OUR FEATURED GYM FOR JANUARY 2003

    There's a rainforest in Pasig City, Metro Manila and there's a gym situated there called the Rainforest Fitness Center. When we visited the gym, they were not kidding about the name because the surroundings were full of wooded trees, wide varieties of plants and exotic greeneries, a waterpark and picnic grounds. There's so much room to breathe-in the oxygen in the air, it feels like a mini-Amazon or a little-Java. According to Dr. Godofredo de Guzman, the administrator of this park, the Rainforest Gym is the largest government-owned fitness center in the country in terms of area and membership.

Dr. de Guzman is the man behind the success story of this gym/park. A health and fitness enthusiast himself, he went for a jog in this wooded, cugon-infested (wild, tall grasses common in the Phil.) area in July, 1998 and noticed a small run-down gym with 3 weight training equipment and waited 30 minutes for his turn to use them competing with the other 15 members. After his work-out that day, he visited the then mayor of Pasig City, Vicente Eusebio and expressed his desire to improve the facilities and promote the gym. They were friends and neighbors way back then in the Dona Juana area of Pasig even before Mr. Eusebio became mayor. Mayor Eusebio felt his enthusiasm and sincerity, he appointed him to be not just the administrator of the gym but of the whole park. The rest is history.

When you enter the park, you'll get a quick view of the Waterpark (3 swimming pools), the Botanical Garden, the basketball court, the pavilion/auditorium (used for weddings, seminars and what not with 300 persons capacity) and picnic grounds before you get to the gym building. On the 1st floor of the gym, you'll see the large weight room of free weights and machines and in the back room is the large room for martial arts training. Large meaning 400 sq. meters of floor area. On the 2nd floor, you have the aerobics, taebo, massage room, ballroom dancing and the shower areas. Dr. de Guzman's office is on the first floor by the reception area.

The Rainforest Gym (also called Eusebio Fitness Center named after the mayor of Pasig) is exclusively for Pasig City residents, as well as the rest of the facilities in the park (there is no entrance fee to the park). Members have to prove they are bonafide residents before they are issued memberships. Don't lose hope outsiders, you can still get in if you grab a member. Members get in for P10 per session and their guests are charged P50. The gym rakes in an average of 300 people a day you'd think the restroom would stink with this number of people using them. No way! Every square foot of the gym is flawless and dirt-free. This is something Dr. de Guzman is really meticulous about is the cleanliness of the facilities.

Besides infra-structure development, Dr. de Guzman also provides his gym instructors/athletes support in their career by sending them to seminars, lectures and workshops like the Weight Training seminar held at the University of Asia of the Philippines in September, 2002 conducted by UP professors of Physical Education. In turn, the members are taught the latest in health and fitness instructions. The gym has these number of instructors (aerobics-1, taebo-2, martial arts-3, weight training and bodybuilding-3). Total membership have gone up to 8,300 since 1998. Now, where else can you get these kind of services for that amount of money?

Dr. de Guzman's next project is to add a 3rd floor to the building to host a gymnastics sport program. This gym has all the right ingredients to reach this goal or any goal at that - Current Mayor Soledad Eusebio's commitment to health and fitness as well as the gym Association's support headed by Councilor Bobby Eusebio and President Albert Faustino de Jesus, the hectarian land area of the park and the proven track record of Dr. de Guzman, all of these factors give new meaning to the politician terminology "community service." It is truly a serious commitment to the people of Pasig and especially the young people to keep them away from drugs and give them a healthier way of living at the lowest cost. Pinoymuscle is proud to feature a gym that has the same mission as ours!

Rainforest Fitness Center is located at Rainforest Park, Legaszpi St., Barangay Maybunga, Pasig City, Metro Manila
Tels: (632) 642-5280 (landline)
Call for Current rates and membership