COVID-19: Update 11

AS OF START OF DAY WEDNESDAY, 15 JULY 2020, PINNACLE PERFORMANCE IN WAN CHAI & PINNACLE BLACK IN CENTRAL WILL BE CLOSED TEMPORARILY.

Dear Pinnacle Athlete

In response to the resurgence of COVID-19 cases, the Hong Kong Government has announced that it will close 12 different types of businesses including gyms, gaming centres and cinemas from Wednesday, 15 July 2020.

We will therefore be closing our Hong Kong facilities at the end of our normal schedule today (Tuesday) 14th July, after our last sessions, for at least 7 days as mandated.

Although disappointing, we stand in complete support of any prevention efforts taking place across Hong Kong and always have the health and safety of our members as top priority. That being said, what can be expected for the coming week.

complimentary aCCESS

All Pinnacle Performance and Pinnacle BLACK members will receive 7-day complimentary access to sessions. Complimentary days will be automatically added on to the end of one’s current minimum term period and applicable billing details adjusted by our Administrator.

ONLINE SESSIONS

With the facilities closed, we may have a different training space, but all sessions will continue and be delivered ONLINE beginning Wednesday, 15th July.

GDS schedule and booking through the Pinnacle App will largely remain the same.

If you're a BLACK Tier member the same principle applies and your normal booking and communication methods remain.

Either way, your Lead Coach will be handling everything directly with you and will be in touch with any further information needed.

EASIER ACCESS TO YOUR SESSION

Online sessions are now on Zoom!

To gain access to your sessions, follow the steps below:

• Book into your preferred GDS on the Pinnacle App as you normally would.

• Once done, click on your booked GDS. You will find a ‘Join Session’ button that will serve as the link to the session (similar to the photo below).

• Click the ‘Join Session’ button before your scheduled GDS and you will be automatically directed to the session on zoom.

As ever, we thank you for your understanding, loyalty and support. Please continue to stay up to date on our website blog as well as pushed notifications within your Pinnacle App for recent COVID-19 developments and how this may affect our facility operations.

If you have any further questions that has not been answered here, feel free to reach out to your Lead Coach.

The Big Gap: Advantages of being Coached

Innovation and technology have brought information at our fingertips. A quick click here, a few scrolls there, and voila! a training regimen. In a time when instant is premium, fitness and diet fads that promise a quick and easy way of losing weight, of getting strong, or of achieving that beach-ready body, have been selling like hotcakes.

But how different is it to have an expert write your program and coach your session?

Let’s break it down to three: Tailor fit programming, Athlete accountability and Education, Progress tracking and Result.

Tailor-fit Programming

Good lead coaching will make sure that you're doing what you need to do, when you need to do it. Why is your rest period this short? Why does this exercise come after that block? Why are we doing this and not that? The program is planned, in detail, and rationalised to the very bit. Training isn’t a guessing game, so it shouldn’t be left to chance.

Athlete Accountability and Education

While committing to a schedule is one thing, attending to it is another. A great coach will hold you accountable for your commitment to your goals and will make sure you show up and get the work done, day in and day out. Whether it be a simple 40min recovery session or an all-out lifting day, a great coach will make sure to get the best out of you.

And when you’ve reached your goal, a great coach will also ensure that you will have the tools and knowledge to go further. You’ve lost weight? That's amazing. A great coach will make sure that you develop the habits and discipline to keep that 5 kilos off for the rest of your life.

Accountability and education should always be part of the equation.

Progress Tracking and Results

Undergoing a training program will entail a ton of commitment. And if you are going to put in time, resource and effort into something, you would want to see progress and results. Training with an expert will ensure that you are moving towards the direction you want to head at. Tracking data, analysing variables, and setting baseline measurements to check for improvements, and to celebrate milestones is a standard of world-class coaching.

Movement, and exercise of any nature definitely beats being sedentary, but if you’re going all in, getting the help of an expert is the best and surest way forward.

So if you liked what you’ve read and want to experience it for yourself, go ahead and click the link to sign up https://pinnacleperformance.asia/online-memberships

World-class training at your fingertips.

