Get a head start on fitness

With Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year around the corner, it is tempting to start a fitness regime after the feasting has ended. But studies have shown that there is no better time than the present, to start exercising. 

Waiting for a new week, month or year to start may set you up for failure. And while you may think that starting on a future date is something to look forward to, often the truth is, you’re just procrastinating.

Working out may be the last thing on your mind now, but when 2023 comes around, you would have gotten the momentum going. We find two places that will help get you on the right track.

Project Send

8 Raffles Avenue, Esplanade Mall, #02-29 projectsend.co

If you are thinking of trying a new workout that doesn’t involve going to the yoga studio or gym, consider bouldering, which is fast gaining popularity in Singapore.

Unlike rock climbing, bouldering does not require special equipment such as harnesses and lines as walls are usually less than 5 m high.

But like rock climbing, there are different routes to scale the wall, depending on the level of difficulty.

Protective mattresses are placed below the bouldering walls, and participants are first taught to jump off the wall safely when necessary. The safe way to fall is to land on the feet with bent knees and roll onto the back. Ideally, the participant should climb down the wall.

One of Singapore’s newest bouldering studios is Project Send, founded by married couple Kenneth Ng and Sarah Chua, who picked up the sport about a year ago, while looking for alternative workouts during the pandemic.

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Chua says: “We want Project Send to be a people-first space, where climbers of different levels can come together as a community.” To make it a friendly space, there’s even an in-house cafe where the public can have a coffee without having to climb. “Those who are curious about climbing can hang out with us, have a coffee and watch the climbers,” adds Chua.

There are 14 walls spread across the 5,200 sq ft space, which were designed by Swiss climber Patrick Andrey, a seasoned alpinist and pioneer in the climbing wall manufacturing industry. 

With its prime location at the Esplanade, Andrey designed some of the walls to have views of the Marina Bay area, which gives bouldering at Project Send a more visual experience.

Project Send offers 12 climbing grades and over 70 routes. It gets a good mix of both new and experienced climbers. Chua says its early opening time, at 6.30am, means that there are office folks who come to climb before heading to work. On Fridays and Saturdays, it opens till 1.30am, for the late night crowd. You can’t use the “I’ve no time” excuse here.

Ng and Chua don’t want to make Project Send a place only for bouldering, which is why they’ve also introduced training programmes, such as calisthenics, mobility and strength to help members get better at the sport.

There is also a 10-week climbing and fitness programme that teaches technical skills and fundamentals for effective climbing movements. The programme also helps improve overall body strength, mobility and fitness.

Sphere

137 Cecil St, #01-02/03 sphere365.sg

Those who work in the CBD are spoilt for choice when it comes to finding a gym to work out at, but there’s nothing quite like Sphere.

Sphere is a fitness and recovery studio, with top level executives at multinational corporations, professional athletes, entrepreneurs, creatives and high-performing professionals as its members. 

Co-founder Bowen You says: “Sphere was started to introduce modern recovery methods in a curated environment to Singapore, given the lack of recovery options here despite a massive international population who use these services regularly in cities such as New York, Los Angeles and London.”

Allan Ng, Sphere’s other co-founder adds: “Sphere represents a new expression of physicality, functionality and design integrating recovery and performance optimisation in a singular space. We wanted to introduce new perspectives on what self-optimisation can be in a rapidly developing city like Singapore.”

On the ground floor is the performance space, where personal training and semi-private training sessions for up to six people are conducted. 

Ng, himself a trainer, says: “The sessions are structured with intention as the foundation, with awareness building, resilience development and physical and mental performance as the key focus.”

Design firm Parable Studio created the space to allow members to focus on their real purpose of being at Sphere.

For example, the performance space is all-white, making it conducive for clients to prime the mind and body for learning.

The second floor houses the recovery section. “The use of dim lightning in this area relaxes the mind and softens the senses,” says You.

Sphere offers three recovery modalities: infrared sauna, cold plunge pool and flotation pool.

Regular infrared sauna use is said to help improve cardiovascular health, physical endurance as well as boost human growth hormone levels for muscular development. 

Going into the cold plunge pool, where the water temperature is set between five and 11 degrees Celsius, is believed to increase metabolic rate, improve energy levels and improve mental focus.

Cycling between infrared sauna sessions, cold plunge and rest improves blood circulation, reduces stress levels, and sharpens the body and mind. Contrast therapy improves energy levels and mood and boosts post-performance recovery, so athletic and creative clients can be invigorated.

Relaxing in the flotation pool is said to help spinal decompression, improve circulation, reduces stress and fosters deep, restful sleep.

“The recovery modalities were selectively chosen to be synergistic with one another and with our performance product in mind,” says Ng.

While members have the option to do either performance or recovery, many are choosing to do both, under its APEX programme, which is customised for seamless integration of the two.