At Fitcorp Asia's workouts, you learn what gyms don't teach

The word "Valentine" is the signal to pair up, but the only love involved is a love of exercise, and the command means hop on your partner's back or hoist him up as if he were a baby.

The scene is Benjakitti Park, and this is Daniel Remon's boot camp.

Remon rhymes with "demon", which is fitting for the fanatical managing director of the five-year-old Fitcorp Asia. He's frustrated that the world of fitness as a whole hasn't yet caught on to some new ways of thinking.

Leg presses and crunches in the gym do nothing to help your natural movement, he says. "They've got no real-life application."

Instead Remon promotes exercises based on dynamic movement and utilising all the muscles and nerves.

The squats he teaches at boot camp are done on one leg. In something called "the Spiderman", you get down on all fours and touch your knees to your elbows.

What kind of training?

If it sounds tough, Remon is willing to customise the routine to match your fitness level. The fittest trainee will still be challenged while doing the same exercise as a rookie.

"This is the first type of exercise that's got me motivated," says Sandra, 38, a teacher at the New International School who confesses to eating lots of rice. She has more energy now, she finds, the better to raise her two-year-old.

Australian Glenn, 40, who works for the Red Cross, has lost seven kilograms in the year he's been attending boot camp.

As I struggle to catch my breath after a round of knee-slapping, Sandra points out a couple of passers-by in the park. They've begun copying the boot camp moves on their own.

Remon will be pleased that it's catching on.

 TOWER OF STRENGTH

>> Fitcorp Asia is on the 20th floor of Ocean Tower 2.

>> Sessions are Bt500 per hour.

 >> On the Web: www.FitcorpAsia.com