INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines ? With its spectacular view of Manila Bay, an iconic music lounge, and a chic concept restaurant that fine-dining connoisseurs have been raving about, Sofitel Philippine Plaza certainly knows how to offer guests a unique hotel experience.

So when I accepted an invitation to check out the hotel?s new 24-hour fitness center, I naturally expected more than just the usual hotel gym experience.

So Fit is located on the second floor of the hotel?s fitness complex, so I had to pass through the vestibule of Le Spa, Sofitel?s luxuriously designed haven of relaxation, to reach the hotel gym.

The spa?s peaceful ambiance had an immediate calming effect on my mind and spirit, a perfect prelude to a physical workout. The first thing that jumped at me was So Fit?s expansive space. With plenty of room to move around safely and enjoy my workout, I immediately liked the place.

Then there were the cardio machines. A tired cliché it may be, but state-of-the-art truly applies to So Fit?s treadmills, steppers, stationary bikes, rowers and elliptical trainers.

I was immediately drawn to the four Life Fitness treadmills. These ultramodern exercise machines feature a virtual trainer with touch-screen technology that can customize a workout program based on the user?s fitness level and track performance, and adjust resistance to maintain normal heart rate.

The machines offer several options to challenge your endurance: cardio, sport, fit, and jog.

Using the treadmill?s integrated console and attachable TV monitor, you can watch your favorite TV programs or listen to your iPod while burning calories. Bring your USB flash drive and save your performance data, such as calories you?ve burned.

If you want to see something other than the panoramic view of Manila Bay while on the treadmill, tweak a few buttons on the monitor and choose any of several ?virtual panoramas??track oval, around the world, cascades, Kilimanjaro.

Clearly, Sofitel spared no expense in ensuring that the gym is able to live up to its name. So Fit is the only hotel gym in the country that has the Kinesis range of top-of-the-line exercise equipment, which offers users of all fitness levels infinite movement possibilities.

This high-tech range of progressive resistance equipment and free weights offers customized workouts such as pull-down, seated leg curl, leg extension, hip abduction, chest press, lunges, rowing squat and abdominal, shrug bicep, triceps, and core exercises.

Kinesis is manufactured by Technogym of Italy, a world leader in the design of fitness equipment. I looked up the company?s credentials on the Internet and found that Technogym was the official supplier to the Olympic Games at Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004, Turin in 2006 and Beijing in 2008.

With such high-end hardware, So Fit, I assumed, would only hire the best people. I was right. All So Fit fitness instructors are licensed by the American Council on Exercise. More importantly, they have a customer service-centered work ethic to complement their professional expertise.

If there?s anything So Fit fitness instructors take as seriously as customer satisfaction, it is customer safety. A thorough screening and interview for first-time clients ferret out vital information about the client?s current health status and assess his/her ?physical activity readiness?.

A medical certificate attesting to the client?s health and fitness duly signed by a licensed physician is mandatory. Only after the doctor gives the client the go signal will the fitness instructor begin the process of identifying the client?s fitness objectives and planning his/her exercise program.

For me, a corporate executive and fitness enthusiast who travels quite a bit, So Fit is one hotel gym that fits the bill. Since I?m into Pilates, finding out that So Fit (unlike other hotel gyms I?ve visited) offers group exercises for yoga, yogilates, step/hi/lo aerobics, and cardio-boxing was icing on the cake. So was the post-workout sauna, Jacuzzi and full-body massage I plan to have at Le Spa.