awakengym

Awaken Joins Spartan DEKA Philippines as an Official Affiliate Gym

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 06:32:46 GMT

Ten stations. Your number against the clock. No terrain, no course conditions, nothing left to luck. Just how you move under load, measured the same way whether you're testing it in Manila or Los Angeles.

That's Spartan DEKA, and Awaken is now an official affiliate gym for it in the Philippines.

On July 28, Awaken was at Shangri-La Plaza for the Spartan DEKA Philippines Press Conference, one of the gyms named as an official affiliate ahead of the format's launch in the country.

How Spartan DEKA Works

Spartan Race sends you outdoors, over walls, through mud, under barbed wire. Spartan DEKA is different. It's 10 functional fitness zones, done indoors, on a course that stays the same wherever it's held. That's what makes a DEKA time worth something. You're not measuring yourself against whoever else showed up that day. You're measuring yourself against the format itself.

Three Ways to Race It

DEKA STRONG

All 10 zones, no running. Everything happens inside the gym.

DEKA MILE

The same 10 zones, with a mile of running woven through the course.

DEKA FIT

The flagship format. 10 zones plus 500 meters of running before each one, adding up to a 5K.

Same 10 zones every time. What changes is how much running sits between them, so there's a format for someone who wants a pure strength test and one for someone who wants running mixed in.

The 10 zones

None of the 10 zones are unusual on their own. Most people have rowed, carried something heavy, or done a burpee before. What DEKA does is put all ten back to back and time every one of them, so nothing you're good at can hide the thing you're not:

1. Weighted Lunges

2. Rowing

3. Box jumps or step-overs

4. Med ball sit-up throws

5. Ski erg

6. Farmer's carry

7. Air bike

8. Dead ball over

9. Sled push/pull

10. Weighted burpees

The loads scale, so a first-timer and a competitive racer work through the same 10 stations at different weights. It's a straightforward idea: push, pull, carry, and lift the way you'd need to outside a gym, then get an honest number for how well you did it.

DEKA Events Coming to the Philippines

Spartan DEKA's Philippine calendar is filling in fast. Confirmed events so far:

DEKA STRONG

August 19–21, 2026

at the PHILFIT Expo

DEKA FIT Manila

October 3–4, 2026

at SPACE at One Ayala

DEKA FIT Cebu

March 6–7, 2027

at Sky Hall Seaside Cebu

DEKA FIT Manila

October 9–10, 2027

at SMX Manila, Mall of Asia

Why This Matters for Awaken

Affiliation means Awaken can build DEKA-style training and simulations directly into its programming, using the same zones and standards used at official Spartan DEKA events. Instead of members guessing at their fitness level, they get a repeatable way to test it and a clear number to try and beat next time.

It also puts Awaken in the room early, right as DEKA's calendar in the Philippines starts filling in.

Train Toward Your DEKA Mark

Want to know where your fitness actually stands? Book a class at Awaken and ask a coach about DEKA training.

Pride Never Ends: Awaken's First HYROX Session for the LGBTQIA+ Community

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 01:54:09 GMT

Walk into Awaken on a normal Sunday and you'll find people mid-set, focused, working through their own circuit. Walk in on July 5, a few days after Pride Month wrapped, and the whole room was in on it together. Awaken opened its floor to Pride Never Ends, an intro to HYROX built for the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies, organized by Awaken Allies alongside ChubbyPeroHappy, both part of the Awaken community.

The event's tagline was "Bring an LGBTQIA+ friend, they join free," and that set the tone before anyone even arrived: come as you are, and bring who you want. Event partners sent over freebies for registration too, a small detail that added to the sense that the day had been planned around making people feel welcome.

Ten pairs signed up, twenty people working the circuit side by side, most of them dressed in whatever bright colors they could pull together since Awaken had asked everyone to come dressed for the occasion. Some already knew each other; plenty were meeting for the first time that morning. People danced on the sidelines waiting their turn, sang along

whenever a good song came on, and cheered for whoever was mid-rep, teammate or not.