About the Author

Coach Gelo Abendan is a Junior Strength & Conditioning Coach at Pinnacle Performance Manila. He is a Bachelor of Science in Sports Science graduate from the University of Santo Tomas and is also currently the Strength & Conditioning Coach of Origins Brazilian Jiu- jitsu.

Know more about Gelo in the link to his bio https://pinnacleperformance.asia/gelo-abendan

PEOPLE OF PINNACLE

Neil Nakamoto, In Pursuit of Greatness

The year 2020 has changed the lives of many in a lot of ways. The first half has caught us off guard while the rest of the year is uncertain. And it is during times like these that we search for some source of hope to keep pushing on — and we have just that!

Meet Neil Nakamoto, 58, a Pinnacle Performance Manila member since November 2017 and winner of our recently concluded Six Year Athlete challenge.

‘Lolo’ Neil (translates to ‘Grandpa’), as he is commonly called, is one of the older members in our Pinnacle community, but his age never got in the way of reaching his goals. He is focused on taking one step at a time while challenging himself to grow.

“I guess you could say I have an internal drive that always makes me want to improve and get better at whatever I’m doing.”

But Neil wasn’t born an athlete. In fact, he was far from it during his younger years. He mentions that his only sporting activities were the required Physical Education (PE) classes in High School and University.

“You see, I was always the last person picked for athletic teams. I was overweight as a child up to age 15, and it left a mark on me that I wasn’t an athlete.”

It wasn’t until his 30s, having friends who were athletes, that Neil thought he should work out and get in shape. This positive change in his lifestyle was also affected by the early passing of his father.

“My father died at a very early age due to heart disease, and in some ways, I was motivated by that to make sure that I took care of my body so that I could live a long and healthy life.”

It’s been 3 decades since he started investing in his health and fitness, and being with Pinnacle for almost 3 years, he continues to smash his goals.

Coach Bernice Atienza, Neil’s Lead Coach shares,

“Neil is super hardworking, persevering and oozing with humility. He embraces challenges head on. He will not back out and will push thru it the best he can.”

Just before Metro Manila was put under ECQ (Enhanced Community Quarantine), our member athletes were preparing for testing week and Neil recalls hitting his max rep for deadlift at 115 kgs and max rep for back squat at 105 kgs.

“I’m not a professional athlete, and whenever I worked out on that level, I’m surprised that it wasn’t intimidating. Everyone implicitly knew that we were all competing against ourselves for our specific goals, and our roles were to encourage one another to meet our goals and to cheer each other as we work towards them.”

Even during ECQ, when fitness facilities like Pinnacle were advised to close for operations until further notice, his dedication to his health and fitness didn’t falter. In fact, as sessions were made available online, Neil has been consistently working out 6 days a week.

The latest achievement for Neil arrived when Pinnacle Performance held a week long event from June 8 - 13, 2020 across all it’s facilities in Hong Kong and Manila to celebrate it’s 6th year anniversary, - an epic Six Year Athlete challenge. As fitness facilities remained closed, for Pinnacle Manila, the event was done fully online. Daily challenges were made to test the members’ strength, endurance and grit. And after 6 intense days, only one was worthy to be called the Pinnacle Six Year Athlete, only Neil proved he deserved that title.

The challenges weren’t easy, and Neil recalls that the 6th day was the most challenging since his muscles were all sore 5 days into the event.

“The last challenge was the pushup segment with ‘Bring Sally Up/Down.’ I don’t like that video at all! My whole body was shaking and in definite pain toward the end of that segment but I was able to complete it. I was so relieved once we were done and I thought to myself, “Wow, I can’t believe I finished the Six Year Athlete challenge.”

Neil looks forward to working out each day, and mentions that the ‘family feel’ that the Pinnacle community has nurtured and the unmatched professional care and attention of Pinnacle is a huge contributing factor to this.

“I do miss the weights at times, but I feel like the Online Membership that Pinnacle has innovated for us has kept me in shape. I actually can see muscle development too. I book 8 sessions from Monday to Saturday, that’s including 2 MOBE sessions, and will continue to do so through the pandemic.”

Looking back, Neil never imagined to be at this fitness level at age 58.

