I always welcome new experiences, and I’ll try any workout at least once. So when I got the chance to experience training at Focus Athletics, I (practically) jumped at it.
Focus Athletics is the brainchild of former events promoter Paolo Cabalfin. When the first Focus Athletics gym opened its doors in Makati, it made a way for even non-athletes to access the kind of attentive care and support professional athletes get when it came to functional training, recovery, and medical consultation. With coaches and physical therapists trained under the Athletes’ Performance Institute methodology, Focus Athletics gives each individual personalized programs tailor-made to your fitness level and goals. Focus Athletics has helped professional athletes like basketball player Chris Tiu recover from career-threatening injuries to become even better at their chosen sport. Football club Davao Aguilas do their agility and strength training at Focus Athletics side-by-side with recreational athletes looking for a fitness boost. Because their approach is personalized, everyone can train like a pro.
I got to experience that firsthand at the Makati branch a few weeks ago. Check out my video of that visit:
It’s super funny my camera just up and died halfway through the warm-up! Anyway, Coach Raf Pagdanganan of the Focus Athletics Makati branch led me through a trial workout. What I really liked about the session was how it established proper kinetic chain and muscle firing in the first exercises, which made me more efficient through the later exercises. It was also designed specifically with my running performance in mind.
me chatting away while rolling my IT band
Although I’m pretty body-aware, my lower body strength tends to be disconnected from upper-body motion, breaking the kinetic chain. Since most of my running is quadriceps-dominant, my glutes and hamstrings can fail to fire if I don’t remind them to with a proper warmup. I can see how training this way with a coach to watch and guide you can lead to immense improvements in muscle explosiveness, agility, and overall performance. It’s why any decent professional team or athlete will focus on their cross-training as much as on discipline-specific training sessions.
Last month, Focus Athletics opened their newest branch at Commercenter Alabang. (Southerners rejoice, because you no longer need to journey to the far-flung lands of central Metro Manila. LOL) The new branch also takes their rehab and recovery facilities a step further, with a sports surgery clinic soon to open under the administration of medical director Dr. Rich Pasion, an orthopedic surgeon and founding member of the ASEAN Society for Sports Medicine and Arthroscopy.
It’s amazing how much the sports fitness landscape in the Philippines is changing to give the everyday athlete access to better injury and fitness management options. Want to train like a pro? Check out Focus Athletics.
For more information, check out the website focusathletics.com.ph and their Facebook Pages (Makati and Alabang).
