Personal Trainer in Dubai

If you’re looking for a personal trainer in Dubai, you’re in luck. The city has a fantastic reputation for catering to its inhabitants’ fitness needs. With some of the best facilities in the world, and some of the most varied gyms going, you can be sure of finding a decent personal trainer pretty easily.

This being said, it can still be a bit of a gamble finding the right trainer for you – or, indeed, finding a good trainer at all. Personal trainers are, of course, as varied as anyone else. There are plenty with different skills, different pros and cons, different outlooks, and different areas of expertise.

If we’re honest, as well, as above, there are good trainers and there are bad trainers. You may not know the difference until it’s too late and you have already invested a lot of time and money into training with them.

That is, unless you know what you’re looking for.

How to find a personal trainer in Dubai

There are a good few things you can look for and do when signing a personal trainer that will significantly increase your chances of landing a good one.

Now, they still might not be the right one for you – the chemistry simply might not be there, or their outlook may not be right for you – but, if you follow all of the following tips, they will at least be objectively good.

To guard against the above issue – namely, signing up with a good trainer whom you simply don’t get on with – you should always avoid signing up blind or on the spot, no matter what offers or discounts a trainer offers you to do so.

In fact, if they’re trying to push a hard sell on you, skip them. They’re probably not that good, otherwise they would have a large enough roster of regular clients to not need to advertise so hard.

Most trainers, and all those whom it’s worth considering going with, will offer either a free taster session, or at least a discounted first session.

Take them up on it. If they don’t offer, ask. They will likely agree to it. Try them out, see what they’re like and what they’re about. Then, if you like them and they suit you and your goals, sign up to them on a longer-term basis.

We’re getting ahead of ourselves a little, however. Before you even agree to a first session, there are a couple of things you want to check.

First and foremost is a personal trainer’s accreditation. They should have some kind of industry standard qualification and organisation affiliation – like accreditation through, and membership of, the Registry of Exercise Professionals (REPs) or similar.

They should also have a proper insurance policy (which they won’t be able to get without accreditation and relevant membership, so this serves as a good litmus test).

Every personal trainer at GymNation meets these requirements.

Having these isn’t a perk. It’s a basic requirement. If they don’t have them, and/or won’t show you the paperwork to prove it, pass them by.

Luckily, most gyms won’t let personal trainers use their facilities if they don’t have all the paperwork they need and GymNation is no different! Every one of our personal trainers meets and exceeds all of these requirements.

With their paperwork in order and established, ask them about the experience and expertise. It’s easy enough for a trainer to be qualified without being experienced. The average PT accreditation course takes a few weeks to complete, which is nowhere near enough time to learn what you need to learn.

You want somebody with practical, hands-on experience, preferably with proven results and several years’ worth of practice and knowledge.

It is therefore worth asking for a trainer’s work history and requesting testimonials from past clients. If they cannot offer you testimonials, pass them by. Try someone else. A good PT should always have a few to hand, or should at least be able to whip them up at short notice.

What is their experience? 

A personal trainer can have their accreditation in line without necessarily being that experienced or knowledgeable in their discipline.

Personal training certifications are a good start – but they are just a start. Somebody with their full accreditation but with no experience isn’t worth your time. This is because most certifications take a few weeks to complete, which is nothing. Certifications can also have quite low thresholds to pass, meaning that it’s easy for sub-par trainers to get their licences.

Like you will find at GymNation, you want somebody with practical, hands-on experience, preferably with proven results and several years’ worth of practice and knowledge. If they are good, and they are experienced, they should be able to draw on a wealth of past clients to show you, in writing, how good they are.

This will also give you an idea of their reputation. Ask around in the same way you would for a good plumber or decorator. If you know somebody who uses a personal trainer, or who has done in the past, ask about their experience. Ask about their trainer. This will be a good place to start.

If not, collect testimonials and see who sounds best.

Finally, we need to talk about money. They have to be affordable, so they cannot charge outside your budget and still be viable. You shouldn’t be paying over the odds for a trainer. However, you also don’t want to pay too little. If a trainer is charging half of what everyone is charging, ask yourself why. Ask them why. The reason is probably that they don’t have a good reputation or they are not experienced enough to charge the going rate.

If you find that you can’t afford the standard of trainer you want, try clubbing together with a friend for joint sessions, or else find someone who will give you a discount for bulk buying sessions.

Personal training should work for you. Follow the above advice to make sure that it does.