Bangkok is a city on the go; it’s active and vibrant and so are its inhabitants. There’s plenty here to raise your heart rate and if you’re looking for something to get the endorphins pumping, you’re in the right place, because this week we’re talking about where you can get in shape.
Before it was cool, Thais were incorporating health and wellbeing into their lives and you can still roll up to Lumphini park first thing in the morning or just as dusk falls and join a free, public step aerobics class, or catch the mature but spry ladies practising their Tai Chi.
Standard stuff
Meanwhile, the fitness industry has taken Bangkok by storm in the past few years, and Bangkok is, of course, at the epicentre. Almost every mall doubles as an outpost of a big-name fitness chain, from the Virgin Active at Empire Tower, to the Fitness First branches at Terminal 21 and Siam Paragon. Many of these run group exercise classes and offer personal training as well as the full range of cardio equipment and weights. But if you want to keep it simple, it’s worth remembering that many condo buildings have relatively well-equipped gyms on-site, so check yours out before you sign up for membership elsewhere.
Lifting, fighting, running and jumping
The Cross Fit craze likewise has not passed the city by, with gyms from Sathorn to Ari and as far as Phra Khanong. Here, in their giant shell of a warehouse, the team at Training Ground bring Cross Fitters together, not just for classes but also for international competitions where ripped individuals from all over Asia compete against one another at picking up heavy things and putting them down again. Training Ground also shares its space with Fight Lab Bangkok, where you can try out a range of fighting styles from Muay Thai to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA. Unsurprisingly for a country so famous for its indigenous boxing, fighting is a popular way to get fit in Thailand and Muay Thai-specific gyms abound, from RSM Muay Thai Academy in Thong Lo to F.A Group Muay Thai in Chatuchak.
Over on Sukhumvit Soi 31, you can let loose in the fitness playground that is The LAB, where they use TRX systems, kettlebells and countless other props and equipment to create tailored fitness programmes. They also have specialised classes for pre and post pregnancy, injury rehabilitation and olympic lifting.
For further examples of ‘functional exercise’ disciplines, Active Parc on the ground floor of Amarin Plaza mall at Chid Lom is home to Twist Fitness and Asia Parkour. The latter offers targeted and comprehensive parkour training for adults and kids. Most classes are inside Active Parc but once a week they hit the streets for an all-terrain outdoor experience.
Stretching, strengthening and strutting
Meanwhile, back indoors at Amarin, you can stretch and tone and work your core at Absolute Pilates and Yoga or boogie your behind off at RumPuree dance studio. With specialist classes including ballroom and social dance styles, not to mention pole and belly dancing, there’s bound to be something to get your toes a-tapping here.
Another hotspot to strut your stuff is Studio Zoom which has a comprehensive schedule of classes. Get lean and flexible with ballet and contemporary or flex your urban style with hip hop and street dance.
Whatever your fitness level and interest, there’s something in Bangkok to quicken your pulse; so what are you waiting for? As they say in Thai, ‘su suu, na!’
