Formosa Fitness (closed) :facebook:

They didn’t show you once in that video. :frowning:

Being Apple Daily, it’s probably because they were concerned about your foreign hotdog.

[quote=“GuyInTaiwan”]They didn’t show you once in that video. :frowning:

Being Apple Daily, it’s probably because they were concerned about your foreign hotdog.[/quote]

You know what they told me? I kid you not: they said I was too big and a bit fierce looking so they didn’t want me in the video or pictures. Seriously. But I took that as a compliment. :slight_smile: Some of us actually have testosterone in our systems, thank God.

But I was a bit disappointed with the skinny little stick model they had demo the moves. My female trainer could break her in half. :laughing:

Yeah, I figured it might have been something like that. I watched that video of you doing the Olympic lifts. I don’t know how tall you are, but you must look like two or three Taiwanese people put together in real life. Likewise, with the model, I was really scratching my head. It’s funny how perceptions vary. In Western media, when they want a fit/fitness person, they seem to go for bigger is better. Here, it seems people find that extremely intimidating.

Yesterday, I went to a local shop with the military service guy at work and the owner (also stick thin and pale) asked who I was. Then, she realised she knew my wife. She asked him if my wife is fat. I was like, WTF? My wife weighs 53kg (which obviously makes her a hippopotamus!), runs, and does yoga. She’s done a four day hike carrying all her own stuff through the Icelandic wilderness. She probably actually has a lower bodyfat percentage than the average 45kg woman here. :loco:

Well I’m not all that tall but I guess I’m packing a lot more muscle than your average Taiwanese. Heck, my kids have more muscle than average but it might be the fact that I feed them protein powder. :slight_smile:

Don’t let them get you and your wife down. I absolutely revel in it these days. My new goal is to get so big I don’t have a neck. I want to look like John Cena.

He does the Olympic lifts BTW:

I know I’ll stick out but I just love it when my kids tell me I’m starting to look like Hulk. And if the locals are intimidated, then that’s fine too. It’s good for my business to stick out. Like a walking advertisement for my services. :smiley:

One of the best things about our gym is that it’s a group where we aren’t held back by these stereotypes that prevent most of the locals from getting fit. Example: a guy yesterday walked in and said he trained in the Juggernaut Method and he was shocked that I not only knew about the method and the guy that started it, but it’s one of my favorite programs. Our gym is just like that: we all are gathering in this one really cool place and it’s great to see.

I just wish we had some way for people like yourselves to be part of that community so you wouldn’t feel isolated in your fitness beliefs. Seriously, don’t let them get you down! Subscribe to a muscle magazine or something. Stay strong!

Actually, I am really happy this summer because i see an increasing number of local lads bulking up. Of course, I have my daily eye-icecream with my neighbor and his bike everyday, but short sleeve weather means at the MRt and on the street I have lots to look at. :howyoudoin: So please keep up with the exercise evanglism. :lovestruck:

As to the stick figure girls, it is hard to live in a country that so heavily promotes the 1.70m, 49 kilos ideal as normal. But I guess the West also has this problem. Nevertheless, I am happy to say that I can carry a microwave oven on the MRT, no sweat, all the way home. I do the 30 second, 200 meter, daily commute run without breathing hard. I like to feel strong and healthy and I hope that this idea of helathy exercise can be instilled into the public consciousness, as an alternative to the stick figure, high pitch, pale as death, walking zombie stereotype.

[quote=“Icon”]Actually, I am really happy this summer because i see an increasing number of local lads bulking up. Of course, I have my daily eye-icecream with my neighbor and his bike everyday, but short sleeve weather means at the MRT and on the street I have lots to look at. :howyoudoin: So please keep up with the exercise evanglism. :lovestruck:

As to the stick figure girls, it is hard to live in a country that so heavily promotes the 1.70m, 49 kilos ideal as normal. But I guess the West also has this problem. Nevertheless, I am happy to say that I can carry a microwave oven on the MRT, no sweat, all the way home. I do the 30 second, 200 meter, daily commute run without breathing hard. I like to feel strong and healthy and I hope that this idea of helathy exercise can be instilled into the public consciousness, as an alternative to the stick figure, high pitch, pale as death, walking zombie stereotype.[/quote]
Times, they are a changing. I also see more healthy looking young bloke and more voluptuous young ladies. I’ve also been able to convince my SO that merely puttering around on the stationary running machine isn’t the way to go, but to change her diet and to use weights is far preferable. She has a larger bone structure and is never going to conform to the 170cm 49kg mold, so I’ve been trying to get her to work to her strengths, lose excess and accentuate her curvy figure by toning with weights. So far she’s taking to it pretty well.

