A new fitness services company has opened in Qatar that, according to its managing director, is “trying to completely change the face of fitness in the Middle East.
In an interview with Gulf Times, Unjum Khalid said that there is a severe lack of qualified, knowledgeable fitness staff in Qatar, and his company, Leisure Industry Academy Qatar’s (LIAQ) aim is to work with a number of different health clubs to improve the overall level of fitness and health by training their staff.
Khalid, who studied exercise science and sports in the US, said that his company understands the region and can tailor a programme that already works in the West to the Middle East.
He said that LIAQ has been in operation for around a month, trying to establish a base foundation of fitness in the country. “At a lot of the clubs fitness instructors won’t know if someone’s doing something wrong. In fact they’ll probably show you to do something wrong, so (we’re) trying to teach them the fundamentals of fitness.”
LIAQ trains personal trainers and fitness staff to assess people’s individual needs to get their desired results and improve their overall fitness, health and
performance.
Khalid said that they have also brought new innovative programmes for women and children, which is necessary because “right now fitness in the Middle East is in the 80s, basically, as far as the West is concerned. It’s a lot of body building stuff.”
This month they’ve brought in group fitness boxing; strike, which is kicking and punching in a team atmosphere; and equilibrium, which is yoga without the religious connotation, suitable for everyone from athletes to the elderly.
LIAQ is currently providing only early levels of training, but will soon provide advanced levels of trainer certification covering postural correction, obesity and
diabetes.
“The good thing about us that we can write our own materials and submit to REP (Register of Exercise Professionals, a governing body that certifies training courses around the world.), and if it’s good enough they’ll certify it, so we have six people with Masters and PhDs writing our materials,” he said.
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