Toughing it out just part of the exercise

The Life: Fabian Garcia is a Dubai-based fitness instructor. He speaks about what he does on an average 14-hour day training his clients.

Fabian Garcia works for Ignite Fitness and Wellness as a fitness instructor and group exercise and boot camp coordinator. Jaime Puebla / The National

Fabian Garcia works for Ignite Fitness and Wellness as a fitness instructor and group exercise and boot camp coordinator. He speaks about a typical day training his clients.

5am

I get up and leave the house by 5.30am.

6am

The first client to train or boot camp would be at 6am. One day it could be training a client in a one-on-one personal training session and other days it could be a boot camp. At the beginning of the boot camp course we test the fitness of the new recruits. We give them their results and allocate them a ranking structure: soldier for the entry level; commando for the middle part; and then the elite.

7am

The boot camp finishes and I head off to do more one-on-one personal training.

7.30am

We're mobile and have three gyms … but I also go to people's homes, so on average after the boot camp I go over to the Burj Residence and train a client in a gym.

9am

At the moment we're doing classes out of the Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai Sports World. We've got a gym set up there with bits of equipment and are holding the classes there - anything from boxing to a boot camp to a circuit class.

Lunch

I grab a quick bite, like a chicken salad, or something to give me enough energy to keep me going through the day.

1.30pm

I try to get at least two hours in front of the computer. I begin with email inquiries, creating lesson plans and doing all the boot camp coordinating of sourcing new exercises etc. It could involve speaking to suppliers of equipment. At the moment we're trying to source some equipment from China, so I'm sending emails back and forth to see what they've got and how we can bring it into the country.

3.30pm

Back into more training, that would be another personal training client out at Dubai Creek.

5.30pm

I have a client on the Palm.

7pm

I start setting up for another boot camp at Safa Park or box-fit, which is a class involving boxing exercises that we do on the Palm. A lot of people love it because we're on the beach and have the Burj Al Arab in the background and you can even see the Burj Khalifa on a good day.

9.15pm

I get home and have a quick chat to my wife and have dinner. She's very understanding of my working hours.

10.30pm

I go to bed. It's a long day but I guess the body gets used to it and when you look at it not as a job but something you enjoy doing it doesn't get tiring. I really enjoy seeing my clients. They make you just want to get up and do it all again the next day.