Happy Friday Fitnuts!
Today we are switching up our “Friday Favorite Five” for our first ever “Friday Feature”!
I met Abeer when I started my current job in June 2014. Imagine my exitement when I find out that, not only was there an Emirati sporty sister sitting across the hall from me, but she is also a certified crossfit trainer!
Of course, I had plenty of questions concerning her journey and daily routine which I thought I’d share with you:
Tell us a little about yourself
Hello! I’m a 25 year old Emirati, government employee by day and a fitness trainer by night.
Were you always sporty/enjoyed sports growing up? If so, which?
I’ve always grown up around sporty people, but I was never cut out for any sports myself. I tried volleyball, badminton, football, and basketball but my lack of coordination would constantly put me off enjoying sports. Although I have to say, since I’ve started training religiously, my coordination has improved ten-folds!
What type of sports/workout style do you enjoy today? How did you get into it?
Today, my passion lies in Olympic Lifting and powerlifting. I couple those lifts with functional training to stay healthy and strong. I initially started weight training because I wanted to get fit, and be able to carry things easily in my daily life (like grocery shopping). My interest in it grew once I began to track my sessions; when I first started I struggled to lift a 10KG bar, and within a few months, I could squat my own body weight, easy!
What motivated you to start teaching? What course did you pursue? Would your recommend it? And how can interested followers register for such a course?
I signed up for the Crossfit L1 trainer course in Dubai in 2013, not because I wanted to teach, but because I was hungry to learn. The course provides you with the base for pursuing a career in fitness; you learn how to put an effective Crossfit program together, the basics of nutrition, and how to coach athletes through various fundamental moves like the Squat, Clean, and Snatch.
If you’re looking to pursue a career in fitness, I do recommend this course as a starting point. They offer it quite frequently in the region, and you can register for it on crossfit.com. The material for the course is also available on their website if you just want to learn.
What does a typical week of workouts look like for you?
I train 5 times a week; Mondays and Wednesdays are usually full-body workouts made up of high reps and low weights, and on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays I focus on heavy weights and the major lifts.
What does a typical day of meals look like for you?
I start my day off with a wheatgrass shot, a fruit, and a handful of raw nuts. Lunch is focused on protein (red meat/white meat) with lots of veggies (usually roasted and seasoned, yum!), and for dinner (usually my post-workout meal) I’d have eggs, vegetables or fruits and some more nuts – I can’t get enough. It doesn’t seem like much, but I do make sure I eat in large quantities to sustain my training, and the foods I eat are constantly varied. I also drink about 3L of water each day.
I follow a few guidelines when it comes to eating, and they’re very easy to incorporate into your life:
- Eat if: it used to have a heart-beat or grows out of the ground
- Don’t eat if: it comes in a box, or the ingredients have words you can’t even pronounce (chances are your body doesn’t know what they are either)
- Since we are made up of 72% water, it is also just as important as food. Here are some tips to keep hydrated:
- Always take a (re-usable) bottle of water with you wherever you go
- Never refuse water if someone offers
- When you see someone drinking water, drink water too
Could you share a routine with our Fitnut followers?
One of my favorite 1-hour workout templates is 4 sets of 21-15-9; this is how it works:
- Pick 4 exercises; in this case let’s do push ups, pulls ups, barbell cleans, and squats, and 1 cardio (either rowing or a stair sprint)
- 1st set: 21 pushups – 200m row – 15 pushups – 200m row – 9 pushups – 200m row
- 2nd set: 21 pull ups – 200m row – 15 pull ups – 200m row – 9 pull ups – 200m row
- 3rd set: 21 barbell cleans – 200m row – 15 barbell cleans – 200m row – 9 barbell cleans – 200m row
- 4th set: 21 squats – 200m row – 15 squats – 200m row – 9 squats – 200m row
I hope you enjoyed this feature! Please leave your comments below. We are hoping to feature more Fitnuts on this blog. Could you be next?
Sarah x