The best part of the day was seeing people from different backgrounds come together, try something new, and genuinely support one another. Pride Never Ends wasn't just about fitness—it was about creating a space where everyone felt welcome and comfortable being themselves. That's what the Awaken community is all about, and I'm grateful we got to be part of it.

— Coach Melvin, AWAKEN FITNESS CENTER

Coach Anjo handled the circuit briefing, walking pairs through pacing and technique before the clock started. A good chunk of the room were trying HYROX for the first time, with no real sense of what the circuit would ask of them. Every one of them finished it — pairs who'd just met were correcting each other's form and yelling encouragement, same as the ones who'd come in together.

A lot of that acceptance showed up in specific moments: a partner slowing down to match someone still learning the movement, the loudest cheers landing on whoever was struggling hardest on the last station.

As a coach, what stood out most was seeing people show up as themselves, connect with others, and support one another throughout the day. Pride Never Ends was more than a fitness event, it was a reminder that movement can bring people together. Grateful to be part of a community that makes everyone feel welcome.

— COACH RICK, AWAKEN FITNESS CENTER

That's really what the day was building toward: a two-hour circuit built around one idea — being LGBTQIA+ was just part of who was in the room, sweating and cheering next to everyone else, whether they'd shown up with a friend or found one there.

READY TO TRY IT ?

If a room like that sounds like your kind of place, book a session with Awaken and find out for yourself.

What Is HYROX? A Beginner’s Guide to Manila’s Fastest-Growing Race

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 07:13:03 GMT

Something has been happening in Manila gyms over the last couple of years. Runners started showing up to strength classes. Gym regulars started clocking their kilometers. People who’d never entered a race were booking flights to Hong Kong and Singapore with training blocks mapped out months in advance.

The word behind most of it: HYROX.

If you’ve been hearing it and not quite following along, here’s the full answer — what it is, what makes it different, and whether it’s something you could actually do.

What HYROX is, plainly

HYROX is a standardized indoor fitness race. Not an obstacle course, not a fun run with a gimmick. Every race, in every city, follows exactly the same format.

You run 1 kilometer. Then you complete one workout station. Then you run another kilometer and hit another station. Eight runs. Eight stations. One clock. Total running: 8 kilometers. Total stations: a SkiErg, a sled push, a sled pull, burpee broad jumps, a row, a farmers carry, sandbag lunges, and wall balls — in that order, every time.

HYROX is a unique sport that combines strength and running, so if you haven’t been running regularly, it’s time to start building your mileage.

— COACH SHANE DOMINGO, STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACH, AWAKEN FITNESS CENTER

That fixed format is part of why it has caught on. You’re not learning a new sport. You’re training for a specific, knowable thing — and when you race it again, you can compare your time directly against yourself and against thousands of other athletes globally.

The eight stations, one by one

1. SkiErg — 1,000m

A cable machine that simulates the double-pole motion of cross-country skiing. Pulling overhead cables down to your hips in a continuous rhythm. Upper body and core at the start when you’re freshest —though 1,000 meters is longer than it sounds.

2. Sled Push — 50m

A weighted sled across the turf. Universally quad-heavy. This is the one that looks brutal from the side and is.

3. Sled Pull — 50m

Same sled, opposite direction, pulled toward you by rope. Glutes, back, grip. The transition from pushing to pulling is where people feel the difference.

4. Burpee Broad Jumps — 80m

Drop to the floor, push up, jump forward. Repeat for 80 meters. This is the station that surprises people most — it looks simple, it is not.

5. Row Erg — 1,000m

A rowing ergometer. You’re now four kilometers into the race. How the legs feel here tells you a lot about your pacing on the runs before it.

6. Farmers Carry — 200m

Two kettlebells, carried for 200 meters. Manageable in isolation. At this point in the race, your grip has

opinions.

