Formosa Fitness (closed) :facebook:

Life Health & Fitness
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Oh no, that’s the factory that’s making some of our equipment. The new location isn’t actually bigger but it looks like it since it’s one big room. We will have more space to work out.
It’s still under construction but here’s a quick peek:

Here’s our history in pictures. I started in the park so we’re not including that, haha a bit too humble for me. Not photogenic. But here is our progression from one space to the next. I always tried to earn the right to open a larger space by making the business grow first. Take a look:

That last shot is the new location from a different angle.
Hope some of you can visit.

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Hi FF, You’re really doing great job. I would love to join your fitness program, but unfortunately I can’t right now because of work schedule. But surely try to visit your gym soon to get some fitness tips :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

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Thanks for the compliment. We’re very happy to serve Taiwan fitness enthusiasts. We have weekend seminars for people that can’t make it during the week and that perhaps work out in other gyms but want to learn better exercise techniques. These seminars have been well-received and often sell out months in advance. We offer then at low-cost so they should be affordable to everyone. I mention this because this might be a good option for you if you’re short on time. Please check them out here: facebook.com/kettlebelltaiwan/events

In any event, please stop by if you get a chance. We love to meet new people.

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Bench press is an important lift and of course every gym guy loves it. Here’s the new bench that 's going into the HsinDian location. This thing is a tank. Should be one of the most stable you’re ever used. It’s a competition bench press used for powerlifting, etc. Just one of the unique items we’re bringing in. i plan on going through a bench press cycle when it gets here to get my bench back up again. Just looking at this makes me want to bench, haha.

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We are live! We’re having our soft opening tomorrow Monday May 10, 2015. 95% of the equipment is here. The address is HsinDian MinChuan Rd. #101 B1 新北市新店區 民權路101. Please check us out if you get a chance. We aren’t for everyone and we have a strong strength bias in the gym but we can teach you how to strength train for fat loss or any other goal. We also have lots of equipment that is really rare in Taiwan and we’re likely the only gym here with a few of these pieces. Finally, we’re having an opening special – one year for only 12,000NT from now until the end of May. June 1st the year price goes up to 15,000NT. Hope to meet a few new people. See you soon.

The view when you walk in. Open workout area is in front of the camera.

Four dedicated power racks plus a rack on the yoke makes 5 for now. The monkey rig we have coming will give us two more power racks making 7 in total.


Where the magic happens. Swing and snatch the kettlebell in front of this guy and you’ll do 10% more for sure. :slight_smile:


Our “cardio theater.” We do strength training for cardio but we do have a few dedicated cardio pieces. The Assault Air Bike and the Ski Erg are designed for high intensity interval training. Twice the workout in half the time.


competition bench press. The most stable, solid bench you’ll ever use.


45kg/100lbs plates. For serious deadlifting, something everyone at Formosa Fitness does. If you don’t know how, we’ll teach you! Great for fat loss actually


Strongman equipment. this is the best sled I’ve seen and the yoke is really nice. Looking forward to using this stuff myself. Moving heavy weights around the gym is how you get results.


A close up of our new iron plates. These cost me quite a bit but they’re worth it. I didn’t want to compromise on quality and I hope gymgoers like it. I really went out of my way to make this the best strength gym I know how. Please stop by if you get a chance.

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Congrats! The new space looks good!

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Thanks! Much appreciated. Lots of love went into this one. Keeping fingers crossed

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We had our third annual Tactical Strength Challenge this past weekend.

Everyone got three attempts at a max deadlift, one set of max pullups, and a max kettlebell snatch in 5:00. We had some strong guys and gals join us and everyone had a good time. The idea was to treat the challenge as an event to train and focus your fitness then use the event to showcase what you had done. We have these every year so feel free to join us next year if you’re so inclined.

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My new trainer Dylan has been training hard with the kettlebell and barbell following my training protocols for two months. Below are his results:

As you can see, that’s pretty impressive! He works hard and has been very diligent in following my protocols. It’s amazing what you can do in a short time when you show up consistently and just stick to the plan. I don’t know why more people don’t try that. If you want results like this, come visit either of our locations and we’ll get you started.

