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Most vital piece of functional fitness equipment found under foot

The inclusion of functional training into a healthy lifestyle does not stop when traveling for business or pleasure, and may influence a traveler’s hospitality selection.

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By Bo Barber
VP of Marketing and Sales, Ecore
 

Today’s health-conscious consumers on the cutting-edge of fitness are realizing the limitations of stationary strength and cardio machines, and are opting instead to focus on functional strength and conditioning exercises such as high-intensity interval training. This evolution in fitness was documented in the American College of Sports Medicine’s worldwide survey of fitness trends for 2016, which ranked high-intensity interval training as the no. 1 choice by consumers who now want more open spaces to exercise to boost long-term wellness.

The inclusion of functional training into a healthy lifestyle does not stop when traveling for business or pleasure, and may influence a traveler’s hospitality selection. To appeal to the modern consumer and stand out from competition, many in the hospitality industry are offering a customizable approach to staying fit while away from home that includes a full-scale gym and wellness center to support functional fitness activities such as jumping, sprinting, throwing and crawling.

To ensure these facilities meet the high expectations of today’s fitness enthusiasts, contract architects and specifiers are opting for flooring that positively influences safety, ergonomics and acoustics to provide users with force reduction and energy restitution throughout each workout.

How Flooring Impacts Functional Fitness
During functional training, people use their bodies and weights to perform exercises, making the surface underneath their feet more critical than ever before. In response to the functional training trend, fitness centers nationwide are removing some of the standard equipment and adding open space and more supportive flooring for interval training.

Hilton Hotels is taking the functional fitness trend one step further by offering open space with athletic flooring in individual hotel rooms. The Hilton Five Feet to Fitness project offers fitness-minded guests with a functional fitness nook in their rooms, equipped with Ecore ergonomic flooring, functional training equipment and a video kiosk with a library of guided exercises. The specially-designed flooring keeps guest workouts quiet and non-disruptive to neighboring rooms while providing support underfoot for a variety of fitness activities.

Unlike traditional fitness center flooring, functional training flooring has a direct impact on the performance of the athlete, providing stability and support to protect from injury. Functional fitness flooring must withstand heavy weight drops, ropes, medicine ball slams and repeated jumping, all while providing a comfortable, ergonomically sound and quiet environment. Architects and designers should keep in mind these three important factors when specifying a functional fitness facility:

Safety

Athletes of all levels – weekend warriors to Olympic champions – train to improve their abilities and reach new achievements. With each push toward greatness, athletes put their bodies at risk of injury that could set back their efforts temporarily or permanently. Thus, measures are taken to protect athletes’ bodies to ensure they are able to perform at peak levels – including proper nutrition, adequate sleep and high-quality equipment. Flooring is a key piece of equipment for athletes, playing a role in nearly every activity from start to finish. To keep safety a priority, fitness facilities should invest in surfaces that mitigate injury, protect the body and promote ultimate and healthy performance.

Ergonomics

Once the athlete’s body is protected, the focus turns to enhancing and improving performance. Functional fitness calls for intense activities to be performed in different frequencies and directions over and over. No matter the intensity, the repetitive motion, swift movement and constant impact takes a toll on the body and the quality of the workout. Ergonomic flooring helps diminish fatigue, minimize discomfort and enable athletes to perform at their highest levels longer and more efficiently. The right flooring enhances longevity of athletes by absorbing force and providing a return of energy through innovative engineering and design.

Acoustics

While acoustics may not be the first thing that comes to mind when brainstorming a state-of-the-art workout facility, it has a surprisingly significant impact on the overall fitness experience. A room full of athletes performing various activities involving fast movements and heavy weights can become a noisy mess fast. Using a flooring surface that absorbs energy, vibrations and sound can greatly reduce the ambient noise and create a more pleasant experience for the user and those around this space, while also greatly increasing the longevity of the flooring and fitness equipment.

Additional Flooring Selection Considerations
There are many different flooring materials to choose from when designing a fitness facility – some offering more benefits than others. While the flooring should be selected to meet the needs of the fitness center user first and foremost, the durability and sustainability of the product should play a role in decision making as well.

The use of environmentally-conscious and sustainable materials – such as tire scrap, recycled rubber, bamboo and cork – renders high-quality products for modern flooring demands without leaving a detrimental carbon footprint on the environment. Ecore’s Performance Collection, for example, features a durable top layer made of sustainable materials that is slip resistant when wet or dry, as well as fade resistant to hold up against the toughest workouts. The base layers provide significant sound and force reduction while delivering energy restitution, enabling the materials to last longer without additional repairs. These types of materials, when utilized properly, often exceed customer expectations in performance and durability, while greatly reducing maintenance costs over time. 

