A workout for the body—not the wallet

With the recent push by several local agencies for the residents of Saipan to lead a healthier lifestyle, a number of suggestions have been made regarding diet and exercise. Watching what one eats is one way for people to make a difference in their overall health, and making the most out of a gym membership is another.

While eating healthier does not cost the average person much more money than they are used to, joining a gym is oftentimes outside of the budget. The Oleai Sports Complex, however, has the perfect solution for those who are looking to make an investment in their health without digging deep into their wallets.

According to Calvin Tagabuel, the weight room at the gym is open to the public between the hours of 8am and 8:30pm for a mere $1 per day. To save even more money, the avid lifter can pay just $20 for an entire month.

Tagabuel is no stranger to the weight room, as the facility coordinator bench-presses 405 lbs. He just returned from Tinian where he was running a clinic for Ed Temingil and six of his boys, where Tagabuel was helping the boys take their training to the next level.

While a couple of them are most likely going to the South Pacific Mini Games, Tagabuel has already made his mark in the region, having competed in the Oceania Games and Micronesian Games in 1994. He is now training for next year’s mini SPG, and he is still willing to lend his experience to anyone who is interested in coming down to the gym to get in shape.

“I can help them. Actually I have been helping a lot of first- timers who have been coming in, and I have given them a workout plan. We get a lot of people from the schools too. Recently I have been training two kids that asked me to train them before they were going into the military. I went on the internet to find out what they needed to do to get fit,” said Tagabuel.

Though the weight room’s set up is almost complete, Tagabuel’s experience can help an under informed weight lifter make better use of the equipment by educating them how to make the most out their work outs.

“We’ve got almost everything, but we can improvise with the stuff we’ve got. The person who uses the equipment has to know what they’re doing and what parts of his body he’s building. If he understands the equipment, he can do three types of workouts on one piece of equipment

There are plans in the works that may soon improve the facility, and Tagabuel noted that as the upgrades are implemented, a possibility remains that the cost for utilizing the facility may increase.

“You’ve got to take advantage of it because we’re thinking of expanding that place. So when we expand it, I’m not sure if we will still be able to charge that rate. We were talking about expanding it, and if we do we are going to buy more equipment, but right now that’s a really good deal. A dollar a day to walk in and walk out, and if you don’t know what you’re doing I can help you out.

For more information about the weight room at the Ada gym, please contact Tagabuel by calling 664-2503 from 7:30am to 11:10am and 4:30pm to 8:30pm.