Thanks to the popularity of the Reebok CrossFit Games, fitness today is now considered a sport, and Dubai is one city where fitness circles or ‘cliques’ are blossoming, InnerFight being one of the most popular.
In fact, you could even describe them as a cult, which founder Marcus Smith has – as members don’t just congregate a couple times a week for hardcore training before going back to their respective lives; no, InnerFight is a lifestyle choice with the goal of “unlocking human potential”.
The former rugby player and one of Asia’s fittest men, Smith got the idea for InnerFight from a tonne of workouts written on scraps of paper collected from years and years of training. The fitness fanatic wanted to find a way to reach out to the community and so created www.innerfight.com, a platform on which he now shares everything with members – from daily workouts to training, recovery and nutritional advice, words of inspiration and more.
A couple of guys getting together for varied workout challenges is now a society with over 150 members. “InnerFight is not just about physical training,” explains the Briton, a regular CrossFit Games contender.
“It’s two words put together: ‘Inner’, which refers to what is going on in the mind, and ‘Fight’, being the battles. It is the mental battles that we all face daily.
“What we realised is that if we could increase our mental capacity through physical exercise, then our ability to deal with a wider spectrum of issues in our daily life was also increased,” he adds.
Group functional strength and conditioning classes are one way of addressing this, with sessions catering for all ages and genders with a youth programme and female-only classes, as well as Emirati female-only classes on the way.
“Outside of this we, offer a mentorship programme guiding individuals to maximise their potential and achieve various goals, be it physically or in the work place," he said.
“Aside from this, we take our approach into the corporate world, as the basis of high performance is routed in one’s physical capacity. “And to bring it all together we have developed a one-day seminar called ‘Smash Life’ which, as the title implies, gives you all the tools to get the very most out of life.”
Eighty per cent of InnerFight’s members and clients come looking to drop a few kilos but leave, and more often stay on, as completely changed individuals, inside and out, and to this Smith says: “We want to take things a step further. We want people to achieve their dreams, to do things that in some cases were way beyond their dreams; to learn how to use the power of the mind to get the most out of their lives and be the best that they can be.
“We have seen females pound for pound lifting more weight than males, 12-year-old children doing handstand push-ups, a team Great Britain triathlete, a lady who has now run across two of the world’s biggest deserts, people getting promoted at work, and people finally working out what they want from life and making a commitment to go and get it.”
FACTFILE Founded: 2007 Location: Dubai; Classes are taught from Engine Health and Fitness Members: 160 Coaches: Five Tagline: Show No Weakness Contact: 04 326 6367; www.innerfight.com; [email protected]
MEET THE COACHES
Martin Vicek The infamous ‘Coach Ruski’ is possibly the kindest and most gentle guy you will meet… until he starts training. But he’s tough because he wants the best for you. Caring and motivational? He ticks those boxes 10 times over.
Matt Jones A quieter character who drives motivation through is eyes and the few words that he puts out. When Matt is talking, people listen and when he is looking at you, you just want to work, to push harder and to give him everything you’ve got.
Neil Flanagan Our specialist endurance coach has not only completed the toughest Ironman on earth but also represented Great Britain in triathlon at the World Champs. Try telling this guy that something is hurting or you can’t work any harder and he just shakes his head as though to say “I know what you are feeling right now, but I also know you have a bit more to give me”. And it’s that bit more he always manages to get from clients.
Marlene Buston Dedication personified. No matter what time of day or who she is working with, she is there and she is into it – focused and ready to get the best out of people.
Holly Purdy Defying the ageing process by being as fit as she possibly can might sum her up; a great coach and motivator. She’s another case of someone who knows just how it feels to push her body, so will never let
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