Laos - Marktow Fitness, Vientaine

Location: Marktow Fitness, Vientiane

Google Maps: Click here

Website: N/A 

Tel: N/A

Opening hours: 6am to 10pm

Price: 20,000 kip (approx £2)

Review:  Marktow Fitness was the first new build gym that I found in Laos. Having talked to the guy behind the desk, the gym has been open for a little over a month. It still has that new gym smell and even has the plastic still on some machines. Marktow Fitness is another gym that isn't on google maps so can't be found by googling "gyms in Vientiane," perhaps because it is so new. I found this gym by wandering towards Tar's gym which can be found here.   

As you might expect, the equipment is new and gym is a decent sized. There is air conditioning and changing rooms available. The whole place felt professional and clean, and whilst it was fully stocked with everything you might need, the placed lacked a certain something which makes a great gym. Training here felt like training in a room full of equipment, rather than a gym. Yes, I know that is literally the definition of a gym. Shut up. I got this.

Equipment wise, this gym has:

• Dumbbells up to 20kg.
• Barbell flat bench 
• Olympic bars 
• Squat rack
• Smith machine 
• Cables
• Easy bar
• Preacher Curl bench 
• Lat pulldown machine
• Seated low row machine
• Leg press machine 
• Leg extension machine 
• Leg curl machine 
• Fixed weight bars up to 50kg 
• Kettle bells
• Trx
• Swiss balls 
• Punch bag
• Boxing gloves and mitts
• Battle ropes 
• Yoga mats
• Treadmills 
• Exercise bikes

Whilst training here, I made friends with one of the local guys who was training here. Alex is somewhat typical of new generation of young professionals in Laos. He drives a nice car, wears expensive clothes, and like many I have come across in Laos, he has a new focus on body image. He told me that fitness culture has steadily been getting more popular in Laos in recent years, and that especially in the cities, youngsters are starting to care about body image. He told me that there is now a gym is almost every village and that supplements such as protein are now more readily available. You can check out Alex's Facebook here. 

Entrance to this gym on a day pass was 20,000 kip (approx £2) and having finished my work out, I saw that the gym also has a small store selling, water, protein powder and sports clothes. Strangely they also seemed to have beer in the same fridge, so it may be that there ain't no party, like a post-workout party. Sadly, this post-workout party had to stop before it even began as my girlfriend was waiting for me to take her to dinner back at the hotel. Trust me, you don't want to keep her waiting when she is hungry. "Hangry" is a real emotional state. 

Who is this gym for? Whilst I trained here, I saw guys and women are training together in this gym. I would recommend this place to anyone looking to train in this location, but I would say that it doesn't have the personality of the other gyms I trained in Vientiane, such as Tars Gym or Sotsai Fitness. The place feels sterile and devoid of any real atmosphere, but it does provide a clean, safe place for you to train. If you want an experience, go train at one of the other gym's in Vientiane. If you just need to train, then this place has all the equipment you need for a great workout. 

Tips: This gym is not on Google maps. I have geotagged the location of this gym to this article, so you can find it! You are welcome!