My Fitness Journey So Far + A Primer on 360 Fitness

I don't even know if I should write about this this early especially since the holidays have just finished, but I'll write about it anyway.

The past holidays, I ate my heart out and it was all good. I gained probably around 2 or 3 pounds, but I didn't care so much about that minor interruption because I lost about 15 lbs. last year. I work in the gym real hard and that's why I don't feel bad if I binge for a couple of days (but of course, I know when to stop).

To tell you the truth, I still don't have abs, but I am happy that I am stronger. Of course, I want to have abs one day, but that will come if I focus on building strength. So my mantra now is this: having abs is an extra treat-becoming stronger is my absolute goal.

Where am I in my fitness journey? To be honest, I felt a little stuck around November last year because I've hit that dreaded plateau stage again. My fats have switched on their 'preservation mode' and losing those last pounds was getting harder and harder as the days go by. From regular Strength and Conditioning, I've moved on to Athletic Strength and Conditioning (according to Elorde Makati's standards) and yet losing a pound was still so, so hard. That, plus I have also assessed that my trainer has somewhat lost track of my progress along the way. In short, I felt that I wasn't improving as much as before plus the gym is not that conducive to exercises that will improve my strength, especially the barbel- related exercises, plus the gym's quite far from where I live, to be honest.

In December, I've decided to move on to a new fitness regimen and gym. My Elorde experience was awesome-I owe a lot to the guys there who didn't give up on me, but in life, you have to keep on moving forward, you have to keep on improving.

So I enrolled myself in a new gym called 360 Fitness Plus at The Fort. A new chapter of my fitness journey begins there.

I chose 360 Fitness The Fort branch because this branch offers the Passport Pass-this pass grants me the privilege to work out in all 360 Fitness gyms in the metro, plus it's near my house! :D

I've been working out in 360 Fitness for 3 weeks now and I've unlocked a couple of new skills like this Pull-Up. It's still an assisted pull- up, but I am so, so happy for I could finally do an isometric hold for 3 seconds and do 3 perfect sets at 3 reps/set, something that I wasn't able to do in Elorde. I've been working on my pull-up for the last three weeks in 360 Fitness and I'm proud to say that I have already tapped my back muscles and let them know that I am effin' serious on making my strict pull-ups this year. In just three weeks, I was already able to pull myself up at 2 inches from a dead hang-I couldn't even coordinate my back muscles last year! I know, it's such a trivial progress, but progress is still progress and if you haven't tried pulling yourself up before, try it and you'll see what I'm talking about and why I'm happy about this rather trivial progress.

Some other skills I've unlocked are split steps on the speed rope-I'd always trip over the rope when I was trying to do that last year, my weighted squats (proper form) went up to 60 lbs., my strict military press went up to 40 lbs. from 35 lbs., and my power clean went up to 75 lbs. from 65 lbs. It feels like I'm beginning a new journey!

I'm also improving on some stuff like my military push-up-I'm aiming to perform strict military push- ups so from ten half-baked push- ups, I only do five right now, but they're lower and on a negative pace (meaning I go up and down slowly). Also, I'm improving on my form in the Dead Lift exercise so I had to go a few weights lower.

In sum, my fitness journey now is more of improving my strength especially with the three main lifts (Dead Lift, Military Press, Squat) and unlocking new skills. I also have a battle plan now and that is I'll do strength training + metabolic conditioning two times a week and pure metabolic conditioning to finish the week. I'm also looking at workout plans like Neghar Foonooni's Lean and Lovely, plus I am improving on my eating habits this year.

Oh, silly me. I've almost forgotten to brief you on 360 Fitness. This specialized gym pride themselves on Circuit Training. FYI, Circuit Training combines body weight, free weights, and cardio, one of the proven methods to burning more calories and torching fat effectively. It's pretty much like my Strength and Conditioning Program in Elorde, but this is more time- sensitive as each exercise lasts for only 30 seconds, but you do as many reps as you can and you don't stop until you finish the entire circuit which consists of 20 exercises, total of 10 minutes. The challenge is to complete the circuit 3 times, a total of 30 minutes-this is ample time to do a great workout and that is the point of 360 Fitness' Circuit Program: to give you a great workout in the least amount of time.

Are there progressions for this exercise, you ask? Yes. The program has five levels:

Level 1- General Fitness

Level 2- Fat Loss

Level 3- Muscle Strengthening

Level 4- Muscle Toning

Level 5- Athletic

Here's how a workout progresses in each level. Let's use the Pull-Up exercise:

Level 1- Lat Pull Downs

Level 2- Band- assisted pull-up

Level 3- 10- second pull- ups

Level 4- Strict pull-up

Level 5- Weighted pull-up

Just hanging out with my friends. We've decided to turn some of our hang-outs into "Gym Sessions" because getting fit is always fun when you're with friends!

I started at Level 3 so at least I have two things to look forward to: Level 4 and Level 5. Some exercises in Level 4 and 5, I've been doing in Elorde already, but I wanna enjoy the journey to its fullest and at the same time, improve on a lot of stuff.

The circuit goes like this: Odd numbers feature strength exercises like squat with weights, military press, dead lift, and even body weight exercise such as the Pull-Up. Even numbers are for active rest meaning you do cardio/conditioning exercises such as high knees, burpees, jumping jacks, jumping/speed rope, and mountain climbers.

The nice thing about 360 Fitness is they offer Fitness Consultation to members in the very beginning so you know where you are at the moment and so you can plan where you want to go next. In the consultation, your overall body fat, muscle percentage, flexibility, and fitness level will be measured, plus you will set goals for yourself in the next three months. Every three months, they conduct a general fitness assessment for the members so you will know if you're progressing or not in your journey. But if you're really clueless on which exercise to do and you want a program that's more specific, you can hire a trainer. Trainer rates start at P500.00-P800.00/session, minimum of 5 sessions. In the personal training program, they offer specific programs such as fat loss, muscle building, mobility, and strength building among other things.

So let's say you've reached Level 5 in the circuit. Where do you go next? They also offer individual classes and guess what? They're for FREE if you're a member. Classes range from Body Combat, Les Mills, HIIT (High intensity Interval Training), TRX, Kettlebell Training, SMRT Core (for recovery), and Pole Dancing (but this charges an extra P200.00). You can opt for these classes if you get bored and tired from doing the Circuit Program as well!

So there, I've covered everything you need to expect from 360 Fitness. You can schedule a free trial in your nearby 360 Fitness Gym. This is a tough workout, I'm telling you, but I guarantee that this will help you become more fit, stronger, and healthier. If you're into explosive, dynamic, and really challenging workouts, 360 Fitness is for you.

I recall, when I was starting in Elorde, I was one of the weakest links. I used to hopelessly look at all the seasoned members in there and wondered if I will ever reach their level one day. If you will allow me to brag, a year and 3 months later, I turned out to be one of the strongest (you can ask my trainers there, Bairns and Edel!). Here in 360 Fitness, I'm kinda' back at square one and again, a semi-weak link as all of the members here are really, really strong, but I don't feel hopeless any longer-in fact, I'm super excited to be like them one day, clocking in 5 reps of strict Pull-Ups in one go. :D

So that's all for my Fitness Journey. I'm sorta' beginning and continuing what I have started. It could only get better from here. Will get back to you in three months on my fitness journey! :)