7. Sandbag Lunges — 100m

A sandbag on your shoulders, lunging the length of the floor and back. The legs that pushed the sled are now doing this. It compounds.

8. Wall Balls — 75–100 reps

The finish. A weighted ball thrown to a target on the wall, caught, thrown again. By the time you get here your breathing is difficult, your legs are spent, and you still have dozens of throws left. It ends here — not before.

Why Filipinos are racing it

HYROX started in Hamburg in 2017. It’s now in more than 30 countries, with over 300 race days planned globally in 2026. In Asia, the nearest race cities have been Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Malaysia, and Indonesia — and Filipinos have been showing up at all of them.

Part of it is the format. There’s no specialist technique to master. The movements — push, pull, carry, row — are things a body already knows how to do. What the race tests is whether you’ve trained the engine to keep doing them when exhausted.

The other part is harder to quantify but easy to see at any race: events are held indoors, in arenas, with spectators trackside the entire time. HYROX feels like a competition even when you’re not racing to win one.

The scale of it has caught the attention of people well outside the fitness world. L Catterton — the private equity firm backed by LVMH, and the same group behind Peloton, Solidcore, and Birkenstock — is reportedly in talks to acquire HYROX at a valuation in the range of one billion dollars. That kind of interest doesn’t chase a workout. It chases a format people build their lives around and keep coming back to.

Here, the community of people looking for a HYROX gym in Manila has been growing quietly for a couple of years — runners looking for a strength component, gym athletes looking for somewhere to direct their training, people who want a goal that sits outside their normal routine.

What HYROX 365 accreditation means

Not every gym that runs HYROX classes is the same. HYROX 365 is a specific designation — a higher accreditation standard covering equipment, programming, and coaching quality. There are fewer than ten facilities in the Philippines that hold it.

Awaken Fitness Center in Metrowalk, Pasig, is one of the first HYROX gyms in the Philippines accredited by HYROX 365. That means training here is as close to race conditions as you’ll find in the country — the right equipment, coached the right way.

Most gyms run HYROX classes. Awaken coaches the person doing them.

Who this is actually for

Broader than you probably think.

You don’t need a running background or a strength background. What helps is enough general fitness to run eight kilometers at a manageable pace, and the willingness to train for something specific.

The race has divisions — Singles, Doubles, and Relay — with age group brackets. Elite athletes race for podium spots. Regular athletes race against the clock, their own previous time, and sometimes a friend who signed up at the same time.

If the honest question is “could I actually finish one?” — yes, almost certainly. The question worth answering first is whether you’ve prepared for it.

Experience It Before You Commit

If HYROX has been in your head but you haven’t taken a step toward it yet, you don’t actually know what it feels like. Reading about sled pushes and wall balls is different from knowing how they sit in your legs at kilometer six.

Awaken runs a monthly intro session called HYROX 101. It’s 90 minutes, coach-led, designed for people who want to understand the format before committing to a full race block. The circuit uses the same nine stations, run as a timed group workout. Everything is scaled. Nobody in the room is there to intimidate you — they were all curious once too.

It’s PHP 1,000. Slots are limited and pre-registration is required.

After 90 minutes, you’ll know whether HYROX is something you want to train for. That’s the whole point of it.

Find your class

Already training or ready to commit to a regular schedule? Awaken runs classes six days a week across Four tracks — Power, Foundation, Engine, and Flexibility — plus The Stronger Runner for athletes who want to build speed and resilience alongside their HYROX prep.

HYROX 101 runs separately — once a month, PHP 1,000, pre-registration required.

READY FOR IT?

HYROX 101 is a 90-minute coach-led intro session — designed for first-timers who want to experience the format before committing to a full race block. Scaled for all levels.

