Recreational runners, cyclists and triathletes out there… have you been training to improve on your personal best timings… but to no effect?

You may be able to finally achieve your goals with the Capital Tower Sports Performance, which offers Fitness First members with a brand new training experience.

The Fitness First network consists of a diverse range of exercise facilities and classes, such as the signature Freestyle Group Training Series, group fitness classes including cycling and dancing, as well as outdoor boot camps and swimming pools. Within the CBD alone, there are Fitness First clubs at 100AM, Marina Bay Financial Centre, One Raffles Quay, market Street and One George Street – and the Capital Tower Sports Performance Centre – will add to all of these.

Located on the 9th floor of Capitol Tower at Robinson Road, the Capital Tower Sports Performance has been designed to help more people train like competitive athletes and master the foundational movement skills that are required to play any sport.

FITNESS FIRST WANTED TO CREATE SOMETHING UNIQUE AND DIFFERENT

Said Andrew Philips, Managing Director of Fitness First Singapore, “We already have 15 Fitness First clubs in our network and we continue to grow them, but this time round, we did not just want to repeat what we had already done. We wanted to create something uniquely different. So we surveyed our members and looked at the developing and emerging trends in sports.”

Philips added, “Our research told us that people are exercising on weekends more than weekdays, and in a competitive or group format. At the same time, we wanted to create something that our members would not have to pay for. They could improve their performance in sport and their results and confidence would rise, but nothing else would change additionally for them. That was where the idea for Capital Tower Sports Performance was born.”

MEDIA WAS INVITED TO AN EXCLUSIVE TOUR AT THE NEW FITNESS FIRST CLUB

Members of the media were recently invited to an exclusive tour at the Capitol Tower Sports Performance, where we had the chance to take a look around the club and check out the facilities there, for ourselves.

Besides the regular gym equipment such as the treadmill and weights equipment, what had caught my eye was the swimming pool and the rock climbing/bouldering wall that are available for gym members to use.

NEW CLASSES BEING OFFERED EXCLUSIVELY AT THE CAPITAL TOWER SPORTS PERFORMANCE CLUB

These new types of equipment ties in with Fitness First’s focus on dynamic movement training, which gives three time the benefits of regular isolation training. And to match this philosophy, the club also introduces six specialised classes that are focused on improving athletic capacity – which can only be found exclusively at the Capital Tower Sports Performance outlet.

The six classes that are being offered are as follows:

• Swim – This class focuses on swimming, as the name suggests.Said Percy Reynolds, Head of Fitness at Fitness First Singapore, “Our swim conditioning classes are used to improve swimming times; we have had people who are beginners trying to make distance, or those who want to improve their lap speed and we coach based on technique and breathing patterns.”
• Run – As the name suggests this class focuses on improving running performance by teaching runners more about cadence and strides per minute.Said Philips, “Running is self explanatory. If you look at the past two years, the number of organised runs have doubled but they are all crammed in during the weekends, with sometimes more than one run being organised a day. So we have a class that caters to the growing number of runners – this is a periodisation programme focused on improving your 10km, half marathon or full marathon timings, and is targeted towards the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore.”
• TRI (triathlon) – This class aims to improve performance in triathlon events.Said Reynolds, “The class incorporates the bike, treadmill or pool, and the coaches will work through each phase of a triathlon. Sometimes they will do a brick class which consists of two types of training as well.”
• Primal – The focus of this class is on functional fitness.Said Reynolds, “We focus on the seven primal movements of the human physiology and coaching people to move better, while giving them alternatives to their workouts.”
• Athletica – This class focuses on strength and conditioning.Said Reynolds, “This is a programme that is periodised to include power, strength and agility so it is directly related to athletics. It is like a barbell related class and you need a lot of intensity.”At the media launch event, I had tried out this class, and it was really intense. To me, it is basically like a HIIT (high intensity interval training) class comprising of a mixture of weights and body-weight training, but is more tiring than other HIIT classes that I have previously been to.For example just before the end of the class, when we were all feeling exhausted and sweaty – after having completed a series of kettlebell swings, sandbag throws and other similar exercises – we were then subjected to 8 x 20-second reps of burpees, done tabata style. I couldn’t take it anymore, halfway through it! But like all HIIT classes, it felt great after I had completed everything, of course.

  This class, as well as the PRIMAL class, can be performed on the SYNRGY360 exercise frame – a highly versatile exercise frame that is new to the Capital Tower Sports Performance club and is used for a wide range of standing as well as ground-based exercises which is central to the dynamic movement training philosophy at the new Fitness First club.

• Mobile – This class focuses on self-myofascial release.Said Reynolds, “The aim of this class is to put pressure on the superficial fascia lines that are bound from lack of hydration of over-strenuous training, to help people move more freely and to improve their posture. These are typically done for 20 – 30 minutes before or after a main class.”

INTENSITY LEVEL OF THE CLASSES ARE UNIQUE

According to Reynolds, the intensity level of the classes at Capital Tower Sports Performance sets them apart from those at most other gyms.

He explained, “The intensity level is the most unique factor. It is taught at a 90% of one’s maximum heart rate capacity – so they consist of very intense short bouts and are done with dynamic movement training.”

Continued Reynolds, “This means training the body in a 3D pattern specifically in the trans-verse rotational plain because that is where sport lives; all power is derived from the ankles, hips and the spine. So we focus on these areas to stabilise and strengthen the body in the long term.”

The intensity of the classes are designed to push members beyond their comfort zone according to Fitness First. Explained Philips, “It is easy for people to go out and say, do a 45-minute base run, that is, to run for 45 minutes at their own pace. But when people choose that, they are not pushing their body to the limit.”

He continued, “But the body grows when it is pushed outside of its comfort zone – the majority of our classes are thus designed to supplement your training by making you do a more intense workout than you normally would. If you are by yourself, unless you have a programme and are sticking to it, chances are, you will choose to keep the pace easier.”

However Reynolds also pointed out that each class is meant to pit every person against himself or herself only, rather than against your classmates despite the high intensity of the sessions. He explained “You go in at your own capacity and train against time, competing against your own personal bests and bettering your own abilities.”

Added Reynolds, “But no matter what, give yourself time to recover from any exercise that you do – it is not beneficial to overtrain your body. The thing with most fitness fanatics is that they may not give their body enough time to rest and rehab from the things that they have put it through.”

GIVES MEMBERS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR FITNESS NEEDS

Besides the actual classes, the new Fitness First club also offers The Lab, which is a set of four fitness evaluations to give members a comprehensive understanding of their training needs.

At The Lab, members will have access to the Fit3D ProScanner – this is a 40-second scan that maps a range of body measurements onto a 360-degree avatar to allow members to visualise their goal easily. This is a first amongst Fitness First clubs in Singapore.

The Media also got to meet the Team Fitness First athletes, such as triathlete Choo Ling Er, marathoner Lexxus Tan and basketball player Michael Wong, who are all looking to improve their performance in their chosen sports with the Fitness First Capital Tower Sport Performance programmes. When we saw them, they had all been busy training.

Explained Philips, “The Capital Tower Sports Performance Centre is a club that has been specially designed to use the latest technology combined with the industry’s best fitness experts, to help members understand and improve their fitness levels. We hope to spur more people on to beat their personal bests, whether they are new to the gym, seasoned gym goers, triathletes or professional athletes.”

He added, “So attend the Capital Towers Sports Performance Centre classes regularly and we are confident that you will better your performance when it comes to race day.”

Find out more information on the new club, at fitnessfirst.com.sg/clubs/capitol-tower/ or ring them up at 6536-5595.