Well I’m certainly glad to hear others keeping the fitness faith. And yes, we are having an impact. Slowly, slowly more and more people are coming around to our way of things. I chalk some of it up to the alternatives just not working for folks. Others are like the lady Bismarck talks about – they aren’t built for normal aerobics-only type fitness and never will be. Usually when those types of folks find us it’s like a breath of fresh air since they don’t have to cardio themselves to death to get in shape.

It’ll take time but this kind of fitness is popular everywhere else so it’ll eventually catch on here and all of you will be ahead of the curb. :slight_smile:

So keep up the good work!

[quote=“Formosa Fitness”]Well I’m certainly glad to hear others keeping the fitness faith. And yes, we are having an impact. Slowly, slowly more and more people are coming around to our way of things. I chalk some of it up to the alternatives just not working for folks. Others are like the lady Bismarck talks about – they aren’t built for normal aerobics-only type fitness and never will be. Usually when those types of folks find us it’s like a breath of fresh air since they don’t have to cardio themselves to death to get in shape.

It’ll take time but this kind of fitness is popular everywhere else so it’ll eventually catch on here and all of you will be ahead of the curb. :slight_smile:

So keep up the good work![/quote]
I still think we should open a gym in Tainan or Kaohsiung! :smiley:

I live and train in Hsinchu. Do you do pay by visit? I’d like to come up maybe a couple times in the future to check it out and train with some like minded people. It’s too far for me to come as often as I train, but I’d like to do it once or so.

Also, any idea where I can buy chalk and a decent belt (oly or PL doesn’t matter, I left mine at home)

[quote=“Wheybrotein”]I live and train in Hsinchu. Do you do pay by visit? I’d like to come up maybe a couple times in the future to check it out and train with some like minded people. It’s too far for me to come as often as I train, but I’d like to do it once or so.

Also, any idea where I can buy chalk and a decent belt (oly or PL doesn’t matter, I left mine at home)[/quote]

Hi and welcome! Our day pass would be for you. It’s only NT300, half what our competition charges.

About chalk, we get ours in liquid form at the climbing shops on ZhongShan N. Rd just east of Taipei Main Station. The liquid chalk is good because it’s less messy, takes very little to be effective, travels easily, it’s just good all around. About belts, I’m not finding any right now. All my links to local sources seem to have dried up. I suggest checking http://class.ruten.com.tw/category/sub00.php?c=000300110005 periodically and if you see something you want, don’t wait to get it since it might be gone next time.

[quote=“Formosa Fitness”][quote=“Wheybrotein”]I live and train in Hsinchu. Do you do pay by visit? I’d like to come up maybe a couple times in the future to check it out and train with some like minded people. It’s too far for me to come as often as I train, but I’d like to do it once or so.

Also, any idea where I can buy chalk and a decent belt (oly or PL doesn’t matter, I left mine at home)[/quote]

Hi and welcome! Our day pass would be for you. It’s only NT300, half what our competition charges.

About chalk, we get ours in liquid form at the climbing shops on ZhongShan N. Rd just east of Taipei Main Station. The liquid chalk is good because it’s less messy, takes very little to be effective, travels easily, it’s just good all around. About belts, I’m not finding any right now. All my links to local sources seem to have dried up. I suggest checking http://class.ruten.com.tw/category/sub00.php?c=000300110005 periodically and if you see something you want, don’t wait to get it since it might be gone next time.[/quote]

Thanks for the reply. I also use liquid chalk, much better imo… just not as hardcore! Thanks for the link, I’ll check it every now and then and hopefully have a new belt soon!
One day pass sounds good, I’ll come up one weekend soon!

Steve Maxwell is coming to Taiwan!

Formosa Fitness is proud to be sponsoring Steve on his first visit to NE Asia. This will be his first cert in the area. Steve is a pioneer in the fitness industry, a popular DVD presenter, and his seminars are well known around the world.