SUNDAYS, PHP 1,000

Awaken Hybrid Kids: A First Look at the Newest Way to Train at Metrowalk

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 04:25:47 GMT

On June 7, Awaken ran its first kids' event — Awaken Hybrid Kids — at Metrowalk Commercial Complex in Pasig. For a few hours, the training floor that usually holds HYROX athletes belonged to the people who show up for them outside of training: their kids. Registration opened at 10 AM, and 5-to-15-year-olds worked through a scaled-down version of the same circuit Awaken's adult members train on every week, with parents, siblings, and coaches watching from the sidelines.

Awaken has always described itself as more than a gym — a training ground and a community. Hybrid Kids brought that to the kids who are usually waiting at home while their parents train. This time, they showed up too, and so did the rest of the community around them.

Three Categories, One Format

Awaken split participants into three age brackets, each with its own version of the course:

Mini Hero

5–8 years old

Schedule: 8–10 AM

Hero

9–11 years old

Schedule: 11:30 AM–1 PM

Super Hero

13–15 years old

Schedule: 1:30–3 PM

Every category ran the same nine stations — run, SkiErg, sled push, sled pull, froggers/burpee broad jumps, RowErg, farmer's carry, lunges, and wall balls — with the loads and distances scaled up by age group. A 5-year-old in Mini Hero pushed a 5kg sled for 25 meters; a 13-year-old in Super Hero threw a 3kg wall ball for 30 reps. The run stayed at two laps (250m) across all three categories.

Splitting kids by age meant siblings could race in the same event without one of them being outmatched — a 6-year-old and their 11-year-old sibling both got a course built for where they were, so a family could show up together and everyone had something to finish.

Getting Ready Before Race Day

Three days before the event, Awaken ran a Race Ready Clinic for registered participants — a coached walkthrough of the course, split into two sessions by time slot. Kids went through a group warm-up, practiced each station with a coach, then cooled down as a group before heading home. For a lot of these kids, it was the first time they'd spent real time with an Awaken coach one-on-one, not just watched their parents do it

A Community Event, Built Like One

The event layout made room for everyone who'd normally be on the sidelines: a spectator zone for parents and siblings, a bag drop and waiting area, a hydration station, a finish zone, and a photo booth to catch the moment a kid crossed the line. Awaken built this the way it builds anything else on its calendar — with the people cheering treated as part of the event, not an afterthought to it.

Why Awaken Ran This

The idea came from inside the gym. A number of Awaken's members are parents, and once their kids saw what training looked like, they started asking for a version of it they could try. Hybrid Kids was Awaken's answer — the same circuit format the adults train on every week, scaled down by age so their kids could get a taste of it. It's a reminder of how much of Awaken's community started this way: someone already training brings the people they care about along.

What's Next

Hybrid Kids gave Awaken's community a way to include people who'd only ever heard about training secondhand from a parent. No race ego, no pressure to keep pace with anyone else — just a course built for their age group, cheered on by the same coaches and members their parents train with every week.

Want your kids in on it next time?

Meet the community or join one of Awaken's trial sessions to experience HYROX yourself

From the Start Line: Awaken at HYROX Osaka 2026

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 07:10:38 GMT

HYROX Osaka 2026 was one of the largest HYROX races in Asia this season — 1,630 men and 620 women in the Open divisions, with the event running across three days at INTEX Osaka. Among the field were Awaken athletes competing across multiple categories, making the trip from Metrowalk, Pasig to race a format they'd been building toward for months.

The build-up

Getting to an international HYROX race takes more than booking a flight. The athletes who made it to Osaka went through months of structured preparation — personal training sessions, HYROX simulations, recovery work, and a pacing strategy built around their individual goals and fitness levels. The Awaken Race Series exists for exactly this kind of campaign.

If you want to perform well and stay injury-free, follow a structured training program, prioritize recovery and nutrition — it’s a commitment.

— COACH SHANE DOMINGO, AWAKEN FITNESS CENTER

Progress properly and enjoy the process.

