Gym Review: Reyes Gym

When the Philippines has Reyes Barbecue and Reyes Hair Cutters, there's also Reyes Gym. It wouldn't surprise me if I saw a Reyes Vulcanizing Shop, or Reyes Bulalo in some alley in the metro.

entrace at the back via Malinao St

How to get there - the place is located at Domingo M. Guevara St, Mandaluyong. The gym is just a couple blocks across California Garden Square condominium, right in front of Metrobank. You can take a tricycle if you're coming from Boni MRT station. From Shaw MRT station, you have to walk towards Mercury Drug, along Domingo M. Guevara to find a tricycle or simply walk more or less 200 meters to get you warmed up! If all else fails, you can count on Waze.

Reyes gym is actually a fitness center where you have a basketball court, a weight lifting area and a boxing (and Muay Thai) gym, powered by Elorde Boxing, all in one facility. Don't be surprised if you see too many teenage boys who look like Derrick Rose with head bands, they're there to play ball not to spar with you.

If you're bringing a car, you may not expect to find a parking space nearby as there's only about 3 cars that can fit in the parking space in front of the gym. You may try your luck driving to the back entrance and find parking there, although it's usually for those playing basketball. But this wouldn't discourage you from getting skinny fit now, would it?

The Place 

All right let's get down to business. What's the first thing I look at when I arrive at any gym? There you go my man - SIZE. Now I find Reyes Gym (Elorde Boxing) to be a tight rectangular box which unfortunately doesn't give you a lot of  room to move around. Although basic warm up routines can be done, it makes it quite difficult for students to do some of the more complex routines especially those involving cones and ropes.

the students and their trainers

BUT, they managed to have a medium-sized boxing ring which is pretty impressive considering the area of the floor. Half of the place is the weight lifting room (the entire gym is owned by the same owners of Elorde Boxing) which is why it looks and feels narrow. Whether you feel like pumping iron or breaking someone's nose (for self-defense), this is the place to be. (Separate fee applies.)

the weight room

Before you sign up with them, please make sure you already have your own gear. Aside from obvious reasons (duh, hygiene!), they don't have boxing gloves or hand wraps for rent. Regarding hydration, there's water and energy drinks that you can buy at the counter.

The equipment are kept in tidy condition all the time, you'll see sanitation and alcohol sprays everywhere. Need a fresh shower after a day of gruesome training? No problem. They have clean and fully functional shower rooms you can use. If there's a long queue (which rarely happens), feel free to sneak in to the shower area designated for basketball folks (you didn't hear it from me, okay?)

Price and Promos

Annual Membership: 1000
They have special 25% discount for students.  This price is within the prevailing market price for most gyms that offer full-contact sports training. It's actually hovering at the lower end of the range.

Boxing: 200
Sweet spot. Market price is around 150 - 300 per session.
Cheapest during weekends. Get 25% off with the advance 10 sessions.

Muay Thai: 250
Even sweeter. Grab 20% discount with the advance 10 sessions.

Gym Use: 100 (150 for non-members)
This includes use of the main weight lifting gym with full equipment.

*Tip: it's a lot cheaper on weekends! 
*Advance 10 sessions are good for 1 month

The Experience

When you arrive at the gym, the attendant will assign a coach to you. Around 8 coaches were there at the time. To my surprise, the coach that she had for me wasn't a total stranger to me. He is from the same gym where I used to train; it was sudden trip down memory lane. Needless to say, we had a long chit-chat before we got started. This coach saw me break sweat and tears during the time I was preparing for a fight.  Regardless, he still made me "work". And work he made me do.

I was welcomed with circuit training as warm-up. He instructed me to do 3-6 exercises of 3 sets with little to no rest (oh my golly). I also did kettle bell work for 3 sets (work that butt off). Warm up is finished and he comes up to me with, "A student will come for you to spar lightly okay?" Would you say no? 

the students doing warm up and basic drills

Now this student walks in and guess what? He's also from the same gym where the coach and I used to train. It's like (name of the gym) all over again! You can pretty much guess what happened next. We did some catching up and certainly had fun while sparring. This isn't the type of sparring where you try to take each other's heads off by the way. We sparred to see to it that our techniques were properly executed, so we can apply what we practice during training in the real world of fighting AKA "study spar". 

Tired as I was from the session, my coach forced me to break another leg during the pad work. This was not just a regular boxing session where they make you throw senseless punches just so you can "get fit". He made me throw crisp punches from various angles while moving from different directions. He showed me how to strike the hook properly, told me to always face the opponent when throwing punches and to be in the proper stance at all times. It was textbook boxing. 

The pad work lasted for 5 rounds and ended with me feeling like a total beginner to the sport (not to mention tired as hell). I have learned in this gym so much in that short period of time. It was there that I realized that this sport is a never ending learning process. It is noteworthy that the skills the coaches pass on to you come from years of hard work and professional fighting they experienced their whole life.

Value

Muay Thai pad work

The day ended with me having 5% "battery charge" left. I lost track of time. I'd say the whole session took around to 2.5 hours. Badly battered but unbeaten, they offered a quick massage (giggles). 

Having been to this gym only once yet feeling like 'home' was a touching and memorable experience for me. The people there were not my friends, I wouldn't consider them as acquaintances either. Most of the coaches there I have never met but as soon as you enter the gym they treat you as their own: their family. This could easily be one of the keystone foundations of an Elorde gym, whether a newbie, amateur or professional, or a veteran student, you are given an unconditional treatment as a student learning the sport.

The Verdict

During my training, I asked myself, "How the hell does this not-so-big of a gym pack so many students?" There were around 12-15 students (including myself) sharing that cute little space they had, I could almost smell that girl's cologne while hitting the bags (it's a flowery kind of scent). Well the answer to that was given away 10 paragraphs ago.

So you probably know by now how I'm very choosy with the gym size right? Plus, the separation of the weight room and the boxing gym, is absolutely unnecessary in my opinion. But I'm not a business-savvy person now, am I? Now the quality of training that I received was phenomenal. Besides that, everyone has been all smiles until I left the place. Without further ado, my rating for Reyes Gym would be an 8/10.

So there you go.  I hope you enjoyed reading another one of my lengthy reviews. See you in my next one!

(Disclaimer: I was not paid in cash or any kind by Reyes Gym - Elorde Boxing management or its affiliates to make this review.)