Get to know Salma! As a kid, Salma was a swimmer, until she moved to Dubai at the age of 12. During her stay there, she started gaining weight; This is where her journey begins, at a young age, but with huge momentum!
Dubai to Cairo
“Luckily, I lived in a building that housed a gym to which I had access to at all times, so I started training since I was 12. When I moved to high school, I signed up for a gym membership, it was bigger, more equipped, and I took working out more seriously at that time.
After graduating high school, I came back to Egypt to attend university at the AUC (Business in Marketing Major, Psychology Minor). I was thrilled to Join the AUC Rugby team for around 2 years, where we competed in various tournaments (in Cairo & Alex)! Later, I took interest in kickboxing, training for around 2 years in parallel with Rugby & going to the gym.”
TFG
“After some time, I heard about a new facility opening, TFG, & that they were looking for young athletes aspiring to become coaches. I applied, and fortunately got accepted. I interned for a little over a year, getting certified for: ISSA, EPI NCSC, and First Aid, I also assisted in coaching sessions. I later started coaching group sessions on my own. At that point, I quit the Rugby team to focus on kickboxing, the gym & coaching. After a while, I also had to stop kickboxing as well to focus on studying.”
Gym & coaching; Summer 2020; Sculpt
“In summer 2020, I started my own “Sculpt” session. I was finally able to apply everything I had learned over the years and pass it onto other girls (& also gain exposure and get PT clients). The session focused on legs & abs; It was a mixture of strength (lifting) for muscle gain and conditioning which helped target fat loss. I taught them how to use barbells for the first time, and not to be intimidated by weights.
The sessions were very empowering to all the young girls; It was rewarding!”
The PT Drive
“In Fall 2020, I joined the AUC Track & Field team but I couldn’t continue because the training timings were coinciding with my PT sessions, which started increasing around October 2020, when I decided to focus more on PT., I started with 1 client who was my friend and now currently coaching 11 On-Ground PT clients.
I always try my best to motivate them, celebrate their small and big accomplishments. That makes me feel an inexplicable sense of pride, and I yearn to always be there to support them. I genuinely have so much love for each and every one of them, coaching them is a blessing.”
Dynamic Slots
“My own training schedule now is between the gym for 4-6 times/week, I also occasionally go to Aerial Silks classes (Gravity Studio) and Yoga (Flexana) when I have the time. I am trying to incorporate kickboxing in my training schedule again every once in a while, but I can’t always do so due to my PT sessions which remain my #1 priority.”
Obstacles and Work
“My busy schedule was always pretty challenging, the average day is a flow between university, coaching, working out and studying. Keeping a balance is not a very easy task, it gets exhausting on the long run. I desire to focus more on online PT & nutrition, and maybe try to integrate kickboxing into some of the sessions too in the future!”
A Dynamic Outlet
“Throughout my entire life, fitness has always been my constant and my go to at all times. When feeling down/low, I always turn to working out, going to the gym, kickboxing, going for a run, aerial silks/ yoga…etc.”
A Memo from Experience
“It takes discipline, time management, and dedication, but in the end it’s worth it. It’s also important to keep in mind that it’s a journey filled with ups and downs, but one good rule of thumb is to always take it easy, know when to push yourself and when to rest & recover.
Why I’m saying this is because I’ve been there and was once too harsh on myself (when I was too focused on how I looked), that led me to restrict on food which resulted with an unhealthy relationship with food, that’s why I’m personally against very strict diets unless you have medical reasons, are competing or are following up with a professional helping and guiding you.
I also felt the need to over-exercise at some points. My advice: don’t restrict when it comes to food, don’t become too obsessed with counting calories, with the idea of looking a certain way, or with getting fast results.”
The Journey of Sustainable health
“Being better and healthier is about enjoying the journey and being nice to yourself, so that you can build a sustainable healthy lifestyle, which is a lot more important than a short-term body goal or body weight. When I started working out at the very beginning, it was for a specific reason, just to lose weight. Little did I know, I fell in love with the lifestyle. I now workout simply because I enjoy it,
The physique is just a bonus.”
