Fitness in Aleppo

After 1 week of asking around and inspecting some gyms in Aleppo, I pick one who meets best the criteria. It is clean and the coaches are nice and friendly and seem to be knowledgeable.

On Saturday, I went for the first time on my own. And for sure, the coaches are knowledgeable. They explained all the exercises and were astonished about the number of kilos that I take and that I insist on doing 3 or 4 series.

I can understand their astonishment. Syrian women are not of the athletic kind.

Anyway, after 40 minutes training, a fitness session starts and I have to join in. They leave me no choice. And I did. I need to, because a good stepmachine is not available.
And, it wasn't that bad. It is actually gymnastics at a relatively high speed.

I discovered something I do not like about Syria. As the gym is not for mixed audience, it is open for women only 3 days a week from 10 til 15 o'clock. I don't like the restriction in time, because if you miss 1 day, it means you cannot go for 3 or 4 days. But, I have to accept it.

What I do like about this system is, that it is women only. Some come in completely covered in black and change into a very glittery training, some start to dance, others bring their small children and some hang around for the company.

Today, I went for the second time, and some start having conversations with me. Them with 2 words of English and me with 2 words of Arabic and the rest is non-verbal. With a lot of smiles.