The Chair is The Gym

CEBU, Philippines - Only at Olympia did I see a chair turn into a gym. Olympia isn’t in Greece. It’s a gym and sauna facility inside Avenue Plaza Hotel in Naga City, Camarines Sur.

 “The whole idea of using a chair was meant to spice up cardio workout,” said Dennis Catantan, Olympia’s club and recreation manager. Using a chair for cardio, sculpt and tone workout does more. For those who are too busy, too lazy or simply don’t have the budget to enroll in gym membership, the chair is the most practical thing next to a treadmill or bicycle at home.

The chair is not just any chair. Definitely a monobloc won’t do. The chair must be without handrests and must be of wrought iron or wood so that it can maintain balance and also it does not slip or skid. You can have total body conditioning with a chair from shoulders, arms, hips, legs and thighs. For weights you can use two Gatorade or nature spring plastic bottles filled with water. Used in both arms, these have total weight of 1.5 to 2.5 pounds just like the iron weights. Difference is that with recycled plastic bottles, it is more practical and environment-friendly. For women, using the plastic bottles weights do away with masculine-like muscles because the weights are not as heavy as iron weights.

Body conditioning routines

To get those arms and shoulders toned, you can sit on the chair with your plastic bottle weights on each hand and raise arms up and down to shoulder level. Repeat these for 16 to 32 times. You can also do bicep curls with the plastic bottle weights on each hand and repeat for 16 to 32 times.

To get those hips and thighs toned, just hold the back of the chair and then raise your legs up and down and repeat 16 to 32 times of each leg. You can also turn your legs in circular motion at 16 to 32 times each leg.

To get a stretch, you can put your hand at the back of the chair and hold one leg up backwards and alternate on each leg. You can also put your arms on the seat and stretch your body forward.

For abdominal exercises, you can use a mat, then put your legs on the seat of the chair and do crunches at 50 repetitions.

Dennis said that the original concept of using chairs for exercise was in Manila where chairs and poles were used for strip tease or sensual dancing. He said Olympia gym decided to modify it for its group exercise by using the chair for high and low impact aerobics.

Olympia gym is perhaps the only gym I know in the country that uses chairs as innovation for cardio, sculpt and tone workout.

Next: Meditation Rooms.

But then the nice thing about Olympia is that the gym, sauna and group exercise studios are on different floors. The sauna and dressing rooms or vanity rooms are at the ground floor, the free weights are on the second floor and the group exercise studios on the third floor. There is also a spinning room for the bicycle workouts.

Catantan said the plan is to have meditation rooms for mind and body exercise like yoga, pilates and terra bonds.

If you are on travel in Naga City and can’t do without a gym, Olympia gym is the place to be as it offers friendly rates for walk-ins and transients. The next time you come to Camarines Sur, make sure you have a gym gear with you. The vision of Avenue Plaza Hotel in putting up the Olympia was to pioneer in making fitness and wellness a lifestyle in Naga City without having to be an athlete and without having to go to Greece.