What I’ve learned from 10 years of Personal Training in Dubai

In 2011 when I opened my personal training studio in the Gold and Diamond Park of Al Quoz, the idea of a high-end, high-quality, and extremely serious personal training gym was not even a tangible concept in the Dubai consumers mental landscape.

For some reason, the ideas of group training such as Zumba, Crossfit, and the like, were the predominant paradigms and options available to anyone wanting to get fit, lose fat, and look better.

The only alternative to them were the big, cold, and unfriendly big-box warehouse gyms. With their endless rows of equipment, sterile environments, and

The main reason for the popularity of group training has and will always be – socializing.

The type of people that you will find at group classes are:

• People that are looking for romance; group classes are a great place to meet partners who are sweating it out with you in skimpy revealing attire
• People that cannot afford to be members at private arts or yacht clubs
• People that are simply lonely and want to be around other people

The type of people you will NOT find at group classes:

• The ultra wealthy; because they always seek exclusivity
• The happily married
• The socially and mentally stable; they aren’t suffering from loneliness and depression

So, 10 years ago, when I decided that an exclusive style of personal training, where the client was king and/or queen, was the missing premium option, I turned out to be right.

Why do people hire personal trainers instead of doing group classes?

Reason Number 1: You are not like everyone else.
You are unique and so are your strengths, weaknesses, and the PATH you must take to get to your goal. If we’re honest, everyone has the same goal – less body fat and more muscle on a stronger and healthier body. If it looks right, it flies right. A body that looks like it can handle the stress of lifes ups and downs, probably can.

Reason Number 2: You might not get a workout.
In a group setting, the person that benefits the most is the person at the lowest level of fitness. Out of normal human courtesy a group will always adjust itself to the weakest link. This means YOU may never get a workout that is sufficient enough to illicit a training response via adaptation to demand. You may be wasting every session you do because of this. And the larger the group, the more likely this becomes.

Reason Number 3: Risk of injury is simply too high in a group class.
The larger the group – the higher the injury risk. It is literally impossible for a group instructor to keep an eye on everyone. One slightly off movement could mean a life time of back pain for you. The cost to benefit ratio of a group class SIMPLY ISNT WORTH IT due to this fact.

Let’s never forget that best in class will be the most expensive in class.

Whether it’s the airplane seat; that purse; that car; or that house.

You have to pay premium IF IT MATTERS to you.

And what could matter more to a human being than the body that allows them to enjoy all of the above things I just listed.
Personal training has always been about more than exercise. Exercise coaching is merely the conduit through which we help our clients understand themselves. Exercise and diet require patience, consistency, and dedication. All traits YOU would WANT to be KNOWN for. All characteristics you would your children to model. All these traits are trained and ingrained in the person who makes physical fitness and proper nutrition a lifestyle choice.

If youre still wondering whether or not you are someone who needs a coach, I can tell you this – the reason you hire a doctor, a chef, or even a gardener is because :

• You value expertise and skill
• You want to save your own time and energy

Fitness is the same.

We live in high-tech environment where the physical function of the body is more and more being divorced and relegated non-necessity. Especially with the idea of the metaverse.

This creates a whole host of metabolic issues and ensuing disease states that have begun to trademark the life of the modern man. Inflammatory and immune issues along with degenerative problems have become the hallmark of 21 century man.

Fitness professionals are a new line of defense against the coming of the cyber-technological age. Because the one thing that humanity can never escape, by definition, is the body. We are embodied beings on a journey nature is taking through herself in time.

I hope this article helps you to see physical fitness in a new light.

— Amir S.