NO MORE EXERCISE RUT
Strength can be developed as a way to achieve one’s goals. This gym is designed with the client’s progress in mind
Strength coach Marlon Lugue, then an instructor at a commercial gym, had reached his fitness plateau. A multi-awarded champion powerlifter, he wanted to progress but was held back by the standard equipment of the gym. A client, a businessman and powerlifter likewise shared that he was no longer getting results because he had outgrown the facilities.
They gathered other like-minded partners and set up a Kinetix Lab, a state-of-the art gym which emphasizes strength training as the foundation for conditioning and sculpting.
“Most clients, who come to us, have reached a plateau in their workouts. Their gym’s facilities could no longer change their training style to keep the body adapting,” says Luis Arrieta, Kinetix Lab’s sales director.
The sophisticated equipment of Kinetix Lab gives the impression that it’s a place for athletes, bodybuilders and powerlifters. On the contrary, it welcomes anyone who wants to get in shape. Rehabilitation patients address conditioning while recovering from an injury or other issues such as scoliosis.
“Some clients want to look better — either lose some fat or gain muscle — or become healthier,” says Arrieta.
Lugue, Kinetix Lab managing director, maintains that building strength is the foundation of the client’s program. “It’s the means to an end. Strength can be developed as a way to achieve one’s goals. This gym is designed with the client’s progress in mind.”
First-timers can book a free training session to check out the gym. On starting a program, one undergoes tests that measure strength, endurance, flexibility and body composition. The coach designs a program according to the client’s goals and the test results.
The drawback of other gyms and fitness chains is that clients have been stuck with formulaic workouts and standard equipment. Since the body is resilient, it easily adjusts to the physical demands of the workout. Over time, the same exercises can become mindless repetitions. One begins to feel he is in an exercise rut.
Kinetix Lab addresses this common dilemma. To keep seeing results, the individual undergoes periodic evaluation and is given more variety in the program. The exercise load in the client’s program is gradually challenged every exercise cycle so that the body can keep adapting.
“If you could squat with 100 kilos on the first day of your training cycle, you can be evaluated after 12 sessions to see if you can lift more than 100 kilos,” says Lugue.
Exercise beginners, who start their program by using their body weight or light weights, are also evaluated before they take on a bigger load.
Socially distanced workouts
One of Kinetix Lab’s assets is a resilient gym floor. It absorbs shock to resist injury when people are doing jumps, push-ups and exercises with heavy weights. The gym is installed with platforms at the weight area when lifters drop their barbells.
The layout of the 700 sqm-gym is ideal for physical distancing during workouts. The equipment is arranged with the user in mind. The turf area is designated for floor drills, track drills and sled push workouts. At the cardio fitness area, there’s a wide range of apparatuses aside from the standard machines.
Unlike other conventional cardio machines which work out the legs, some of the equipment target more body parts.
“We think it’s boring to limit ourselves to the treadmill,” says Lugue. The ladder step machine provides an intense but joint-friendly climbing motion. It burns more calories than using the standard stair climber.
The Ski Ergometer mimics the skiing motion on the slope. It uses the core, the upper thighs, the upper body and triceps. The versatile machine can help improve jumps or do functional movements such as bending down to pick up objects.
For arms, back and shoulders, the rope pulldown is a machine that imitates climbing up a rope.
Then there’s a separate room for the client who wants to isolate himself from other people.
Unlike other conventional cardio machines that work out the legs, some of the equipment target more body parts.
The free weights section is the largest, naturally, which shares the space with standard strength machines that use stacked weights. Less intimidating than barbells and dumbbells, these machines enable the user to lift and change weights comfortably.
The core of Kinetix Lab is pushing the individual’s strength capacity. Serious lifters use specialized accessories — chains and bands — attached to the bar to recruit more muscles and increase the intensity.
Lugue adds that the gym has invested in other unique equipment to complement the workouts. The reverse hyperextension, for instance, targets the muscles in the hip area to power up the squats and hips. The glute, ham raise and back extension develops the hips, back of the thighs and lower back muscles to improve running, squatting and lifting. In all, the coaches echo the aspirations of the clients.
“In conceptualizing this brand, we didn’t want people to feel intimidated when they come here. We always think of their improvement,” says Lugue.
(Kinetix Lab is located at The Podium, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig. Tel 0927 574 0078 and alternatively , they have a branch up North in UP Ayala Technohub, Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, Tel. (02) 8361 8099).