“When I think about my journey, I sometimes forget that I’m in my late 50’s. In my mind, I don’t see myself in my 50’s but rather in my 30’s. I think of what I need to learn still and how I can best help others around me. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised at my level of health in comparison to others who are my age and I’m grateful that I’ve taken the steps to be healthy and physically fit. My goal in life is to be generous with others and to share with them any inspiration that I’ve received. If my life can be a model for others, I would be grateful to inspire and challenge others to be the best version of themselves and to encourage them to pass it forward to others.”

How about you? What motivates you?

COVID-19: Update 10

NEWS: WE ARE OPEN FROM FRIDAY!!!

The Hong Kong Government have announced no further extension for the temporary closure of certain businesses - fitness centres being one of them - which means we will be opening our doors once again from 0530 on Friday 8 May 2020. For official source references, please see here.

Our team are ready, are you?

WE ARE RE-OPENING, SO WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?

BLACK Tier members
The only amendment here is the reversion to your space and equipment! Please work normally with your Lead Coach directly to schedule your sessions as you used to, nothing here changes and we can't wait to see you in person working hard again!


Standard Members
The main difference* for our Pinnacle Performance Wan Chai members is an alteration in opening times. They have been updated on the website and app schedules, and from Friday are as follows:

• Monday - Friday, 0530-2000 (first GDS 0530, last GDS 1900)

• Saturdays, 0700-1300

• Sundays, CLOSED

These changes have been brought about from internal analyses during the shutdown and increased efficiencies with our support teams and management capacities. The main goal here though is to provide improved services and coaching provisions during the times when we are open and working on full cylinders, so we thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.
 *Please also note, from Friday we will still be monitoring temperatures as you come in and asking you to sign declaration forms, until further notice.

THANK YOU FOR MAKING US SIX

There's no two ways about it, the last 9 months have been testing ones for any business in Hong Kong, and we have felt the effects as much as anyone, but without you - our valued and close-knit community - we could not have made it to our sixth birthday still alive, relatively unscathed, all things considered.

Pinnacle turns 6 years old on May 12th 2020 and through all the melee that has come from the pandemic and associated restrictions any plans for celebrations have slipped through the net, so suggestions from you all would be warmly welcomed! Otherwise, stay tuned for further details on a quick social gathering to mark the occasion, which we dearly hope you can join us for.

Party or not, we thank you all for your loyalty over what may have been a short or long time with us, especially your patience and understanding on so many changes and unknowns with your membership services during these last few months. We really do appreciate it, and hope we can exceed your expectations as we greet your return to the gym with a bang from Friday.

COVID-19: Update 9

RECAP:
THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT EXTENDS CLOSURE OF FITNESS CENTRES UNTIL 7 MAY 2020…

KEEP MOVING, KEEP GOING...

Not much changes again, but attendance and participation in online sessions has never been more important! The more we all do right now, the easier our transition will be back to in-facility services and membership experiences.

As attendance data takes centre stage we will be driving home our renowned Pinnacle pillars of methodology: PLAN-PURSUE-PERFORM. Going back to basics alongside just getting 100% of our members involved with online sessions, either in a group or one-on-one, is the main focus for these extra few weeks. Each Lead Coach will be ensuring your membership still aligns (or is re-aligned) with a goal, the pursuit of that (attendance) and your performance (RPE's, session aims/data, and in-facility health/condition when we open again).

SCHEDULING

The latest announcement means that we plan on being fully open to the public again on Friday 8th May 2020, and until then our current online schedule will continue.

Please be aware that some of our session invite links are going into personal spam/junk folders. We are in the process of fixing this issue but in the meantime please check these email folders before the session starts if you haven't seen an email invite come through.

New On-Demand Sessions will also be live next week so please watch out for those on your App. If you are a current standard member you should already have access to these and don't need to sign up. If you are a BLACK Tier member of course you have access to your programming and coaching team at the appropriately scheduled time.

Our Mobility (MOBE) GDS will also be restructured so that we provide a little more access to HK members at more suitable times of the day.

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Once again, thank you all for your patience and understanding as we wade through this tricky period. We hope you are all enjoying what we are able to offer you for the time being, and we can't wait to be lifting properly again with you in the facility when we open soon!