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Hey FF,

Any kettlebells workshops for the southern end of the island on the calendar this year? If so, when? :slight_smile:

Thanks,

UJ

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[quote=“UncleJamie”]Hey FF,

Any kettlebells workshops for the southern end of the island on the calendar this year? If so, when? :slight_smile:

Thanks,

UJ[/quote]
Yeah, sorry about that. We started those last year and said we would be back this year and it’s already July. I’ve been busy with my second location and currently working on my third. But your comment lights a fire under my butt and we’ll get on it. Let me talk to my trainers and get something scheduled for around August. Are you in Tainan or Kaoshiung?

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[quote=“Formosa Fitness”][quote=“UncleJamie”]Hey FF,

Any kettlebells workshops for the southern end of the island on the calendar this year? If so, when? :slight_smile:

Thanks,

UJ[/quote]
Yeah, sorry about that. We started those last year and said we would be back this year and it’s already July. I’ve been busy with my second location and currently working on my third. But your comment lights a fire under my butt and we’ll get on it. Let me talk to my trainers and get something scheduled for around August. Are you in Tainan or Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong)?[/quote]

3rd location?!

Please let it be Eastern Taipei! :smiley:

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[quote=“ranlee”]3rd location?!

Please let it be Eastern Taipei! :smiley:[/quote]

:slight_smile: , I wish. ZhongXiao East Rd.? Can’t afford it. Where are you at though? Maybe I can look for a location there. I was looking east of 101 but I didn’t find anything. I have a third location I want to open across from ShiDa. It will be a hybrid martial arts/fitness facility with equipment my other locations don’t have.

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Hey FF,

I am in Tainan, but Kaohsiung is equally doable. Just wanted to know the schedule for the next few months so I can plan in advance.

So, please post when you guys will be down this way.

Thanks,

UJ

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[quote=“Formosa Fitness”][quote=“ranlee”]3rd location?!

Please let it be Eastern Taipei! :smiley:[/quote]

:slight_smile: , I wish. ZhongXiao East Rd.? Can’t afford it. Where are you at though? Maybe I can look for a location there. I was looking east of 101 but I didn’t find anything. I have a third location I want to open across from Shi-Da. It will be a hybrid martial arts/fitness facility with equipment my other locations don’t have.[/quote]

I’m in Songshan. Not much better :smiley:

I understand real estate is rather expensive once you head northeast. I wouldn’t venture into ZhongXiao East Road area, the area is saturated with that world gym on top of Zara, yoga centers, dance centers, and what have you. I personally do not like that area in general, so much freakin’ traffic. To my knowledge, I know Minsheng Community does not have too too many fitness centers, however, the ones that have been there have been there for awhile.Nanjing East Road Section 3-5 and Ba De towards Songshan MRT, there’s one noticeable World Gym (at Nanjing Sanmin MRT) and a few small ones that are at basement level farther down towards Songshan MRT.

Of course you’d know best about where and what fitness centers are, just sharing what I see :smiley:

Maybe Nangang?

Not a gym goer, I like being outdoors when exercising, but I’ve been a fan of you guys ever since I joined Forumosa, unfortunately, Guting location is just a little far of a trek for me. I specifically need to start leg strengthening for cycling and I know with what you post and what everyone else says, that you can help.

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[quote=“ranlee”]I’m in Songshan. Not much better :smiley:

I understand real estate is rather expensive once you head northeast. I wouldn’t venture into ZhongXiao East Road area, the area is saturated with that world gym on top of Zara, yoga centers, dance centers, and what have you. I personally do not like that area in general, so much freakin’ traffic. To my knowledge, I know Minsheng Community does not have too too many fitness centers, however, the ones that have been there have been there for awhile.Nanjing East Road Section 3-5 and Ba De towards Songshan MRT, there’s one noticeable World Gym (at Nanjing Sanmin MRT) and a few small ones that are at basement level farther down towards Songshan MRT.

Of course you’d know best about where and what fitness centers are, just sharing what I see :smiley:

Maybe Nangang?

Not a gym goer, I like being outdoors when exercising, but I’ve been a fan of you guys ever since I joined Forumosa, unfortunately, Guting location is just a little far of a trek for me. I specifically need to start leg strengthening for cycling and I know with what you post and what everyone else says, that you can help.[/quote]

Thanks for the advice on the locations. What I’m learning now is that different areas in and around Taipei are all slightly different in terms of population, etc. and I didn’t realize that before. Some neighborhoods are older, some richer, some most people commute so they get home late, etc. There’s lots to learn! So posts like your help a lot.

