Day One at UFC Gym Honolulu: Buses, Muay Thai Punch, and Sweet Digs

The view from Pohukaina Street

"HEY!"

I sprinted into the NEX (Navy Exchange) near Pearl Harbor, nearly knocking over a tiny Japanese lady in bug-eyed shades, asking for bus fare from the security desk in the least psychotic way possible.

"Hey, I know I don't have a military I.D., but if I don't get change for this twenty dollar bill in the next seven minutes I'm gonna miss my bus! Any way you can help me out?"

Thankfully, the NEX obliged.  Go figure, the kindness of strangers.  As I sprinted back out of the store in my trail running shoes, zombie Hot Topic t-shirt, and hydration backpack sloshing with energy drink, I wondered what on Earth the NEX people imagined was so important for me to be sprinting toward.  There was no way they could know I had to be on time for my first night of training at a brand-spanking-new gym.  And not just any gym, but the gym that would help keep my ass in shape before beginning training in Thailand in two short weeks.

I sprinted the last mile to the bus stop, thinking in a singular unbroken thought chain, "mustnotmisstrainingmustnotmisstrainingMUSTNOTMISSTRAINING!!!"

Thankfully, I made it with a few moments to spare.

Waiting for the bus post-sprint with exact change...LIKE A BOSS

THE FACILITIES

"This place used to be a night club," one of the managers explained, "but they sunk $8.5 million into making this."  I can see why.

Upon entering the gym, I first noticed the endless rows of brand new machines, UFC-branded and with little holograph cards that show you exactly how each exercise should be done.

Photo Credit: UFC Gym

As I walked through, I noticed all of the meticulous detail work; the flawless matching color schemes, right down to the weight racking.  Everything is exactly as you imagine fight training facilities should be: clean, extensive, and ready for serious business.  There is no messing around when it comes to resources here; they have one of everything.  Hell, they just might have two of everything.  I felt an undeniable stab of fitness ecstasy when I saw that they had a Jacob's Ladder (the thing Gillian always puts people on in The Biggest Loser, FYI)...right next to a Versa Climber:

Jacob's Ladder machine...the most fun way to torture yourself.

THE "ARM BAR"

Feeling thirsty for a post-workout shake?  Ready to nosh on a low-cal chicken spinach wrap?  Turn right at the front desk on your way out and you're at a little in-gym cafe called the "Arm Bar."  Choose between aptly named shakes like "The Tapout," "Kimura," or, what I absolutely had a moral imperative to try, the "Muay Thai Punch" protein shake.

Blended with ice and less than 200 calories, the Muay Thai Punch was Muay-Freaking-Delicious.  It was a mix of OJ, blueberries, strawberries, banana, whey, and vitamin boosts.  

As I sipped on my Muay Thai Punch and watched a UFC rerun on the giant flat screen at the shake bar, I thought of how serendipitous it is to find this place a short bus ride from the Naval Housing.  How oddly perfect, a paradise of training equipment within a paradise.  

Photo Credit: UFC Gym

More on this place tomorrow.  For now, I'm about to Muay Pass Out on this keyboard.