COVID-19: Update 8

THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT EXTENDS CLOSURE OF FITNESS CENTRES UNTIL 23 APRIL 2020…

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SO HOW DOES THIS AFFECT YOUR MEMBERSHIP?

As little as possible…..

We are of course saddened by the recent announcement of an extended period of closure for our Hong Kong facilities, but are spurred by facing the challenge of delivering even better online services to you in the coming weeks. We are trying hard to prevent as much disruption to your routine and access to Pinnacle as much as possible (hence the plethora of feedback requests being thrown at you!).

As we take the long weekend to regroup and implement our plan B for the coming 2 weeks, we will be upping our online game, driving attendance even more (before all your previous efforts are wasted!), and taking the smaller things a little more seriously in order to get back to Pinnacle alignments (such as goal pathways and results), raising the efficiency of delivering as many top level sessions and access to our Coaches as possible.

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SCHEDULING

We plan on being fully open to the public 2 weeks from today, on Friday 24th April 2020, and until then our current online schedule will continue - this is now fully live online for normal booking through the website and app, or individually with your Lead Coach if you are a BLACK Tier member.

Watch out for our NEW addition with a 30 minute MOBE GDS delivered by Coach Bernice from Manila, Tuesdays & Thursdays at 1615 & 1700 each day

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ON-DEMAND SESSIONS

There is more coming, and although it will always be FREE for members, it won’t always be a complimentary product for non-members, so please pass the sign up link here to everyone you know before we introduce a small charge for the on-demand access to non-Pinnacle-members (likely when we open the doors again).

COVID-19: Update 7

Dear Athletes,

Us again!

We thought we would write you just a quick note to say thank you for your hard work and flexibility during a week of unknowns, adaptability and innovation, but also to announce a few things that you will need to be aware of over the weekend moving into another week of online membership services.

THANKS

So far the attendance numbers and involvement willingness have been impressive so thank you to all of our BLACK Tier and Standard members across all the facilities for taking part in everything we have thrown at you. We are continuing multiple avenues of feedback both internally and externally in order to maximise our efficiency and delivery of online coaching, management, admin and overall membership offerings moving into next week and beyond.

FEEDBACK

Please excuse more forms and requests coming your way but the more information you are able to provide us at the moment the more we can grow with such new and unprecedented requirements and continue to evolve our model and services!

More importantly, please be brutally honest - So far feedback from you has been good to excellent, but we don’t believe you - we know we are amazing (!?) but we need you to mark scores at more extreme ends of the scale: if something is just average or you weren’t quite feeling it, don’t just knock one point off, take three. And the more worded subjective feedback you can give us in the provided boxes, the better - we promise these feedback requests won’t be permanent!

ONLINE GDS SETUP

Protocols for online GDS are no different to that of a GDS within the facility - be fully ready to start on the dot, technology issues pushed aside, energy up etc. etc. - but we know we’ve had some teething issues and are putting a few corrections together for the coming week(s) so please try and stick with us with our requests and expectations.

The earlier you book the better - currently we don’t have an automated ‘lock out’ feature on our systems but we will soon be introducing it. For now, we do ask you please to ensure you’re booked in as early as you can, latest 15mins prior - our Coaches still need to prepare well ahead of time, know who they are delivering to and how to tailor that session accordingly. If you don’t book in time (15mins before) or if you don’t book in at all you won’t have the online video link to join the session (the link gets emailed at the same time to all participants who have booked in).

NEW: STOP PRESS! ‘ON DEMAND GDS’ GOES LIVE…

Say whaaattt??

From this Saturday 4th April, 0700HKT our NEW ‘On Demand GDS’ will go live. Top recap, this is an entry-level alternative for members (and eventually non-members), free of charge to supplement home workouts in their own time - ‘on demand’. These are non-coached, follow-along video based exercises wrapped up in a familiar Explode, Load, Adapt format.

So how do you get it?

Wait for Saturday, awake with eager anticipation and plenty of energy, ensure you have online access to your trusty Pinnacle App, refresh (you may need to logout and log back in) and the icon should appear on your homepage as ‘GDS On Demand’ (see below). This is still a work in progress so please bear with us, but keep giving feedback! You will also receive forms for review of this function too.