Yeah, babrbell squatting just a little each week would give you a lot more stroke power. Each stroke is a % of your 1RM squat so if we get that squat to go up, then each stroke gets more powerful. At the same time, correct barbell work would correct some of the fitness and posture problems cyclists normally have. But I understand distance is an issue. If you ever decide to just visit, give me a heads up and I’ll give you a personal tour. Always love to meet new people.

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I had the pleasure of being interviewed for a podcast recently and I told my personal story of transitioning from a martial arts teacher to gym owner. I tell you what it was really like, warts and all.
Two things I hope everyone takes away from this:

  1. the business will change in ways you don’t expect but you have to go with opportunities when you see them
  2. do whatever it takes to succeed, especially when your family depends on it

And about my disappointment with the martial arts scene in Asia: it’s certainly NOT that all teachers here suck because that clearly isn’t the case. It’s that unquestioned assumption everyone has that because this is Asia, the standards must be so much higher and therefore all teachers here are better than all teachers back home. There are good teachers in Asia and in the States, etc. so if you have a good teacher anywhere, cherish them and stop thinking the grass is always greener on the other side. It often isn’t. Anyway, i hope people enjoy the podcast.
martialartsbusinessdaily.com/580 … e-chesser/

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I have just moved up to Taipei from Taichung and was interested in trying out the gym, especially the kettle bell class. Last week, my brother from Los Angeles was in town and I thought it would be great to go try out the class together since he likes to throw around kettle bells.

I called to inquire about the class. The assistant who answered said we couldn’t try a single class, but had to buy a 5 class package for 3K at a minimum. Ok, fine. So, I asked if I could just purchase the package and we use two of the “tickets” for the class. He said that was impossible, that we both need to buy 5 classes, even though my bro just had one chance to visit.

This was another example of the “mei ban fa” customer service I though would be absent from a foreign owned place. Oh well, we didn’t get a chance to take the class and now the gym lost the business of a person about to sign a membership. Thank god he followed the policy to the tee.

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Yep, that’s one of the many nice things with Formosa Fitness, they have set prices and deals and stick to them so you know everyone is paying the same, none of the bargaining BS that other gyms allow.

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[quote=“nicacio”]I have just moved up to Taipei from Taichung and was interested in trying out the gym, especially the kettle bell class. Last week, my brother from Los Angeles was in town and I thought it would be great to go try out the class together since he likes to throw around kettle bells.

I called to inquire about the class. The assistant who answered said we couldn’t try a single class, but had to buy a 5 class package for 3K at a minimum. Ok, fine. So, I asked if I could just purchase the package and we use two of the “tickets” for the class. He said that was impossible, that we both need to buy 5 classes, even though my bro just had one chance to visit.

This was another example of the “mei ban fa” customer service I though would be absent from a foreign owned place. Oh well, we didn’t get a chance to take the class and now the gym lost the business of a person about to sign a membership. Thank god he followed the policy to the tee.[/quote]

Wait, what? VERY sorry about that. That is NOT our policy. Not sure who you talked to. I don’t like “mei ban fa” either and it damn sure shouldn’t have happened, not in my gym. I’ve never had a class minimum in my gym since it opened. What you should have been told is that you would have to pay our day pass fee (NT350 at HsinDian) plus a fee for the class (NT250 or 300) each and you could take one class. I price it that way to discourage abusing the single class privilege but it’s there if people really want to just try it out.

Please PM me if you’re still around and both of you will receive a complimentary free class for this. BTW, we normally don’t give free classes at Guting since the gym is pretty full and we don’t need to do that. Again, sincere apologies.

EDIT: Okay, my trainer got confused. He was offering a set deal to certain companies for a short-term membership and got it confused with everyone that inquired. A simple mixup.

[quote=“SuperS54”]Yep, that’s one of the many nice things with Formosa Fitness, they have set prices and deals and stick to them so you know everyone is paying the same, none of the bargaining BS that other gyms allow.[/quote] Thanks for the support. I can’t stand the idea of someone paying less than me if I’m a regular customer. We try to avoid that like the plague.