just push in and not wait... I am now in Maha Sarakham so the gym here is alot quiter

On the diet side, my mate who is absolutely massive says he basically eats a KFC family bucket with a ton of rice everyday! I am pretty sure he will die quite soon on that diet lol, but then again he is a monster!

Edited January 13, 2015 by ryanhull

[mommysboy]

The heat is a big demotivator for me and can trigger headaches. Any serious workouts need to be done in the cool IMHO. As for food, open to debate. Obviously if you are building, you need protein. Most end up doing their own food. It is amazing what you can do in a microwave

[wow64]

I just cook my own...or my wife does. Not enough protein in the thai diet.

Lucky chicken breast is cheap here..

Sent from my c64

Edited February 7, 2015 by wow64

[copa8]

Lucky chicken breast is cheap here..

Sent from my c64

I see a lot of street vendors selling fried chickens. Cheaper and tastier than KFC.