From there, you can ‘plan the workout’ for appropriate days or go straight in to doing it there and then. It should be fairly self-explanatory (instructions are written with each session, exercises are videoed and the reps/sets prescribed and counted for you) but if you have any questions with it or issues with its use don’t hesitate to contact your Lead Coach or the admin team and we’d be happy to help.

COVID-19: Update 6

Dear Athletes,

Thank you for remaining patient whilst we setup the temporary membership services for you online and put into place what we hope you will get serious bang-for-buck from as we navigate through an ever growing network of online connectivity.

As a Pinnacle athlete, here's what you need to know today:
 1. Recap on events over the weekend and what that means for your membership;

2. How we are proceeding with things from now on until further notice.

RECAP

• GDS will largely remain the same, but will be delivered online from Tuesday 31st March in maximum groups of 6 athletes;

• Schedules and bookings are available on the Pinnacle App - first come first serve;

• All members will receive these 2 weeks of online membership free of charge, added onto the end of one’s current minimum term period;

• Work closely with your Lead Coach as much as possible - Coaches will mostly remain on their normal shift patterns but will contact each of you in turn to ensure you know exactly what is expected of both us and yourself during this transition to online sessions. They will assist with technological, logistical and equipment queries as they proceed with online GDS delivery;

• BLACK Tier members should work with their Lead Coach, to receive normal one-on-one sessions online, effective immediately;

• Both facilities have had a deep clean and de-fogging process over the weekend;

• Online GDS will be delivered by a Pinnacle Coach from their respective facility, with maximum 2 coaches in the same space at any time, and 3 people in the facility at most in total;

• Outdoor GDS, or any form of session that is not online, are not permitted to be performed by Coaches.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR ONLINE MEMBERSHIP?

• BLACK Tier Athletes across both facilities will operate on a one-to-one basis directly with their Lead Coach - sessions will be delivered through an agreed format for both parties and at a time of agreement as per normal in-person sessions;

• All GDS's for Standard Members across Pinnacle Performance Wan Chai and Central facilities will be delivered online using an invitation-only link to join the session through Google Hangouts, with the respective Coach delivering each and every bit of it!

• GDS's must be booked into on the app or website - the schedule will be live today (30th March) from 16.00HKT!

• Each GDS will last 45 minutes and will accommodate a maximum of 6 athletes;

• There will be no compromise in GDS protocols: start time, format, coaching cues, technique, dedication and intensity etc. will not be diluted or overlooked;

• Goals of each session and athlete moving forward will not diminish or falter;

• Relationship with and use of your Lead Coach will remain the same.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO PARTICIPATE REMOTELY?

• ENVIRONMENT

  • as much space as possible, but minimum amount of floor required is that of the length of your body (head to toe) and width of your arms spread-eagle;

  • ensure you dry and non-slip floor is required for safety and comfort.

• NO GYM EQUIPMENT NECESSARY - ideally if you have some form of weights, bands etc. then the Coach for the session will work with you appropriately, but our online GDS's are designed based on the assumption that participating athletes do not have anything other than themselves.

• INTERNET AND ONLINE EQUIPMENT - stable internet connection an absolute must (!) and an appropriate video and audio device so that the Coach and athlete has reliable 2 way communication both with sight and sound.

• NO DISTRACTIONS - just like in the gym, we expect you to be fully devoted and listening carefully to the Coaches.

HOW OUR ONLINE SESSION DELIVERY AND COACHING WILL LOOK MOVING FORWARD...

Stay tuned for other online access options and upcoming portals - instagram daily challenges, IGTV, education webinars, online programmes within the App, external online GDS accessibility, and much more!

Thank you once again for your understanding and patience during such unprecedented times. All the team are working around the clock to try and ensure minimal interruptions to your membership services and as much accessibility to coaching, movement, education, convenience and fun as possible!

COVID-19: Update 5

WHAT DOES THE RECENT GYM CLOSURE IN HONG KONG MEAN FOR MEMBERS?

Dear Athletes,

The Pinnacle team have spent today (Saturday) enjoying some last in-person sessions with our valued members for a few weeks, and we’ve loved it.

