Hello, hello! How are you all? I'm typing this on a long holiday here in Manila, for Labor Day and the ASEAN Summit. For me though, that's days spent catching up on sleep {wink, wink} + working out at spots I can't go to on a regular working day. We also took out Butters for a lot of walks and playtime with big dogs in Makati yesterday while we stayed under the sun and sipped drinks.

For the most part, my calendar is full of fitness activities. If I'm not at a studio or gym, I'm at home doing Kayla Itsines BBG workout, FitStar's guided workouts or just good old reliable YouTube tutorials on how to burn 1,000 calories.

For today, let me give you a brief review of the studios I've been working out in this past week. Did I tell you I'm on a 10-day consecutive streak? Yeah. It's not the easiest thing to do especially when it's been quite stressful at work --- but I realize that's more important than any other time. Stress ups the cortisol in the body and that hinders the burning of fat. It kinda puts the body in panic mode, hence the body kind of hoards fat for future use in any case starvation happens.

First up: Saddle Row. I was not planning to go to SR that night but I was checking my Guava Pass and I saw an opening so I immediately booked a rowing class. Been meaning to go to my first ever rowing class as I found out that my upper body skills can use some improvement. The Rowing studio is not in the main Saddle Row one in Serendra. It's farther down the hall. It's a little bit cozy and there are only 10 rowers, hence it's always booked out. They also play a variety of hip music, and it was in fact Rowchella that time I rowed. I was in a Crew class, which means 90% of the time is rowing. I had to spend a couple of minutes learning the coordination of rowing: legs arms, arms legs. The exercises had regular rowing and a variable of power strokes which give you the distance to your goal but will also kill you {haha just kidding}.
PROS: Maybe because I had weak upper body, but I ended up burning 300 calories from it and I was sweating like crazy, too. It could also strain breathing so it's important to keep breathing while rowing. I ended up rowing 4,000 meters that night, too.
CONS: If you're using GP, rowing is hard to come by and sometimes, the timing will be off for office folks like me. Otherwise, if you're a regular member, it is fun and a full body workout, too.
SWIMMING IN SWEAT FACTOR: 4 out of 5

Yoga+, BGC. This is not my first time at Yoga+ and I'd been going there for months and years even. Yoga+ have been a default yoga place for me: clean, functional, pristine, calm and inviting. Prices are reasonable too if you end up subscribing to their classes, and they have promos for BPI cardholders and Globe employees so that makes me happy. For my yoga / LISS days, I go to Yoga+!
PROS: Has branches in Makati, Ortigas, BGC! WOOT! Classes are abound so yoga all day, any day!
CONS: Can't think of any gross negative at all!
SWIMMING IN SWEAT FACTOR: Depending on the class you're going to, it can get get pretty sweaty if it's a HOT class like what I always go to. So 5 out of 5.

360 Fitness, BGC. I've gone to 360 Fitness some years ago when Circuit Training was new and back then, I died from circuit training, and got dizzy. Happy to report that I survived the HIIT class and I didn't tire as much that I now regret doing just 30 mins. It's like the usual circuit and crossfit gym, which is more like a box where you find everything and just do your thing.
PROS: Simple and functional and perfect if you just want to lift stuff, go through pull ups and all that gym-ish stuff.
CONS: However, for me, I am a very structured workout person and I tend to get shy when I have to work out on my own so I kinda shy away from these places unless it's a class.
SWIMMING IN SWEAT FACTOR: 3 out of 5. It really depends on your performance.
SHOWER/FACILITIES: Pretty simple but available and private, though you need to bring your own padlock and toiletries if you're showering.

Plana Forma, Legaspi Village, Makati. I also used to go to Plana Forma back at the time it was still in Jeco Prime Bldg. Now that it's only in Makati, I only go there when I can like this long weekend. The class I originally signed up cancelled so I immediately looked for a replacement and found Plana Forma's PILOXING. It's a combination of Pilates and Boxing and knowing Plana Forma, it can be pretty intense. I was right.
PROS: Plana Forma is pretty, clean, and has ample space for everyone. I love that it was a dance-y workout, when all you do are burpees and squat jumps, you can sometimes miss feeling like a woman. So PF made me feel like a woman again and that was a great session.
CONS: No BGC nor any other location, HUHU.
SWIMMING IN SWEAT FACTOR: Damn, yes, 4 out 5.
SHOWER/FACILITIES: Available and private and most of the attendees are women anyway so most stuff appeal to the fairer sex.