— Coach Gab Rosario, AWAKEN FITNESS CENTER

Race day at INTEX Osaka

Race day at an international HYROX event is a different experience to a local one. The venue is bigger, the field is deeper, and the energy is unlike anything you get in training. The format stays the same — eight stations, a one-kilometer run between each — but executing it well in that environment is its own challenge.

Twenty-four Awaken athletes made the trip to Osaka, competing across five categories — Men's Open, Women's Open, Men's Pro, Women's Pro, Men's Doubles, and Mixed Doubles. First-timers and veterans, solo and pairs. Everyone finished.

The range of the team said a lot. Some were racing HYROX for the first time. Others were returning with a time to beat — and beat it they did. The Pro division athletes went up against one of the strongest international fields of the season. The doubles pairs executed strategies they'd been building in training for months. Across every category, the preparation showed.

My first HYROX race in Bangkok proved it — "The Sport for Everybody" isn't just a tagline. My advice? You were already designed to run, push, pull, squat, and carry, so go try and see why the HYROX hype is here to stay.

— COACH VANS CATINDOY, AWAKEN FITNESS CENTER

What comes next

Osaka was another chapter for this group. If you've been thinking about signing up for HYROX — this is what the preparation looks like from the inside .

The Awaken Race Series is how athletes at Metrowalk train for races like Osaka — 12 to 16 weeks of guided preparation, built around your schedule, your goals, and your race date.

THINKING ABOUT YOUR NEXT RACE ?

The Awaken Race Series is a 12–16 week guided race preparation program — personal training, simulations, recovery, and race-day strategy, built around you and your race date.

awakengym

Awaken Joins Spartan DEKA Philippines as an Official Affiliate Gym

How Spartan DEKA Works

Three Ways to Race It

DEKA STRONG

DEKA MILE

DEKA FIT

The 10 zones

1. Weighted Lunges

2. Rowing

3. Box jumps or step-overs

4. Med ball sit-up throws

5. Ski erg

6. Farmer's carry

7. Air bike

8. Dead ball over

9. Sled push/pull

10. Weighted burpees

DEKA Events Coming to the Philippines

DEKA STRONG

DEKA FIT Manila

DEKA FIT Cebu

DEKA FIT Manila

Why This Matters for Awaken

Train Toward Your DEKA Mark

Pride Never Ends: Awaken's First HYROX Session for the LGBTQIA+ Community

— Coach Melvin, AWAKEN FITNESS CENTER

— COACH RICK, AWAKEN FITNESS CENTER

READY TO TRY IT ?

What Is HYROX? A Beginner’s Guide to Manila’s Fastest-Growing Race

What HYROX is, plainly

— COACH SHANE DOMINGO, STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACH, AWAKEN FITNESS CENTER

The eight stations, one by one

1. SkiErg — 1,000m ﻿

2. Sled Push — 50m

3. Sled Pull — 50m

4. Burpee Broad Jumps — 80m

5. Row Erg — 1,000m

6. Farmers Carry — 200m

7. Sandbag Lunges — 100m

8. Wall Balls — 75–100 reps

Why Filipinos are racing it

What HYROX 365 accreditation means

Who this is actually for

Experience It Before You Commit

Find your class

READY FOR IT?

SUNDAYS, PHP 1,000

Awaken Hybrid Kids: A First Look at the Newest Way to Train at Metrowalk

Three Categories, One Format

Mini Hero

Hero

Super Hero

Getting Ready Before Race Day

A Community Event, Built Like One

Why Awaken Ran This

What's Next

Want your kids in on it next time?

From the Start Line: Awaken at HYROX Osaka 2026

The build-up

— COACH SHANE DOMINGO, AWAKEN FITNESS CENTER

— Coach Gab Rosario, AWAKEN FITNESS CENTER

Race day at INTEX Osaka

— COACH VANS CATINDOY, AWAKEN FITNESS CENTER

What comes next

THINKING ABOUT YOUR NEXT RACE ?

1. SkiErg — 1,000m