DAMMAM —Women in the Eastern Province have demanded that fully-equipped health and fitness centers, supervised and monitored by qualified female Saudi trainers, be made available to them, Makkah daily reported.
Nuha Abdulrahman said women are much more aware of the importance of staying fit and regular physical exercise is key to maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
“Today's world is full of diseases and it is important for us women to maintain our health. We need the right facilities to do that and the current health and fitness centers in the Eastern Province are below par and do not provide the services we need,” said Abdulrahman, while adding that the current centers are either small rooms at resorts or in hotels and cost thousands or riyals to access.
Suhaila Hasan said women need professional gyms to work out.
“The big cities in the Eastern Province such as Dammam and Al-Khobar do not have such facilities and this is a basic right women are denied. I demand women-only sports facilities and professional health and fitness centers be built. We do not have female Saudis to train us. We often get trainers from various nationalities and they do not understand the physical needs of the Saudi woman,” said Hasan. Maryam Khalid added that the issue has been ignored for a long time. The current physical health facilities available are not suitable for the needs of women in the Eastern Province.
“All we have is small gyms with limited equipment. The room is often crowded and the management cares about profit more than quality of services,” said Khalid.
Head of Leen Health Center Radiah Bugdan said women today are much more aware about the importance of exercise and physical well-being.
“The definition and importance of exercise has expanded among women in the Eastern Province. Exercise is no longer something you do to lose weight. It is a necessity in women's daily routine. I personally do not think that we have a lack of health and fitness centers here. I would say that the competition in the health and fitness sector is tougher than what it used to be and clients have high expectations today,” said Bugdan.
However, she did agree that there aren't enough female Saudi trainers.
“There aren't any training centers for such a profession. Health and fitness centers cannot train candidates to become trainers because we are not licensed nor do we have the resources to do this,” she added
