Fitness in Dubai checks out Platform 3 Fitness, Dubai Marina

I love group training sessions, I love the motivation, competition and camaraderie that they can provide. But having a session completely tailored to your goals, your specifications, where your form is watched for every rep and the gaze of the trainer is focused on only you, like the eye of Mordor, provides a different focus and arguably better results. Obviously we’re all different, perhaps some people prefer the slight anonymity of group training sessions, and to some the idea of group exercise and its competitive nature is a very real nightmare. It’s all down to your personal preferences, horses for courses as they say. Yes, there’s the added expense with personal training, but then you’d pay more for a bespoke suit over one off the shelf. Bespoke by its very nature is more expensive. You need to weigh up the cost versus the benefit for your goals and decide what’s important to you. How much are you willing to pay, both in effort and cash to achieve your goals?

Which brings me on to Platform 3 Fitness (www.p3dubai.com) in Dubai Marina, opposite Da Shi Dai & The Noodle Room in JBR. I can’t bring myself to call Platform 3 a gym, it’s so much more than any usual gym that there should be a new world to describe it. It’s an incredible space filled with all the best toys that everyone must look at and want to try out. And it’s so cool! It’s a cross between a nightclub, an activity centre, a boxing club and a gym. It features a competition-boxing ring, climbing wall, house sports therapy room, live DJ set, sauna and juice bar. It’s an uber-gym. I couldn’t wait to get started.

Core to the training sessions at Platform 3 are what they believe to be the three components of fitness:  

• Personal training
• Sports therapy
• Nutrition

They offer a holistic approach incorporating these three components and work on an individual appointment basis, with pricing schedules based on attendance rather than time. Sessions don’t come cheap (prices vary from AED 300 for a single session up to AED 12,500 for 50 classes). However, without the commitment of an annual membership, a bespoke programme is tailored precisely to your needs.

Founder of Platform 3 Fitness, Omar Al-Duri (and top 5 finalist in the 2011 Shape Magazine Personal Trainer of the Year) showed me round and my session started with an attack on the climbing wall as a warm up. I’ve never climbed before but I was totally shocked at how difficult it was. Not only was I absolutely rubbish, but within minutes my forearms were screaming and I had a complete sweat on. Note to self: must work on grip strength.

Next Omar had a tasty circuit lined up for me, incorporating all big compound moves to get the maximum results and using lots of toys like the ViPR, kettlebells and a gravity machine (think pull-ups on an inclined platform on rails). After three rounds, the first being 2 mins per station, the second 1 min per station and finally 30 seconds per station I was completely spent. As I lay on the floor too tired to get up, I realised the mix of new exercises and new equipment had not only made the time fly past, but I’d been totally engaged throughout, rather than going through the motions of my usual routine. More importantly, I’d had a great time!

Platform 3 Fitness: Park Island Dubai Marina, Telephone: 04 435 8083 www.p3dubai.com

Fitness in Dubai features reviews of all the latest fitness programmes and local gyms, such as The Circuit Factory, 24 Fitness and CrossFit LifeSpark, as well as reviews of fitness fads, fitness tests and fitness equipment, from Vibram Five Fingers barefoot running shoes to VO2 Max testing. Ultimately, this fitness blog - as featured in The National newspaper, Viva, Good Taste, Men's Fitness, Time Out and Shape magazines - contains everything you need to know about fitness in Dubai, UAE, in the Middle East. Bookmark it now.