Modern athletes are looking for fitness equipment and accessories that not only accommodate their physical activities, but work equally hard to enhance performance and safety. Likewise, fitness center managers want to protect and support their members by investing in innovative equipment that will withstand heavy demands. Building up fitness and reaching new physical limits starts with the right foundation: quiet, safe, resilient, ergonomic flooring designed specifically to meet the needs of athletes and fitness centers.

Bo Barber is the Vice President of marketing and sales for Ecore, a company that transforms reclaimed materials into performance surfaces that make people’s lives better. Ecore’s products align substantial force reduction with a balanced amount of energy return to create surfaces to meet virtually every commercial flooring application need. 

Believing that everyone's perspective is important, Zest Magazine has opted to provide an avenue for these perspectives to be known. care to hear the publication's contributing writers; or better yet, do some contributing yourself by contacting info@zestmag.com.

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TCL marks 25th anniversary, unveils new products with health and environmental protection features

TCL Electronics, a consumer electronic products provider, offers reliable solutions to these challenges when it unveiled four new product innovations equipped with latest technologies that prioritize health and environment protection.

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Challenges such as extreme temperatures, poor air quality, and changing weather patterns affect health as well as energy usage, prompting consumers to balance comfort and convenience while managing electricity consumption.

TCL Electronics, a consumer electronic products provider, offers reliable solutions to these challenges when it unveiled four new product innovations equipped with latest technologies that prioritize health and environment protection. These appliances – QD MiniLED TV, FreshIN 3.0 air conditioner, Fresh Pro refrigerator, and Front Loading washing machine – were launched during the company’s 25th anniversary celebration.  

The TCL QD MiniLED TV, which combines QLED and OLED technologies to offer contrast and color gamut while providing higher peak brightness and a longer lifespan, has feature that protects vision. The product is certified by TUV for Low Blue Light Emission that reduces eye strain and potential long-term damage. It is also equipped with Flicker-Free technology to minimize screen flickering for a more comfortable viewing experience. The Ambient Light Adaptation feature adjusts brightness to reduce eye strain while the MEMC Motion Stabilization ensures smoother visuals and reduced eye fatigue.

For environmental protection, the TCL MiniLED TV has energy efficiency features such as the Powerful Light-emitting chip that provides 10% increase in energy efficiency, thereby reducing power consumption, and the QD MiniLED technology for a longer span, minimizing electronic waste and the need for frequent replacements.

The TCL FreshIN 3.0 air conditioner also uses technologies that prioritize health and environment care. Foremost among these is the FreshIN technology that provides fresh air while maintaining stable indoor temperatures, removing odors, optimizing humidity, and increasing oxygen levels. This newest innovation has a real-time quality display with an integrated TVOC sensor that detects harmful particles, and maintains a healthy indoor environment.

The air conditioner has a quadruple purification system that includes a preliminary filter, silver ion antibacterial layer HEPA high-efficiency filter, and high-density filter which ensure efficient air purification and removing up to PM2.5 particles and allergens. It also has an evaporator with self-cleaning process that includes dewing, frosting, defrosting, drying, and sterilizing to eliminate bacteria.

To care for the environment, the FreshIN 3.0 air conditioner is equipped with energy-saving technology that enables the compressor to adjust its operation frequency and allocate cooling power efficiently, achieving up to 37% energy-saving rate. Its Innovative Reverse Clean technology removes dust and debris from the outdoor unit, ensuring clog-free air conditioners and prolonging its lifespan.

The health protection technology that the TCL Fresh Pro refrigerator offers to its customers is the T-Fresh system that reduces bacteria by up to 99.99% through advanced sterilization, keeping food fresher and safer for long. It also utilizes an advanced purification module to absorb unwanted odors, ensuring a clean and odor-free environment.

For its environment protection features, the TCL Fresh Pro refrigerator uses a variable-speed compressor to maintain ideal temperatures, reducing energy consumption by up to 15% and saving money on electricity bills. The product also offers a 10-year warranty on inverter compressor to ensure durability and reliability while reducing electronic waste.

Customers who are looking for a washing machine that has both health and environment protection features can try the TCL front loading washing machine. This product features Steam Wash which eliminates most common bacteria to ensure hygienic protection for your laundry, and Anti-bacteria Gasket which inhibits the production of bacteria and mildew to keep laundry clean and hygienic.

To protect the environment, the TCL washing machine has a BLDC Inverter Motor that reduces vibration, noise and energy consumption. This washing machine is rated A-energy class, indicating low environmental impact. Apart from these, the product also offers an Auto Weight System which automatically adjusts water consumption and cycle duration according to the weight of the load, saving water and energy.

