
Welcome to your fitness club blog
By Gary Diemer,
Fitness Director – Cascade Club
RPM Health Clubs Reciprocal Bangkok Club
MSc. Exercise Physiology/Biomechanics and Education
Hello and thanks for reading the first of many informative articles that my staff and I will be writing about the world of fitness and the fitness industry in general. These articles are here to help you in your quest to become a happier, healthier and, dare I say, better looking person. Even though this is on our club website we will escape the realm of the Cascade Club and help people who may just want to work out at home. Of Course we would love for you to become a member of our club but perhaps you are reading this in Chiang Mai. That would be a long commute. This blog is for everyone.
I have lived in Bangkok for 11 years now and I have seen the fitness world explode here. When I first moved here there was California Wow, a few small locally owned gyms and the outside gyms in Lumpini Park which I lovingly call the prison gyms (I actually love those outside workout areas and by no means am I belittling them. You can get everything you need from them and more, but I will discuss that in another article). Now those gyms are gone (the gyms in Lumpini are still there J). They have been replaced by a host of Mega-fitness clubs and smaller niche clubs offering things such as Pilates, yoga or spinning. For you, the consumer, this is great and at the same times a nightmare. The fitness industry has grown at an exponential rate while the general population’s knowledge is struggling to catch up.

Phuket Fitness Center’s are rapidly growing
While the fitness industry has grown at a rapid rate over the past 10 years, technology has grown even faster. Ten years ago you had a cell phone, now you have a smart phone that gives you all of the information you need at your fingertips. All of this information should surely make it easier for a person to become an informed consumer in the area of health and fitness right? Wrong. Even though there is some great information regarding health and fitness you must have the basic knowledge to know how to look for it. There is more misinformation on the internet about fitness and wellness than there is good solid information. Even some reputable online fitness magazines or international newspapers sometimes give you misinformation. They will take one research article and twist it so it appears that something is the best thing in the world for you or they demonize something and say you should never do it. Examples of this can be found every day. One article says coffee is good for you another says never drink it. One article says steady state training is a waste and you should only be doing HIIT training another article says just the opposite.

What is the best way to train for fitness in the gym?
So hopefully what this blog will do is to help you find out what is right for you. EXERCISE IS NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE! Anyone who tells you any different has an agenda or has no idea what they are talking about. Please do not forget that the Fitness and Wellness Industry is a trillion dollar worldwide business. Yes it is a business. People want your money and many will lie, or at best stretch the truth, to get it. I have been in this Industry for almost 30 years. I am an expert. Does that mean I know everything, NO! I know a lot about some areas and I am informed in others. No one is an expert in every area of their field. Would you want your dermatologist performing brain surgery on you? Sure he is knowledgeable enough to help you if he saw the signs you were having a neurological problem. However he would send you to a person who is an expert in that particular field. So in the upcoming articles I hope to guide you in the right direction.
Thanks for reading and our next article will be coming soon. In that article we will discuss what exactly constitutes a Fitness “Expert”.
As always we encourage you to continue to invest in your best asset – yourself. If you are in Phuket and would like to improve your health and fitness in a friendly professional health club, simply join this fantastic gym in paradise by contacting Amy on 081 270 6885 or emailing patcharee@rpmhealthclub.com
We promise to inspire you to be strong, live healthy and enjoy living fit.
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