The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Located in a large Zamalek apartment on Abo
El Azm Street, right across from Five Bells is Body by Design, a small personal training studio where you can
work out to your heart’s content without having to worry about waiting for your turn on the
cardio machines.

Body by Design can hardly be called a gym,
the small studio located in an old Zamalek flat (complete with high ceilings) and
is only made up of three rooms. One room serves as the cardio room and holds three
large treadmills, a row machine and a revolutionary gravity training system, but
no elliptical machine.

The main room, which you’ll see as soon as you
enter the small apartment, is where most of the action happens. You’ll really
have a hard time understanding how you can get fit in this studio after
discovering their lack of weight machines. The room only has a cable machine,
but you’ll soon find out that most of the exercising here happens in the most
basic of ways. Air discs, Swiss balls, dumbbells and cowbells line the corners
of the room. While the sceptical gym enthusiast will find these gadgets
useless, most of your working out here relies on them, and believe us; they’ll
have you panting and sweating in no time.

A final room serves as a studio for group
classes in kickboxing and pilates among other sports. While Body by Design
doesn’t offer the classes, the room is available to be leased to anyone hoping
to teach their own classes.

Body by Design asks that you come in, have
yourself measured, weighed and all that stuff, after which you’ll sit with one
of the personal trainers and plan a workout routine that will help you achieve optimum
results on your own terms. You can either pay per session (a whopping 25US$/145LE) or for eight (360U$/2091LE) or twelve sessions (450US$/2614LE).
Prices are in US dollars, but you can choose to pay in Egyptian pounds.
While the prices are quite high for a studio with a serious lack of
equipment, the trainers here really know their stuff and not only will they
provide you with a hectic workout; but they’ll also change up their schedules
to fit yours.

Body by Design is definitely not for the regular
gym bunny or body builder. Aside from the fact that you won’t run into anyone
here to chat up and casually flex in front of, you also won’t find any machines
or free weights to promote muscle growth or bodybuilding. That being said, if you’re
looking for a quiet space for a little cardio with a whole lot of guidance; then
this studio is for you.