CrossFit training in the UAE is growing in popularity thanks to professional CrossFit personal trainers. Now widely available as a training option CrossFit is ideal for beginners and those looking to increase their fitness levels.

What’s more CrossFit can be tailored to any age including the elderly and children. In this question and answer session a professional personal trainer in Abu Dhabi discusses her views on why CrossFit is great for general health and fitness.

So what is CrossFit?

Question: CrossFit training and personal CrossFit training in the UAE is becoming more and more popular – can you explain what CrossFit is?

CrossFit is a core strength and conditioning program that it was developed to enhance an individual’s competency at all physical tasks. its focus on maximizing neuroendocrine response, developing power, cross-training with multiple training modalities, constant training and practice with functional movements, and the development of successful diet strategies.

We view cross training as exceeding the normal parameters of the regular demands of your sport or training.

CrossFit recognizes functional, metabolic, and modal cross training.

That is, we regularly train past the normal motions, metabolic pathways, and modes or sports common to the athlete’s sport or exercise regimen.

Is CrossFit suitable for beginners?

Question: If I am unfit or don’t take any regular exercise is CrossFit in the UAE suitable for me as a training and workout method?

Your needs and the Olympic athlete’s differ by degree not kind. Increased power, speed, strength, cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, flexibility, stamina, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy are each important to the world’s best athletes and to our grandparents.

Of course we will not apply the same weight in squatting to our grandparents but squatting is essential to maintaining functional independence and improving fitness, such as the other functional skills (pull up, push up, running, jumping).

You just need to start and feel how your body starts to improve with your daily workouts and being able to increase your degree.

Group CrossFit or 1-2-1 PT

Question: Is CrossFit a group class training programme or can I take private CrossFit sessions with a personal trainer in Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Sharjah?

Of course. Cross fit is about competing with yourself, working out to be better than yesterday and to become better tomorrow.

Working with a group it can increase your adrenaline and to feel more motivated but at the end it is all about improving your own skills and improve yourself.

What fitness benefits does CrossFit provide?

Question: As well as cardio based fitness what other aspects of the body and fitness can be improved with regular CrossFit training?

Weight-lifting and gymnastics are also part of our workouts, and both of them are a total body workout.

With CrossFit we work exclusively with compound movements and shorter high-intensity cardiovascular sessions, functional movements and high-intensity are radically more effective at eliciting nearly any desired fitness result.

So you will see your body improve in a balanced shape and cardiovascular capacity will increase. You will definitely will see the areas that you want to improve becoming stronger and shaped as also you will see your body more balanced and stronger.

How long does it take to see and feel the benefit or doing CrossFit?

Question: Is CrossFit a ‘quick fix’ exercise method or does it take a long time to increase my fitness levels with CrossFit?

As a personal trainer I see cross fit as part of my lifestyle and part of my daily routine, so it will be something so important as waking up in the morning to be alive.

The results will come as a result of your daily routine.

When you see any type of workout (it doesn’t need to be exclusively cross fit) only as a mean to achieve the results that you want as a commitment you will probably feel demotivated and you will end up to reduce or give up once you see results.

You need to understand it as part of the human nature…we were born to move and spend energy, we eat to fuel our body so we can spend that energy, not to store it.

CrossFit and Kids Fitness

Question: Do you think CrossFit is suitable for kids in the UAE?

CrossFit Kids is meant to be BIG fun for all age, It is very important for kids to be a part of something any type of sports.

CrossFit for kids aims to improve all components of your child’s fitness in order to lead a healthy, active lifestyle.

Components such as accuracy, agility, balance, coordination, endurance, flexibility, power, speed, stamina and strength are all focused on during these classes.

Based on the principles of mechanics, consistency and intensity, CrossFit Kids emphasizes good movement throughout childhood and adolescence.

Is diet also an important aspect when doing CrossFit?

Question: As a CrossFit specialist what diet do you recommend to accompany a CrossFit training programme?

The CrossFit dietary prescription is as follows:

Protein should be lean and varied and account for about 30% of your total caloric load.

Carbohydrates should be predominantly low glycemic and account for about 40% of your total caloric load.

Fat should be from whole food sources and account for about 30% of your total caloric load.

Basically just base your diet on garden vegetables, especially greens, meats, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar. That is about as simple as we can get.