The Lab's culture of fitness

THE LAB, a fitness-training studio at the end of Soi Sukhumvit 31, has all the electronic exercise bikes and treadmills you need, but, more importantly, it offers personal training, tailor-made to each individual’s health condition and lifestyle, and certified professionals are there to guide you every step of the way.

Briton Richard Cohen brings 15 years’ experience to the Lab, an operation he started at his own home on Soi Thong Lor with small group classes in 2008 before relocating last year to spacious premises in the RSU Tower.

His one-on-one sessions set the Lab apart from most gyms. The emphasis is on movement, lifting, running and twisting to build up strength and agility and avert injury.  

“I’ve lived in Thailand for nine years, and when I first came here there were just a few fitness centres in Bangkok,” says Cohen. “In my first training studio I started with a very small group, and then got much busier because my sessions are so effective. My customers told their friends and more people wanted to train with me.

“The studio offers more flexible schedules for individual training, and now I have nine certified trainers always standing by,” he says. “If someone comes in who hasn’t done any exercise in a long time, they don’t need to worry – we’re ready to help them rebuild their strength, remedy any injuries and advise about nutrition.”

And exercise, he likes to point out, also helps you sleep better.

The original centre in the RSU Tower has 180 square metres where the occasional actress and fashion model mingles in with the office workers and expatriates. Now there’s a second studio, one floor down, with a whopping 500 square metres. It has much more equipment, ranging from Olympic bars, dumbbells, kettle bells, TRX suspension trainers, ViPR and free-form tools like big tyres, ceiling ropes and gymnastic rings. 

This is where the group classes are held, and upstairs is the personal training. The Lab also has “private group training” sessions called BYOB (Bring Your Own Body).

“We run 40 groups of fitness class every week,” Cohen explains. “It’s quite flexible. My trainers have lots of experience and are highly qualified. They’ll design the fitness programme to suit the customer’s needs. Some people want to build muscle, others want to relieve pain from injuries and still others want to improve their performance in sports. And, of course, a lot of people just want to stay fit and firm.”

The trainers show clients how to move without causing injury, demonstrating how the core muscles work. The high-intensity sessions called Simply Shredded are great for building strength, using weights and resistance.

There’s a Combat Zone where clients work out with muay thai, Olympic-style boxing and MMA (mixed martial arts) drills involving ropes and sandbags. All of these are ideal cardiovascular exercise.

And Power Hour involves making three circuits of the gym to power up strength, speed and stamina and keep that heart ticking along.

 

 

EXCELLENT RESULTS

>>The Lab is on the second and third floors of the RSU Tower at the corner of Soi Sukhumvit 31. It’s open on weekdays from 7am to 9pm and on weekends from 9 to 6.

>>A 30-minute class costs Bt350, a one-hour session Bt600. Training packages range in price from Bt2,250 to Bt68,000.

>>Call (02) 662 1618 or (084) 130 4001 or visit www.TBTLab.com.