Please note there will be a final update on Monday 30th March (afternoon) in order to solidify last important bits of information that members will need for the time being.

We have plenty of plans in place for the coming 2 week shutdown and essentially not much will change when it comes to working hard towards one’s goal(s) - at the end of the day they shouldn’t change just because the environment has (!), but here’s what we have so far to share with you…

Pinnacle Performance (Wan Chai) Members

• GDS will largely remain the same, but will be delivered online from Tuesday 31st March;

• Please sit tight for the next 2 days (Sunday 29th and Monday 30th) whilst we finalise the logistics, schedules and infrastructure behind the scenes in order to offer a full coaching and workout service to all members seamlessly from Tuesday 31st March;

• All members will receive these 2 weeks of online membership free of charge, added onto the end of one’s current minimum term period;

• Work closely with your Lead Coach as much as possible - Coaches will mostly remain on their normal shift patterns but will contact each of you in turn to ensure you know exactly what is expected of both us and yourself during this transition to online sessions. The team will be fully informed and up to speed from Monday afternoon and our booking systems for GDS will likewise be ready, so please bear with us!

• Wan Chai BLACK Tier members should work with their Lead Coach, effective immediately, to receive normal one-on-one sessions online from Monday 30th.

Pinnacle BLACK (Central) Members

• BLACK Tier members can communicate with their Lead Coach, effective immediately, to arrange normal one-on-one sessions online from from Monday 30th March;

• We ask Standard Members in Central to please follow suit from those at Wan Chai whereby we will resume group sessions online once schedules are confirmed on Monday 30th, so please stay abreast of updates from your Lead Coach throughout Monday!

• All members will receive these 2 weeks of online membership free of charge, added onto the end of one’s current minimum term period;

Other Updates

• Both facilities will be having a deep clean and de-fogging process performed this Sunday 29th March. This was arranged already, before the shutdown announcement, but we thought it prudent to advise you of this anyway - equipment and coaches will be fully sanitised ready to stay healthy and clean for normal operations!

• Online sessions will be delivered from Coaches’ respective facilities, with only 1 other Coach (maximum) in the same space, and no other personnel. This is to ensure we stay well within the requirements of the recently enforced city-wide regulations;

• Outdoor sessions, or any form of session that isn’t online, are not permitted to be performed by Coaches.

Once again, thank you all for your understanding and flexibility already through these uncertain times, we really do appreciate the hard work, empathy and loyalty you have all shown to Pinnacle, as we hope we have to you in return. Together we are spurred on by the challenge of navigating through this ambiguous period and we continue to ask for the same energy and passion we always get from our Pinnacle athletes, as well as maybe some extra feedback regarding the upcoming service provisions, which we hope you’d be happy to provide.

As always, if you have any urgent questions, please contact your Coach or Tom at any time, but kindly do allow us to take a breath internally and regroup over the coming days to put in place what I’m sure you will be grateful for!

Stay safe and we look forward to seeing you on those screens very soon!

From your appreciative Pinnacle team.

COVID-19: Update 4

AS OF SATURDAY 6PM, 28 MAR 2020, PINNACLE PERFORMANCE IN WAN CHAI & PINNACLE BLACK IN CENTRAL WILL BE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
 

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, BREAK GLASS

Dear Pinnacle Athletes,

In response to the ongoing COVID-19 issues, the Hong Kong Government has this evening announced it is enforcing the shut down of 6 different types of public facilities from 6pm on Saturday 28 March 2020: Gaming centres, saunas, places of amusement such as pool halls, fitness centres, cinemas and party rooms. (Please find recent article information here.)

We will therefore be closing our Hong Kong facilities at the end of our normal schedule tomorrow (Saturday), after our last sessions, for 2 weeks as mandated.

As it stands, we will be reopening both gyms on Monday 13 April 2020.

Although extremely disappointing, this doesn't come as huge a surprise to us and we have been working hard to put plans in place for this eventuality for a few weeks now, as we have been communicating with you.

We have adapted our Group Development Sessions (GDS), 1-to-1 and #PInnacleSTRONG online workouts, and our experience in Manila has shown us Pinnacle athletes understand the importance of staying fit and mobile even during confinement.