His workout DVDs include the Spartan 300 Bodyweight Workout and the Spartacus Workout.

He was one of the first BJJ black belts in the States and is an expert on BJJ and MMA conditioning.

For more info on the seminar, please see the Formosa Fitness blog: formosafitness.com/?p=867

Thanks!

Woohoo! New barbells arrived. Olympic lifts, anyone? Glad to be bringing quality equipment to people that appreciate it!

We were on ETTV news last night. The clip for the segment isn’t up yet but here’s the writeup.

http://www.ettoday.net/news/20120817/88793.htm

Thanks to ETTV news for this and thanks to my two trainers that helped out. For one, it was his first day on the job and he performed very well. What a way to get broken in.

Very happy to see this! We had a new PR set today by one of our friends at the gym: 197kg deadlift! You’ll see lots of people working on their deadlift here and getting strong.

So if you’re looking for a place to get seriously strong and fit and you’re tired of playing around, come visit us!

I just want to post this here to save it. Feedback like this keeps up the spirits on rainy days!

Hi Formosa Fitness! what kind of equipment do you guys have? I’d like to be able to do full leg/chest/back workouts. Is that possible over at your place? What would be the training fee for 5 months of training?

Thank you in advance!

Kind regards,

Ben

[quote=“Taiwanviking”]Hi Formosa Fitness! what kind of equipment do you guys have? I’d like to be able to do full leg/chest/back workouts. Is that possible over at your place? What would be the training fee for 5 months of training?

Thank you in advance!

Kind regards,

Ben[/quote]

Ben,
Hi. We’re primarily a functional fitness gym. We have three power racks, tons of free weights and barbells, Concept2 rowers, kettlebells, etc.

We have a short term membership for people like you. It’s NT1500 per month, pay by the month, so it’s very flexible. You should really stop by and check us out. We aren’t like any other gym in Taiwan.
Our location: formosafitness.com/?page_id=42

Hope to see you soon!

Master trainer Steve Maxwell is on his way here. Very excited and a little nervous about this. We’ve never done anything this big. Here’s his message to Taiwan:

To my knowledge, we’re the first gym here to bring someone like him over and we made it all happen with no support from the mainstream fitness community. He’s teaching a series of short seminars this week for us:
300 Spartan Bodyweight Training – facebook.com/events/288129861288399/
Advanced Kettlebells – facebook.com/events/532193426806772/
Mobility Conditioning – facebook.com/events/120189738133343/

Anyone looking to upgrade their gym routines or home fitness workouts would greatly benefit from attending these seminars. Steve’s material is great because it can be done anywhere.

He’s also running his Fundamentals of Human Movement certification this Saturday and Sunday. I’m proud to say we sold out the cert in two weeks, but folks who missed it can still take the shorter seminars.

This really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Setting all this up on our own was pretty stressful and I’m not sure if I’ll be willing to do it again. Hope to see some new faces at the seminars.


Right now we’re hosting one of the most knowledgeable trainers I ever met, Steve Maxwell. He’s showing us things that are just blowing our minds. His breadth and depth of knowledge is amazing. He’s been in the fitness industry longer than I’ve been alive and we’re so glad to have him.

But I wonder when we talk about bringing him here or other aspects of the business, if people might think we’re bragging or showing off. That’s not what we’re doing.

At Formosa Fitness, we compete as a business based on quality — quality of information, quality of services we provide, etc. We aren’t the biggest gym in Taiwan and we know that. But I’ll be darned if we aren’t going to be the best.

Bringing in someone like Steve improves every aspect of what we do. The information he gives us is passed on to you through our personal training, group classes, seminars, our DVDs, and everything else. This was the reason I flew to other countries to study under some of the best in the world — it was about bringing back quality information. And it’s the reason we’re now bringing the best in the world here.

We love what we do at Formosa Fitness and we hope you do, too. So any time we can do what we love even better than before, then it makes us happy. And as a customer, it will make you happy, too. We all benefit from these things and that’s what it’s all about.

So when you see us promoting the things we do, please realize that we’re aren’t bragging and that it isn’t just about us — it’s about growing in what we love and that’s also about you. You’re an important part of this and we value your support.