We are excited to share the results of the 2024 UAE Working in Fitness Survey, recently conducted by REPs UAE. This comprehensive report, which you can view or download from the link below, covers key topics such as hours and pay, training and development, career paths, and fitness trends.

This year, we partnered with the National Council on Strength and Fitness (NCSF) to bring you these insights. The NCSF is a global leader in health and fitness education, serving over 300,000 professionals worldwide. Their mission is to elevate professional standards and promote recognition and registration for qualified exercise professionals in health, fitness, and sport roles.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The REPs UAE Working in Fitness Survey (2024 edition) has been designed to be a key source of information on the fitness industry in the United Arab Emirates. The survey provides a unique opportunity to gauge the characteristics and views of the fitness workforce currently working in the UAE.

It is hoped the results of the survey will be interesting and useful to a variety of stakeholders including Government entities, employers, training providers, and fitness professionals themselves.

THE COMPOSITION OF THE SAMPLE

The survey was promoted to people working in the UAE fitness industry and the total number of respondents was 287. They were asked to state their main role in fitness; 81.2% are working as exercise professionals (personal trainers, group fitness instructors etc.) and 18.8% as fitness managers. The sample of fitness professionals who completed the survey had a majority of male respondents with 58.2% male and 41.8% female. The majority (73.5%) are located in Dubai, with a further 16.7% working mostly in Abu Dhabi.

A total of 48 different nationalities are represented in the sample of showing the truly international nature of the UAE fitness industry.

FITNESS TRENDS

We wanted to know how the fitness industry is adapting to the changing needs and priorities of the people who use our services. 86% of respondents believe that maintaining overall wellness (including health, fitness, nutrition, appearance) is a higher priority for consumers since the COVID pandemic. A further 74.3% of respondents believe the habits and demands of clients have changed since the COVID pandemic with a shift towards health consciousness and increased awareness and engagement.

Among the general population the number one fitness goal of clients reported by respondents to the survey is weight loss, followed by better health / wellbeing/ disease prevention.

THE TOP FIVE THINGS RESPONDENTS HAVE IMPLEMENTED TO SUPPORT CLIENT WELLNESS ARE:

1. Holistic approach to fitness

2. Personalised training

3. Education and empowerment

4. Adaptation to circumstances

5. Mind-body connection

THE TOP FIVE FITNESS TRENDS AMONG RESPONDENTS WERE:

1. Personal training

2. Exercise for weight loss

3. Functional fitness training

4. Body weight exercise

5. Group exercise training

(CHOSEN FROM ACSM WORLD-WIDE FITNESS TRENDS SURVEY OPTIONS)

EXERCISE PROFESSIONALS

The survey showed longevity of careers in fitness. Just over a third of respondents have been working as an exercise professional for 10 or more years, with further third of respondents working for 5 or more years in in fitness. This shows the industry has the ability to retain staff.

89.5% of exercise professional respondents are a member of REPs showing their commitment to professional registration and personal development.

What have traditionally been termed “special” populations, now appear to be the norm for exercise professionals when looking at the clients they work with. A large majority of exercise professionals work with older clients and children, with almost half also working with clients with disabilities and pre- and post-natal clients. A large majority also work with people with lower back pain and people with obesity/ diabetes and those recovering from injury.

We wanted the survey results to inform future training provision in UAE. Key findings of interest to education providers include the fact that two thirds of respondents took their main fitness qualification in the UAE. It is encouraging to note that 82.6% of respondents have taken part in training and development in the last 12 months, including 57.4% reporting having done more than 3 days and 25.1% reporting having done more than 10 days. It is less encouraging to note that an overwhelming 86% of respondents reported that they alone pay for their training and development with no support from their employer.

FITNESS MANAGERS

We also wanted to study training needs of fitness managers, and with that in mind it is interesting to note that 44.4% of fitness managers held the role of exercise professional before they became a manager and 42.2% of manager respondents came from managing in another sector – both of these groups of managers may require training, either in generic management competencies or the specificities of the fitness industry. The leading training need for managers is in strategy, followed by leadership, managing people, finance and project management.

The biggest areas of dissatisfaction for fitness managers are prospects for promotion and career development, and renumeration package, for those fitness managers who may leave the industry the most likely reason is low pay compared to other industries. However, a high proportion of respondents (79.5%) showed a strong commitment to the fitness industry and stated they expect to continue working in the industry for more than five years.

An interesting finding was that exercise professionals broadly felt they were competent to begin work following their initial qualification, while fitness managers overwhelmingly reported the need to provide additional training to fitness staff to ensure they are work ready.

For both fitness managers and exercise professionals, the most popular stated time period it is felt necessary to complete a personal trainer qualification is between 3 and 6 months.

CONCLUSION

The results of the REPs UAE Working in Fitness Survey 2024 show a diverse, hard-working and flexible workforce serving the fitness and wellness needs of the UAE. REPs UAE looks forward to working with partners to take any actions they feel relevant after considering these results and continuing to monitor trends in the UAE fitness industry through future research activities.