{"id":6014,"date":"2014-10-17T12:02:58","date_gmt":"2014-10-17T12:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fitproblog.mysites.io\/lawyers-vision\/"},"modified":"2014-10-17T12:02:58","modified_gmt":"2014-10-17T12:02:58","slug":"lawyers-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/lawyers-vision\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawyer\u2019s vision becomes Middle Eastern reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ali Longmate decided to wave goodbye to her London life and high-powered financial lawyer job to set up a fitness business in the Middle East.\u00a0Olivia Hubbard\u00a0<\/strong>chats to her about how to devise a time-restricted fitness session and discovers the reason behind the soaring popularity of kettlebells.<\/p>\n

From courtroom to workout field<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fitness has always been a part of Ali Longmate\u2019s<\/strong> life. Her earliest memories are plucked from training sessions after school and, more recently, her rewarding completion of the Great North Run<\/strong> to raise pivotal funds for leukaemia research.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the close proximity of her office gym, she states quite simply, \u201cI am not really a gym lover.\u201d A bold statement perhaps, but the simple fact is that no spark was ignited for the personal trainer inside a gym space who centres her energies out in the open air.<\/p>\n

Her impressive portfolio could get a lot of us to sit up, \u2018suit up\u2019 and take fitness note.<\/strong> She had reached the stage where her clocked working hours were becoming unpredictable \u2013 longing to find a solution to a peaking stressful situation, Longmate took control and decided to retrain as a fitness professional and personal trainer.<\/p>\n

\u201cRetraining as a fitness professional means I can do what I love every day. I feel very lucky for that,\u201d she says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Her teaching focused on an audience that didn\u2019t have a lot of disposable time; she wanted to create a community, ensuring her clients felt included each time they attended one of her sessions. The ex-lawyer understood the restraints of not having enough disposable time and formulated sessions that took into account time limitation and community.<\/p>\n

\"alifit3-(2)-ed<\/p>\n

\u201cI push each person to get the most out of each session,\u201d the fit pro begins. \u201cHaving worked as a fit pro in Doha for a while, I noticed that connections and friendships were being formed in my workout classes. I wanted to build something around the classes to help encourage that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds, \u201cDoha as an ex-pat community is quite transient. People tend to come for periods of two to five years and then leave. It is therefore important for people here to continue to build friendships. We all need interaction and support groups and I want to encourage that.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Client expectations <\/strong><\/h2>\n

With the tag line \u2018Fitness for Every Body\u2019<\/strong>, Longmate crafts her workouts with everyone from the newcomer to experienced trainer in mind. Picture the soaring heat in the Middle East<\/strong> as Longmate says, \u201cWhile I can move classes inside, for example during Ramadan, where we would be especially culturally sensitive and train indoors, the majority of sessions take place outside. With the humidity in the Middle East being as it is, I adapt classes to take that into account. For example, we would relocate to a shady area and take the cardio elements right down to concentrate on toning and resistance work<\/strong> while it is humid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to many of her sessions involving kettlebells, this allows for much needed versatility and adaptability. \u201cThe kettlebell sessions are one hour in total. We have high-intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions where we work in pre-determined timed intervals and switch between kettlebell moves and bodyweight exercises.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe focus in pure kettlebell sessions is on complete body conditioning, calorie torching and endurance.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Are kettlebells an effective calorie burner?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cExtremely!\u201d<\/strong> responds Longmate \u2013 but she says we shouldn\u2019t take her word for it.<\/p>\n

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\"Ali<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe American Council on Exercise (ACE), America\u2019s leading authority on fitness, studied the benefits of kettlebell workouts. Results concluded that kettlebells provide a much higher-intensity workout than standard weight-training routines and offer superior results in a short amount of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds, “ACE\u2019s chief science officer Cedric Bryant PhD explains, \u201cThe use of kettlebells has grown immensely over the past few years, as they can offer a great bang for your buck when it comes to time spent exercising and quality of results. A person can easily burn several hundred calories in a brief period of time using these iron orbs, which makes them appealing for those looking for time-efficient results.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, just before you get to experience the ultimate kettlebell workout – what does she have to say about ViPR?<\/p>\n

\u201cViPR is another fantastic, functional and versatile training tool.<\/strong> I would love to bring this over to Doha and incorporate it into my clients\u2019 workouts too \u2013 how many could I fit in my suitcase?!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fitness professional leaves us with an inspiring thought: \u201cWhatever the context of your job, however long you have done it for, you must never stop learning<\/strong> \u2013 don\u2019t risk arrogance and complacency.<\/strong> There is so much new research into movement, performance, nutrition and more all the time<\/strong> \u2013 it is important to keep on top of your game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ali<\/strong> Longmate\u2019s kettlebell workout \u2013 The Push-it Pyramid<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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  1. Warm-up<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n