Workout: How to stay fit at Thailand

For first time in my life I decided to run away from everything and everyone and spend Christmas holidays far, far away – at beach in Thailand – more precisely at Phuket. However this will not be the story how my vacation went (it will follow later on), this will be about what I did to remain in shape during my holidays.

We all know that once you are in a foreign country it is hard to stick to “clean eating” and working out regularly, however Thailand is the place where you can definitely remain in shape. 

As a lady with an explorer spirit and desire to maintain my shape I went to my condominium gym few times per week  in additional to all that walking, hiking, swimming and all other regular tourist activities.

 

Another great way to stay in shape is Boxing/ kickboxing. Thailand is  world famous for their national martial art – Muay Thai. ( A Thai martial art also known as the science of 8 limbs because you use not only your fist/feet but also your elbows and knees.)

I started practicing it last autumn and must say I really like this sport, also great way to burn calories as you engage all different kind of muscle groups. Honestly , first time when I tried it next day I had sour muscles I did not know I had them before).

Actually I was really lucky because by the time I was Bangkok it was the World Cup finals for title of King of Muay Thai so I could see them show in live.

 

Is this face scaring you? yeah, me neither! For my defense – I was just a spectator and in my training I am more serious.

The fact that this martial art is so popular can be practiced and  influence can be seen everywhere.  On my trip to Ampawa (where is floating market) we stopped at Bang Kung and we found there fax figures with most popular poses and strikes of Muay Thai.

Well we had to use opportunities to have fun.

In Phuket I discovered a great complex – training camp/gym called Sinbi where you could have Muay Thai lessons and stay for your holidays as well. A real paradise for people who want’s to learn/practice Muay Thai get in shape together with best trainers and champions of this art. Unfortunately I discovered the camp on my last days there so couldn’t manage to book a lesson but would love to return to have a proper  session.

In additional to all outdoor activities Phuket is offering  there is also a “regular” way to stay in shape – gyms! The thing that surprised me the most in Thailand was that each of the condominium has a free fitness room for the people living in the premises, so people can just come down and workout when they feel like. This is what I did to remain in shape when outside was too hot to go for a run or too rainy – my preferred time to hit the gym when the sun was going down which was every day at 6pm sharp.

Luckily each of the fitness rooms have air condition otherwise would be impossible to do any physical activities at all as it is way too hot and it is not good for body to work-out in extreme temperatures as it might cause serious injuries.

Another nice thing about Phuket is that in parks you can find exercise machines to work out or fields to play team sports, or just go for a run.

The king of Thailand has made sure that everyone get access to a “public gyms” – machines accessible to everyone at public parks.  Phuket city was not an exception – it had a wonderful park full with work out machines. I had to try out all of them. Must say – they are effective if use them often. All of them are based on your own weight and strength so even a beginner can do it. There are even instructions how to use them in Thai and in English.

 

To make it more visual I have made a video of me having fun at one of these parks! Here, have fun watching me trying all of them. (Forgive my flip flops, it was an spontaneous idea to shoot the video so was not prepared properly).

 

If ever think how to use them – my suggestion would be for each of the machine – 3 x 12 with 1 minute interval between sets, for full body blast. Don’t forget to stretch before working out to not get any sprain.

This is my fit part of my Thailand adventure, so stay tuned and the rest will come.