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Beauty & Fashion

Posh Skin Co. launches new pimple patch designs

Posh Skin Co. reinforces its commitment to making acne skin solutions more accessible, fun, and confidence-boosting than ever as it launches new designs of its innovative pimple patches.

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Posh Skin Co. levels up its skincare game as it steps into a new era with a clean new look. With this fresh transformation, Posh Skin Co. reinforces its commitment to making acne skin solutions more accessible, fun, and confidence-boosting than ever as it launches new designs of its innovative pimple patches.

Trendy, Effective, and Fun Pimple Patch Designs

Posh Skin Co.’s rebrand also brings in a new lineup of pimple patch designs, crafted to meet different skincare needs while offering a fresh and fashionable take on blemish care. The new designs include yellow star patches, multicolored star patches, metallic foil patches, for a fun, and comfortable acne treatment experience that lasts all day. The ultra-thin daytime patches provide a discreet and seamless coverage for all-day wear, while the nighttime rescue patches are designed to accelerate blemish healing while you sleep.


The pimple patches now come in new packaging with a sleeker, more minimalist look, following Posh Skin Co.’s rebrand.

“We took on a cleaner and simpler packaging approach to let the pimple patch designs speak for themselves,” said renowned fashion stylist and Posh Skin Co. partner, Charmaine Palermo. “We wanted to highlight what truly matters—effective skincare that empowers people.”

Formulated with the same powerful ingredients, these new pimple patch designs offer users improved coverage, comfort, and effectiveness, and make acne care more wearable and confidence-boosting than ever.

A Fresh, New Chapter 

Posh Skin Co.’s new look aligns with the brand’s vision of expansion in the Philippines. Not only is Posh Skin Co. adding new designs to its pimple patch offerings but will also be providing new, versatile acne solutions that fit effortlessly into any lifestyle.

“Acne care should be as dynamic as people’s lives because breakouts can happen at any time,” remarked Palermo. “We wanted to offer more options to treat and prevent breakouts effectively, so we are expanding our line with acne solutions that can easily integrate into any skincare routine.”

With inclusivity and accessibility still at the brand’s core, Posh Skin Co. ensures that the skin treatment they offer will still be a stress-free and empowering experience for all users. As it broadens its pimple patch offerings and develops new skin treatment solutions, Posh Skin Co. continues to deliver innovative skincare to Filipinos.

Say “Bye” to Blemishes, and “Hello” to Confidence with Posh Skin Co.® Pimple Patches

Look good and feel confident while treating your blemishes with Posh Skin Co. pimple patches, available for PHP199 on Shopee, Lazada, TikTok Shop, and the official Posh Skin Co. website and select Watsons stores nationwide.

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Product Showcase

Anko to open third and largest store in PH

This expansion follows Anko’s debut in the Philippines with its first store opening in Glorietta 2, Makati City, in November 2024, and the upcoming launch of its second branch in Alabang Town Center, Muntinlupa City, in May 2025.

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Anko, Australia’s much-loved home and lifestyle brand, is set to open its third and largest store in the Philippines in July 2025 at Ayala Group’s Trinoma Mall in Quezon City.

Spanning 1,634 square meters, the new store will offer 1,421 square meters of retail space, with the remaining area allocated for office and stockroom use to support operations efficiently.

This expansion follows Anko’s debut in the Philippines with its first store opening in Glorietta 2, Makati City, in November 2024, and the upcoming launch of its second branch in Alabang Town Center, Muntinlupa City, in May 2025.

A striking board-up in Anko’s signature magenta hue is now on display at Level 1 of Trinoma’s Activity Center, building excitement for the grand opening.

Shoppers can look forward to an expansive selection of thoughtfully designed and affordably priced products, ranging from home living essentials and smart storage solutions to beauty must-haves, nursery items, children’s toys, electronics, pet supplies, and arts and crafts.

“Opening in Trinoma is a natural next step for Anko in the Philippines. We want to be where Filipino families already shop for their homes, and Metro Manila’s top malls provide the perfect space to introduce more people to our brand,” said Arjun Puri, CEO of Anko Global.

Puri noted Anko’s efficient product development process, which enables the brand to provide quality home essentials at consistently low prices.

“By managing the entire process—from design and sourcing to production and retail—we streamline operations and keep costs down. This allows us to offer well-designed, functional products that align with international trends at prices that make sense for our Filipino customers,” he said.

Rachel Turner, Country Manager of Anko Philippines, added, “Anko is all about making everyday living brighter. With our Trinoma store, we are very excited to bring even more shoppers home and lifestyle essentials designed to match every lifestyle.”

Anko is part of the Kmart Group under Wesfarmers Ltd., one of Australia’s leading companies.


For more information and updates on Anko, follow @anko_philippines on Instagram.

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