Indonesia - Planet Fitness and Aerobic, Padang, Sumatra

Location:  Padang - Planet Fitness and Aerobic, Jl. Arau, Berok Nipah, Padang Bar, Kota Padang, Sumatera Barat

(0751) 28878

Review: Finding gyms in Indonesia has been a real challenge. Most of the places that we have been staying have been rural villages or small towns that do not seem to have even the most basic infrastructure, let alone a gym. In addition to this, Google is somewhat unreliable and several places what have shown to have gyms on Google maps have turned out bad translation or businesses that have closed some time ago.

Having spent a good hour checking out several of these false leads, I finally came across Planet Fitness on Batang Arau street. And what a find. Planet Fitness is a smallish, but high standard, gym that can be found on the first and second floor. You have to go up a spiral metal staircase to enter the gym and it easy to walk past and not notice it.

The gym itself looks clean and modern. It offers free sweat towels, weight belts and even has a small bar selling water, fruit, redbull and pre-made protein shakes. The pre-made shakes are the L-MEN protein shakes, which are sold here in the Indomarts. They are ok but you will need 2 as there is only only about 10g of protein per carton and they do contain a lot of sugar. 

On the first floor, the gym has the free weights, machines and cardio equipment. On the second floor there is a an open area where the aerobics classes take place. It is also suitable for training abs as the first floor is a little too cramped for this. 

A day pass to this gym cost me 45000 rps (approx £3). Weekly and monthly passes are also availible. 

The gym pumps out music at a level that is almost deafening, but it plays a good pump up selection that helps to keep you motivated. This gym is open sided but it does get very warm. By the time I finished my workout I was literally drenched in sweat. Like soaked. It was rank. 

Equipment wise, this gym has:

• Weights up to 50kg
• Squat rack 
• Leg press
• Standing squat machine 
• Adjustable benches 
• Cardio 
• Lat pull-down 
• Low row 
• Leg press 
• Leg extension 
• Leg curl 
• Biceps and triceps machines 
• Smith machine 
• Cables 
• Easy bars 
• Fixed easy bar and straight bar 
• Lower back 
• Hip flex 
• Kettle bells 
• Pec dec 
• Chest press machine 
• Swiss balls 
• Reverse pull-down machine for back 

Training here, I found the locals to be friendly but again I did feel that I was being watched the whole time that I was training. You get that feeling everywhere in Sumatra though, so it is not unusual. This felt like it was because it was rare to see a Westerner than anything else and didn't feel uncomfortable. I would give the same advice for women in relation to modest dress in Padang as I gave for the gym Bukittinggi. You can see this advice here www.http://travelgyms.blogspot.co.id/2016/09/indonesia-ck-fitness-centre-and-cafe.html 

Who is this gym for?  I would freely recommend this gym to everyone, of all ability levels and both sexes provided that you don’t mind the stares. However, if you made it to Padang then you are not likely to be faint of heart. I found the gym to be a friendly environment with mainly Indonesian youngsters training here. I would have no reservation about training here again. 

Tip: Planet Fitness is easy to miss as it is not where Google says it is. It is actually on the main road, not in the little housing estate behind it. Look for the sports shop about 10 seconds down the road from the gym. This is also useful if you need to get gym kit.