Virgin Active : The Mind-Blowing Spa-like Fitness Centre @ Raffles Place

Virgin Active is the latest fitness centre to join the large number of gym chains and fitness centre sprouting across the island. There’s no doubt about the fact the people living in Singapore are getting pretty active. Running on treadmills, crashing in hours of group fitness classes and staying hours in the gym to enjoy its facilities have all become part of our lifestyle. At least for me, I can’t go away with gyms because they are like recreational centre for me to relax and work out til my heart’s content. I’m just glad that the nation is now starting to swear by this phrase, “Eat clean and train like a beast”.

Does the brand Virgin sounds familiar to you? Isn’t it a name of an airline carrier? Yes! The Virgin group of companies, who’s founder is Richard Branson, first started out with Virgin Atlantic, a flight carrier operating across over 35 countries. Then the Virgin empire expanded and ventured into other businesses and industries. Besides Virgin Active, there’s Virgin care, Virgin Unite, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Galactic, Virgin hotels and many more! It’s probably one of the largest investment group around in the world.

There must be a reason why his businesses, especially Virgin Active, continues to thrive til today. A week ago, I was there to find out what makes this gym stands out from the rest and how it ‘moves and shakes’ our Singapore grounds when it first opened here.

From the online media and social platforms, I noticed that there was already a hype created about Virgin Active opening its first Asian gym outlet in Singapore. Others were raving about the coolest gym gadgets and equipment made available at Virgin Active. And I wonder why…

I’ve visited several gyms before and I’ve always thought Pure Fitness is one of the best and most exclusive gyms around in Singapore. Their monthly membership rate can go up about SGD 200 plus but it’s justifiable for their first-class facilities and services they provide. Which other gyms provide free apples and alcohol wipes?

But you know what? Now, I have to say that Virgin Active is running in the lead to become one of the high-end luxurious gyms which offers first-class gym facilities with it’s Relax and Recovery Zone which is not found in other gyms. So all these facilities and services in placed at Virgin Active, I reckon that I could actually spent more than half of a day here at the gym working out and relaxing.

The tour was led by Christian Mason who is the operations director of Virgin Active Southeast Asia. From his physique, I could tell that he’s a gym buff and true it is, he turns out to be a ZUU trainer. What’s ZUU? You may ask. It’s a latest fitness concept to be introduced here in Singapore. It’s a class where the participants were taught how to replicate animal movements. You know, moving like a gorilla and jumping like a frog can make you sweat buckets.

Power Plate studio

It’s another latest fitness equipment that basically further enhances your strength training exercises and workout routines. Performing squats on a vibrating platform increases the difficult level of the movement which at the same time, helps your body burn more calories. I’ve yet to attend Power Plate classes. But you see, I can practically find all the latest and newest fitness equipment here at Virgin Active!It’s one of the most advanced gym to date.

Wait, there’s even more…

Yoga Studio is housed a level below the reception area, away from the other studios where it is less noisy and provides a more conducive environment for mediation and yoga.Conventional gyms have the yoga studios places side by side with the other fitness studios. But in doing so, the loud heart-thumping music sometimes do get ‘leak’ over into their other rooms.

If you are planning for a gym workout, you don’t have to fret about what to wear in the gym because comfortable dri-fit t-shirts and exercise shorts are provided. Yes, it’s complimentary and the good news is you don’t have to wash your sweat-drench shirt!

Be in the know of the latest club news and updates, just before you enter the changing room.

Female Changing room

For the females, we have choice to go either purple or pink dri-fit tees to pair with a grey comfy pair of sports shorts by Virgin Active. But if you aren’t in the girly mood for that day, you could request for a grey or blue tee at counter just right outside the male changing room.

But if you prefer to deck out in your own workout attire, why not? You could also get your personal gym clothes washed in the gym for a minimal fee.

Spritz some deodorant onto your skin heading off to burn off some calories.

Phone on low battery?

There’s a phone charging outlet made available right in the changing room.

Over here at Virgin Active, keys are obsolete. Members will be given their own RFID membership card or bracelet to access their lockers or make cashless payments at the cafe.

Shower Facilities

You could now ‘sing in the rain’ while showering.

Molton Brown Bath Amenities

Connecting to the changing rooms is the Relax and Recovery Zone which features a salt room, steam room, ice rooms, experience showers and foot baths. Virgin Active spoils you rotten!

A cosy corner to soak your tired feet.

Ice rooms

Steam room

Experience Shower

Love the experience of water showering upon you? Experience a different shower experience which engages all your senses.

Still feeling sleepy?
Maybe a bucket of cold water is what you’ll need.

Seriously? It does look it was part of this prank set-up.

The soothing ambience will rejuvenate your senses as you shower.

Walking in the rain…

Salt room

Is there saltiness in the air? Certainly not. The salt generators grinds the salt into breathable particles which are so tiny that you wouldn’t be able to see or to taste it.

Breathing in salt ions helps to purify your respiratory tract and rejuvenate your skin. It would be nice to just rest and relax in this room after an intensive workout.

Christian gave us a tour around this 3-storey gym housed at One Raffles Place.

Be stunned by the state of the art gym equipment here.

This spinning studio is spectacular! Now, you wouldn’t feel bored when paddling hard. The music and visual experience will get you going.

Aerobics studio

Check out these ARTIS line of Android powered fitness equipment from Technogym! It’s the future of all fitness clubs here in Singapore.

This treadmill is equipped with this touch screen monitor that allows you to take photos and even Skype while running!

This is little thumbdrive (or personal key) stucked right in the treadmill machine can store and track all your training data information. It also tells you what equipment to use next and how to carry out your exercise more effectively.