As a result we can now confirm the following to our Hong Kong athletes...

1. ALL SESSIONS CONTINUE ONLINE!

Just because we don't have a space to train doesn't mean you can't be led through a workout with us!

You may have noticed on your Pinnacle app that the schedule now has online GDS. You book these sessions as per normal but they will be facilitated directly with your Lead Coach (LC) via appropriate online software in groups of 3-4.

If you're a BLACK Tier member the same principal applies and your normal booking and communication methods remain.

Either way, your LC will be handling everything directly with you and will be in touch with further information soon, so please bear with us as we navigate these changes over the weekend.

2. ANYTIME REMOTE PROGRAMMES

If you can't go live with your LC, you will also have access to our free of charge, remote, anytime movement programmes. You will soon (this coming week) be able to open your Pinnacle app to get access to home-based versions of Explode, Load and Adapt programmes, complete with demo videos.

(Don't worry, we will still be monitoring to see who is getting their movement on so get to it, no weights required!)

3. #PINNACLESTRONG INSTAGRAM WORKOUTS

In conjunction with the online GDS and online app movement programmes, we have additional workouts streamed via IGTV for those athletes who want that little bit extra - you know who you are! This is totally free of charge and with a much bigger group: the world. (Yes, feel free to invite family and friends to work out with you!)

As always, thank you for your support, loyalty and understanding, and you'll probably end up hearing from us more often now that we're constantly connected! Please continue to stay up to date on our specific website dedicated to COVID-19 here, as well as pushed notifications within your app.

If you have any other questions that can't be answered here feel free to reach out to your Coach or Tom at any time.

COVID-19: Update 3

Dear Pinnacle Athlete,

As we continue to monitor developments with the current situation we hope to keep you, our valued members, as up to date as possible with what we currently know and what we are continuing to do to mitigate effects/risks of the virus and maximise precautions within our facility. We hope this informs you with valuable information as well as comforts you somewhat in knowing that we are doing all that we can to maintain Pinnacle standards throughout our services, whether they are limited or not.

REMINDER: Member sanitation protocols

We are requesting all members once again to take 2 minutes out of your time to thoroughly clean equipment that you've used as well as any other surfaces you may have come in contact with during your sessions, e.g. benches, dumbbells, floor space, worktops etc. We will be enforcing this very strictly. Please remember, it's not about you but about looking after everyone, including those around us (doormen, parents etc.) who are vulnerable.

Disinfectant wipes are readily available on the desks and coaches are at hand to help if needed, but we are introducing this now as a compulsory part of every session. Please understand if our coaches check that this is being done by all our members.

This is in addition to our teams' mandatory specific cleaning periods throughout each day (3 times). Together with us all doing our own parts we aim to provide vital protection for all those around us who share the same space.

Government Advice - what are Pinnacle doing?

Over the weekend you may have seen how the Hong Kong government calling for premises such as bars and gyms to change the way they operate: Carrie Lam appealed to these "relevant industries, for the sake of public health, to adjust their operations and lower risks for their customers.”

Well we have, and will continue to do introduce tighter measures:

1. Outside of our one-on-one sessions, Pinnacle have smaller group session sizes (4-6) and will look at reducing this further whilst opening up more session times should we feel it necessary to do so;

2. We have introduced health declaration forms, temperature monitoring and dramatically increased sanitation protocols and cleaning frequency;

 3. We are recommending self-isolation to those that may have been in contact with infected personnel or been in/near high risk areas;

4. Pinnacle coaches are working hard with remote programming or online coaching where necessary;

5. We are researching and developing new ways to move and workout at home (stay tuned), as well as deep cleaning of the facilities when able.

6. Coaching and Management teams are communicating on a daily basis in order to alleviates risks to athlete and maintain flexibility where required for Lead Coach / Member relations.

Communications & Updates

We aim to provide consistent updates as and when necessary, and as a Pinnacle athlete in such changing times please kindly stay up to date with our information circulars by checking emails, app notifications and our website. In addition, your Lead Coach will be the first port of call if you want to talk about anything specific to you, your membership or the surrounding situation.

