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Singapore Fitness

Is co-wellness the new co-working?

Is co-wellness the new co-working? An inside look at the expansion of co-working into the fitness world

Over the last 5 years, there has been a substantial increase in co-working spaces in Singapore. They offer a new approach to work-life balance and traditional corporate work structures. With the ‘lion city’ recently taking over Silicon Valley as the no.1 city for global startup talent, the demand for spaces that encourage this collaborative and cross-industry business approach is only going to grow.

(Image source: TheWorkingCapitol.com) The GuavaPass team at The Working Captiol

The primary features of Singapore co-working spaces which have attracted the likes of Hootsuite, Stripe Buzzfeed, Spotify and GuavaPass include the countless networking opportunities, almost unlimited hours, and facilities which trump those of traditional office spaces.

Co-working spaces such as The Working Capitol, The Great Room and Latice80 have recently been joined by a new type of collaborative space. The term ‘co-wellness’ is relatively new to the fitness and health industry. GuavaLabs is the first in Asia to launch a co-wellness facility with a revolutionary approach to corporate fitness, freelance instructor control and turn-key studio rental facilities.

GuavaLabs Mandarin Gallery, Orchard in 2016

GuavaLabs was originally launched in 2016 by GuavaPass, when the co-founders saw an opportunity to bring the concept of co-working into the fitness space. The first 2,000-square-foot GuavaLabs based in the Mandarin Gallery was designed to provide space for a studio or a trainer to run their own class in a well-equipped workout facility. The space gained such keen interest from instructors and studio owners, that the need for expansion was inevitable.

GuavaLabs OUE Downtown – Concierge and lobby

So, early last month, GuavaPass opened a new a fully functional, 4-room training complex in the heart of the CBD, providing fitness teachers the space needed to help grow their business at minimal cost, maximum return and total control.

GuavaLabs – Lounge area and retail space

The 3,000+ sq ft GuavaLabs in the recently constructed OUE Downtown Gallery provides a state-of the art fitness experience for experts and their members. From the seamless personalised booking system (instructors can book rooms here and clients can book classes here) to the wellness concierge upon entry, to the immaculate facilities, GuavaLabs represents the best the co-wellness concept has to offer.

GuavaLabs – The Yoga Room

The GuavaLabs includes a Yoga room (35 pax), a Pilates/Barre/TRX room (25 pax), a Personal training and Bootcamp room (25 pax) and a radical new boxing studio, STILL Boxing. The rooms can be booked by the hour, with flexibility in the time, day or number of continued bookings. Each space features everything needed for personal or group classes, making it a seamless, turn-key experience for both the trainer and their students.

GuavaLabs – The Pilates/TRX/Dance Room

As an instructor, you can rent space with complete control over the cost of a class. Your clients are provided with a personal booking URL and all attendance, payment, and registration can be optionally managed by GuavaLabs. Classes can even be placed on the GuavaPass app if trainers are looking for exposure and to increase their market reach

GuavaLabs – The PT Room

GuavaLabs includes impressive amenities including showers and bathrooms fitted with luxury Ashley and Co. products, a fully staffed refuel station run by long-standing GuavaPass partners Juice Junkie, and a retail space housing activewear fit for any workout.

GuavaLabs – Bathrooms with full amenities

GuavaLabs – Refuel at the Juice Junkie smoothie bar

STILL boxing is an entirely new concept in boxing fitness, combining the cardio and agility of boxing with HIIT training and strength workouts in one hour-long test of fitness and endurance. Adidas sponsored athlete Liona Hui has been teaching boxing for four years and her residency at this revolutionary studio is drawing an excited crowd to her daily classes. The space is fitted with Asia’s first Aqua Bags and an impressive multi colored light show with music to match it’s hyped energy.

STILL Boxing – by GuavaLabs

Opened at the beginning of July 2017, GuavaLabs has already gained a sizable following of empowered teachers, impressed students and GuavaPass members. This is definitely a co-wellness space to watch.

Interested in the space? Email us at laura@guavapass.com with your questions.

August 2, 2017 0 comment

Singapore Sweat

How to Fit Exercise Into Your Daily Routine

written by Laura Fitzpatrick

As a GuavaPass member, you have access to a huge range of workout classes varying in styles, length and difficulty level throughout the entire day. Ranging from 30 minutes to over an hour and a half long sessions, GuavaPass classes allow you to fit in a workout, no matter what your time restriction is. Ooberfit’s OoberXpress class is one of the more efficient, 45-minute workouts on GuavaPass. It incorporates cardio, resistance training and HIIT for a full body, fat burning and toning session. Today’s lunch time class was held at Marina Boulevard along the water. Outdoor bootcamps give you a nice change from the usual gym scenery, whilst taking your mind and body away from the desk into your workout. With locations across Singapore and varying class lengths to suit your needs, Ooberfit disproves every excuse you have to not workout today.

