GymNation Turns Out the Lights With Class in the Dark

GymNation has turned the lights all the way off. On 1 September the gym rolled out Dans le Noir: Class in the Dark, a 45-minute group workout performed in total darkness, and if you have ever talked yourself out of a class because you did not want anyone watching, it was built with you in mind.

Why a gym would switch off the lights

The idea sounds like a gimmick until you look at why people stay home. According to GymNation's 2026 Fitness Report, 47% of people say fear of judgement is the main thing keeping them from joining or coming back to a gym. Mirrors, phones and the quiet sense that everyone else already knows what they are doing turn a simple workout into a performance.

That is the barrier the class sets out to remove. Rory McEntee, GymNation's Chief Marketing Officer, put it plainly: we are obsessed with the visual in fitness, mirrors, cameras and content, and we have turned working out into a performance that feels terrifying before you have even picked up a weight. Take away sight and you take away the audience. The concept borrows from dining-in-the-dark restaurants, where losing sight sharpens every other sense.

How the class actually works

Nobody is dropped into a pitch-black room cold. You start with the lights on, moving through balance work, joint mobilisation and a few proprioceptive drills so your body knows where it is before the room goes dark. It is the same groundwork you could rehearse in our exercise library, only here it doubles as a safety check.

Then the lights go out. From that point you are guided entirely by the instructor's voice and a soundtrack piped through wireless headphones, while the instructor moves around the room in night-vision goggles to keep an eye on everyone. The session runs through functional movements, strength work and breathwork using weighted vests, wrist weights and dumbbells, so it is a real workout rather than a novelty.

What darkness does to a workout

With nothing to look at, attention turns inward. Sports scientist Aderito Manuel, who worked on the class, explains that when you remove visual input the body is forced to rely on proprioception, its internal sense of position, balance and movement. In practice that means the small stabilising muscles a mirror lets you ignore have to start doing their job.

We are not promising the dark will transform your training, and neither is the science here. What the format does reliably is strip out distraction, which is why the balance, mobility and breathwork that open every session sit closer to a yoga class than to a heavy lifting circuit.

Who it is for

If you are new to training, coming back after a long break, or you simply find a busy gym floor intimidating, a room where nobody can see you is a gentle way in. It is also a genuinely different session for regulars who want to feel their form instead of watching it. Either way it is a group class, so you move alongside other people, just without the self-consciousness that usually comes with it.

Where to find it

Class in the Dark is running at select GymNation locations across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, with limited spots in each session. GymNation now runs close to 50 clubs and more than 200,000 members across the region, up from 22 gyms in the middle of 2025, so a session near you is more likely than it used to be.

Do I need any experience to try it?

No. The lit warm-up walks everyone through the balance and movement basics before the room darkens, and the whole point is a low-pressure entry, so beginners are exactly who it is designed around.

Is training in the dark safe?

The room is cleared, the movements are chosen to work without sight, the instructor tracks the class in night-vision goggles, and you keep contact with your own mat and weights throughout. It is structured, not a free-for-all.

Curious enough to try training with the lights off? The best way to find out how it feels is to come in for a free day pass and see for yourself. Fill in the enquiry form and the GymNation team will help you find a session.

Sources:
athletechnews.com
roastbrief.us

The opinions shared in the GymNation blog articles are solely those of the respective authors and may not represent the perspectives of GymNation or any member of the GymNation team.