Fitness Update: Now A Bro + Gold's Gym review

This may be the most boring fitness update I will ever write. Well because I can't show any significant progress yet, but yeah, let me just update everyone on where I am in my fitness journey.

So it's been 3 months (or was it 4?) since my last update. There have been a few changes in my body and weight: Firstly, I lost 3 lbs. Wohoo. Lastly, I could finally do a Negative Pull Up with Isometric hold on top without the aid of a pull- up band so yay. 

However, my arm joints began to hurt as days went by. I consulted a fitness expert about this and he said that the only possible explanation behind this is my back is not strong enough to support me on top of the bar and as I go down from it negatively, thus I end up transferring my entire weight on my joints unconsciously. He's basically saying that I'm putting 151lbs. and 92% muscle mass on my joints every time I do the pull up. I had my reservations on his observation at first, but when I did the same pull up while focusing on my joints and back at the same time, I realized that he was right: My weak back couldn't handle the demand of the exercise, thus my joints have no choice but to save me even if it's not their job. My back muscles still have a lot of growing up to do.

I've researched about the best progression exercises for strict pull up and all sources and experts agree that aside from band and human assists, Lat Pull Down machines are highly recommended to use in order to progress to your first strict pull up properly and safely.

So where do I find a Lat Pull Down machine? In a bro gym.

Ladies and Gents, I'm officially a bro.

To those who are looking forward to my progress with 360 Fitness Plus, I am informing everyone with a heavy heart that my journey with them has ended as I already transferred to Gold's Gym.

But why?

It is because I have developed a fondness for body building while I was still a member of 360: Most days, I'd always be seen in the lifting area of the gym, pumping my mini guns, instead of doing their signature circuit. Given the case, I thought: "Maybe I should be working out in a body building gym, not here", and so I quit. I realized that this gym is in no way conducive to body building and I can't achieve my goals there, which is more fat loss, more muscle mass, and a chiseled physique (hopefully!). But no offense to 360 Fitness Plus-their gym, program, plus the coaches there are great-it's just that my fitness goals, needs, and preferences have already changed. ;)

I am now working out in Gold's Gym in BGC-it's clean, fab, the machines are awesome, and they have a sauna too. (Yay! I love saunas. :D) It's basically a bro's ideal gym because it's got all the necessary machines to help me achieve my current goals. FYI, Gold's is a force in the world of body building because they produced some of the world's renowned and up-and-coming body builders.

Gold's Gym, to date, is the gym that has the most flexible membership terms. To the uninitiated, Gold's offers the following memberships: Regular and Per Visit. 

Regular membership offers unlimited gym visits and passes to all their classes every month and terms are 3 months, semi- annual, and annual. 

Per Visit membership is based on, of course, visits and you almost get the same perks as the regular membership, except that your visits are limited. Packages begin with a minimum of 10 visits and maximum of 144 visits, and are all valid for one year upon purchasing. 

The Per Visit membership is cheaper than Regular membership and I chose the former at 144 visits (P18,000.00)-I chose this package because I don't live in the gym and I can only train two to three times per week because of my schedule in my biz and blog so purchasing a Regular membership would be quite impractical for me.

For the payment terms, you can pay via cash and Credit Card. For the latter mode of payment, you can pay the amount of your chosen membership regularly or choose deferred payment at 0% interest for 1 year.

Gold's Gym exclusive classes are as follow: Spinning, Piloxing, Body Circuit, Boot Camp (body weight cardio), and Zumba to name a few. As for the cons of the gym, they don't have Kettlebells and jumping ropes, two free hand exercising equipments that I love using when I feel like taking a day off from the oly bar. Basically, they don't have stuff for conditioning workouts because Gold's is all about body building-if you prefer conditioning, what they can only offer are Spinning, Boot Camp, and Dance classes. Also, there isn't enough floor space to do floor exercises-there's a dance room where you can do these, but you will have a hard time securing a spot in there as it's almost always occupied because of the classes, unless you come in around past lunch time or mid-afternoon when there are no classes most of the time. I don't mind these caveats though because I went here for the machines! :)

It's been a month since I started working out in Gold's and here's a little progress:

I've been abusing the Lat Pull Down machine and the result has been pretty cool. The photo on the left shows the progress of my upper body, which I have been working on painstakingly for the last 4 months: My deltoids are getting bigger, arms are starting to develop those humps, and if you look closely at my back, there are a few dips and lumps already, a sign that the muscles in there are growing. Yeeessss. :D

You might be wondering what the picture on the right is for. I just want to show everyone, particularly to women who are afraid of lifting because they think it will make them bulky, that that's what an average woman will look like when she lifts-she will look normal and lean. You will only look big if you flex your muscles like what I did on the photo on the left, but it would definitely be silly (and tiring!) to flex your muscles the whole day. Ladies, I hope this photo somehow puts an end to all your doubts on weightlifting and body building. :)

Other small progressions are: My leg press is now 100 lbs. from 90 and finally! I have improved on my oly bar deadlift (with proper form) as well: I went up from 100 to 110lbs. :D

So yeah, that's my fitness update for now. Updating y'all soon in 3 months. 

What's your fitness progress lately?