Here is our COVID-19 website page for FAQ's

https://pinnacleperformance.asia/covid19

Here is our COVID-19 update page/blog to stay informed
https://pinnacleperformance.asia/blog

COVID-19: Update 2

Dear Pinnacle Athlete,

As the virus situation is continuing to evolve rapidly, we are implementing new procedures in line with the Hong Kong and Philippine governments.

At this time there is no further update with regards to institutional procedures on in-house developments for Makati, but there are some new developments with regards to our Hong Kong facilities and protocols.

Health and Travel Declaration Form

In response to the Hong Kong Government's implementation to quarantine travellers from overseas (enhanced compulsory restrictions from midnight Thursday 19th March 2020), we will be asking members and attendees to fill in a declaration form of your latest travel history when entering any of our facilities, effective immediately. This will help us ensure Pinnacle remains a safe environment for all.

More information from which we are abiding by is on our FAQ page here and most recently from the Centre for Health Protection website here.

Your help and understanding on this is highly appreciated as we navigate through these unknown times, and we thank you in advance for your co-operation.

Temperature Monitoring

In addition to the health declaration forms we will be asking to check the temperature of all attendees upon entering our facilities. As we are sure you have experienced this procedure elsewhere we are confident that just a 5 second check won't inconvenience you too much and appreciate your understanding on this protocol introduction.

Other Updates

The entire coaching, marketing, admin and management teams are working hard behind the scenes to provide alternative methods of training and membership services for those in Makati (please stay tuned and be patient whilst we put the necessary infrastructure in place!) and for those that can't get into our facilities in Hong Kong, either due to self-isolation, quarantine or being stuck abroad. We will advise through Lead Coaches and across our various platforms are adaptations for each individual and membership groups, so please work closely with them and as best you can if you are unable to physically get into a Pinnacle facility.

Please see our previous mail-out on the overall situation here if you missed it the first time (beware, some information may now be out of date).

Has your personal trainer ever shown you a record of your training?

Gym memberships are not cheap but they’re an investment. Invest well and you don’t die a horrible drawn out death and enjoy a longer time walking, running and climbing around this great planet of ours. But it’s the only damn investment that is almost completely lawless and unregulated.

We recently welcomed a new member athlete to Pinnacle. While we were completing their onboarding test (we call it the Pinnacle Global Rating), he was quick to say that he’s been training for 3 years with their previous trainer and was getting stronger. He simply had to change trainer because he left town (we call this a single fitness relationship).

Fast forward to the Bench Press, we asked what weights they had previously been lifting and said, “I don’t know, my trainer looked after that.” Odd but OK. So then we moved to the Squat, same reply. And by the time we got to the Rower and found out that their previous trainer never told them what distance or speed they had been rowing, but simply got them to complete 12 minutes at the end of every session “to lose more weight”, we had to take a deep breath and reflect.

To me, it looked like our newest member just spent 3 years with 3 sessions per week (in excess of HKD300,000 in total) to not only have zero tangible results to speak of, but most worryingly of all, no idea even what a weight, rep, or session aim looked like. Well, if I was to look at it as a landlord, it is as if I wasn’t even offering my tenants a floor to put their furniture on. I doubt I could lease the house. How is it that the very foundation of fitness, results, can be so blatantly, and unethically abused?

As a coaching team, we then discussed the way forward without undermining the huge time and financial investment by this person, no one wants to think they have wasted that much. And to be fair, maybe he didn’t agree that he had because the remit they gave their ‘trainer’ may have simply been to keep me company and entertain me. Fair’s fair, you achieved your goal. However, if like most of us, your goal had been to be the best version of yourself at a reasonable and agreed speed, then not knowing your own capabilities or learning how far you have come from a starting number to now is both naive and wasteful.

The clear and straight point here is YOU are responsible for your success. Try blaming your primary school teacher that you can’t spell correctly today, or your financial advisor in 20 years when you are still spending too much on takeaway coffees. You won’t have much sympathy. That said, the least you deserve from a ‘professional’ is tangible, recorded, evidenced success of your journey. If you don’t want to achieve your goal and prefer blind optimism for tomorrow, then do nothing. However, if you are committed to your number and your outcome, then start demanding more transparency for your hard work and never settle for an opinion, learn by facts. Learn through numbers.