Xpress HIIT for an Xpress class

The OoberXpress class is another great High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) boot camp. It’s programed to burn fat, build lean muscle and increase your cardiovascular fitness. HIIT training usually follows a standard pattern with 30-45 seconds of high intensity exercises such as squats, punching or sprints, followed with 10-20 seconds of rest. Athletes use HIIT training to improve endurance, body builders use it to cut body fat, and personal trainers use it with their clients to achieve their fitness and body shape goals.

Location, location, location…and squats

OoberXpress at Ooberfit

Today’s class was instructed by Ooberfit professional, Sam. Her specialty is in training prenatal and post-mummies wanting to get their waistline back. With her regular members turning up, she made the class of 5 a fun and interesting workout that kept everyone amused and focused. To start the warm up, the class ran along the boulevard to loosen up the legs and pick up the heart rate. With such a great location and view, running will always be in the routine for this class! Afterwards, each member of the class was given a station and an exercise that we would each complete for 30 seconds. In the usual HIIT style it followed with a 10 second break, and then a rotation in the circuit. Along with battle ropes, crunches, medicine ball squats and a few other HIIT workouts, the class worked one by one through exercises, with each getting more and more challenging the seconds past.

Fast-tracking abs at OoberXpress

OoberXpress at Ooberfit

One great feature of this class was the extreme ab workout before the cool down, with a great focus on the obliques and lower abs. As the class fell onto their stomachs after the final 10 seconds of plank holds, the midday sweat session came to an end with some great spinal twists and stretches. Although the members were challenged throughout the session, the class was a great option for boot camp first timers. The 45-minute workout didn’t feel rushed and was just as (if not more) effective than most hour and a half long gym sessions.

Ooberfit runs classes at Botanic Gardens, Tanjong Rhu and Clementi along with Greenfield, West Coast and Vista Park. Their OoberXpress classes are just one of the many bootcamps on the GuavaPass ap, making training fast, enjoyable and available to everyone.

Bring your own mat, water and towel

#GuavaTip: Sam is a mother herself and has great insight on staying fit for mothers or mothers-to-be.

January 14, 2017 0 comment

Calisthenics at Singapore Calisthenics Academy

Singapore Sweat

How to build a Calisthenics body

written by Laura Fitzpatrick

Calisthenics is a method of repetitive exercises using only the resistance of your body to increase strength. As a result, exercises that require no weights (such as push-ups, squats, pull-ups and sit-ups) are the main focus in the class. The continued practice of calisthenics results in overall body toning and growth of muscle due to the natural development of strength.

The Calisthenics method

The first thought that came to my mind when someone mentioned Calisthenics was an intricate gymnastics technique or a delicate floor routine. Turns out I was very wrong. At the Singapore Calisthenics Academy, there’s nothing delicate about the way the classes are designed. Through a series of body-weight and stability exercises, the large muscles that are required in lifting yourself are pushed to their limit, giving your body a real change from the normal weight-bearing exercises. Singapore Calisthenics Academy’s signature Calisthenics class is an intense, hour-long test of your own strength, flexibility, mobility and balance, making it one of the hardest workouts I’ve completed!

Singapore Calisthenics Academy

A class of flexibility, core and stamina

The class consisted of only a handful of movements, but were extremely difficult to perform. The instructor walked the class through some standard flexibility tests, making sure the shoulders, knees and hips were opened up and prepared for the hour to come. Mobility exercises are a key component to Calisthenics as the practice is based on the entire body’s movement, not just the strength or size of a particular muscle group.

Singapore Calisthenics Academy

Attacking the entire upper body

After our stretch and flex, we moved into a few rounds of pull-ups and push-ups. Sound simple? Guess again. After 4 rounds of wide-grip, shoulder-width and close grip pull-ups, followed by the same styles of push-ups – wide, shoulder-width then close – my entire upper-body was exhausted. Following this was a few rounds of abdominal and oblique holds, and finishing with a huge set of push-ups and squats. The session wasn’t designed for beginners so keep that in mind when you book in – you’ll be pushed as hard as everyone else and will all reap the same feeling of success at the end.

Singapore Calisthenics Academy

Developing your fitness on a new level

When training calisthenics properly like with the team at the Singapore Calisthenics Academy, it promotes the development of lean muscles whilst increasing your overall strength, endurance, flexibility and mobility. Compared to weightlifting which focuses mainly on the increase in strength and muscle size, Calisthenics provides you with extensive benefits across your entire body, making it a perfect all-over toning and sculpting workout.

Book through GuavaPass today!

Amenities: Lockers, showers, water refill, paid parking

#GuavaTip: If you’re like me and you haven’t fully yet developed the ability to properly do a pull-up properly, there are resistance bands on hand to wrap around the bar to help you lift up.

January 2, 2017 0 comment