At a young age, Moe curiously observed boxers as they trained in his hometown gym, not realizing that he would one day follow in their footsteps and eventually go on to co-own and manage a boxing facility established in 2011, which was cleverly named “The Jym” and designed to be a place “where fit happens.” Moe began his professional fitness career in 2018 by earning his NASM group fitness certification and his personal trainer certification, with a focus on functional strength training.

Moe also carries a USA Boxing Association certification, which he received after completing a SafeSport certification course and passing the USA Boxing Green Certification Exam. He learned the science and fundamentals of boxing through the boxing certification process, but ultimately gained his hands-on experience and expert knowledge through relationships with inspiring coaches and mentors that truly understand the core of boxing and value it as an art. Working towards earning and maintaining multiple fitness certifications was Moe’s first step into the field of fitness, but his goal had always been to open his own training center.

“Boxing is a form of movement, but really an art at its core.”

  - Moe Omar

Moe was introduced to physical fitness through competitive soccer, which he devoted the majority of his childhood to until he was about 15, at which point he discovered the world of boxing. Moe was one of the few people in his family with specific fitness-oriented goals, which ignited a passion within him to develop strength and power that so many bodybuilders were able to achieve by focusing on hypertrophy. After much convincing, Moe’s mother finally let him join his local gym, where he began his efforts in the weight room and focused on building any muscle he could. Not long after joining the gym, his interest was piqued by 2 shadow boxers whose quick and powerful movements kept him mesmerized and encouraged him to begin watching boxing matches in his free time to learn more about this movement form he had never before witnessed. Moe was unlike his peers in his strength-building pursuits. At this time, there was not as great of an emphasis placed on health and fitness for children in Saudi Arabian gyms. Despite being the only gym member amongst his friends, Moe remained consistent in his training and truly saw the fruit of his labor.

Moe moved to the United States from Saudi Arabia in 2009 to attend college and pursue a path that would allow him to manage a spacious training facility that provides members with the resources and equipment needed to properly and effectively train. From 2017-2018, he worked at a large fitness center as a front desk associate, sales representative, operations lead, supervising manager, and eventually a personal trainer. Moe remained at this center for 10 years, 5 of which he dedicated to pursuing his role as personal trainer for hundreds of people.

“I've always been impressed by correct posture, symmetry, and the ability to perform effective and safe movements consistently.”

  - Moe Omar

When Moe really dug into the world of fitness, he soon realized that there are too many people who lack the capability to perform complex movements due to learning incorrect forms that have become muscle memory for them. Moe observed people not training their bodies the right way during his personal training time in the gym, and he became motivated by knowing that, with the right training, he could help them develop correct movement patterns that would lead them to success in their fitness goals.

Moe taught boxing techniques to his clients while he was a personal trainer long before  The Jym was opened. During his time as a personal trainer, Moe quickly understood that the majority of people prioritized weight loss and quickly grew tired of traditional cardio training on machines such as the treadmill, elliptical, or stationary bike. To combat their discouragement from engaging in cardio-based activities entirely, Moe worked in boxing movements that he’d learned from his past trainers and coaches. He shifted his main focus from personal training to coaching boxing in 2020, but continues to personal train between boxing classes and private sessions. Moe currently teaches 7 days a week, with the 5 weekdays dedicated to coaching 3 boxing classes a day and weekends spent personal training one-on-one sessions.

“My mentors didn't just teach me how to be a boxer, but also a coach. I consider myself lucky to have been around the right people who knew exactly what they were doing."

  - Moe Omar

Every boxing class that Moe offers can be taken as a level 1 beginner, which he believes is one of the many beauties of boxing, and why so many people with diverse fitness goals enjoy boxing as a form of both cardio and strength training. Participants of the same class will vary in age, gender, body-type, and fitness experience. Participants must be 12+ years old, and he always offers his younger students a complimentary one-on-one session with him so that he is able to best prepare both them and himself for his group classes. The layout and focus of Moe’s boxing classes are modified each day: upper body, lower body, core, cardio, technique-based, etc. Classes are typically 50-55 minutes long, with 60-70% of the work performed on either the hanging heavy bag or aqua water-filled bags. 

Dynamic stretching: gentle and controlled movements of multiple muscle groups to gradually increase range-of-motion with each repetition (UW Health)

Although each day is different, all classes begin with completing a warm-up round followed by more rounds with a variety of movements and exercises. Warm-ups include dynamic stretches, the type determined each day by the target muscle groups during that class. Some of Moe’s commonly used dynamic stretches to stretch the hips are lateral lunges and plank walkouts with side lunges. After brief stretching, the warm-ups move into aerobic exercises such as jogging, high knees, butt kicks, or one of Moe’s personal favorites, jump roping, especially double unders. After the warm-up comes about 15-17 rounds of either bag or body work, at times with weights, but all focusing on maintaining power and building strength, especially core strength.

“Core strength is, if not the first, then the second most overlooked

and neglected body part that people fail to continuously focus on."

  - Moe Omar

All class participants begin their round work with punching combos on the bag for 3 consecutive minutes, followed by a 30-second rest, and two more rounds with two 30-second rest breaks after each. After 3 rounds on the bag, the class takes off their gloves to hydrate and transition to core for 2-3 rounds. Core is followed by more combos on the bags for 3-4 rounds, with stations as the final cardio finisher for class. The amount of stations set up and the duration of each round varies depending on the number of participants in a class. Moe’s classes average at about 8-20 participants, so 4 stations are typically needed to allow for adequate workout space for each person.

Depending on how much class time remains, all stations are repeated 2-3 times and are each 1-1.5 minutes long. After time is up, the entire class rotates to their next allocated station, with groups traveling together as a team. Each station typically has a short combo with variations of one exercise. For example, a leg-focused station might implement primarily squat variations: narrow, wide, jumping, etc. After stations comes the grand finale, the cooldown - a time to breathe, relax, and bring the heart rate back down. Moe’s most popular cooldown stretches are child’s pose, cobra stance, and knee pulls with a hold, each stretch held for 15-20 seconds. Moe is a huge fan of foam rollers and encourages his participants to use them often, especially after high-intensity exercise.

“The key to successful boxing is mastering

body awareness. Boxing requires a lot from you,

but it gives much more."

  - Moe Omar

Moe strives to help his participants understand that to reap the rewards from boxing, each move must be executed with power and purpose. Simply throwing a punch requires the whole body to generate enough power to keep the force driving. The more frequently a person attends boxing classes, the better their coordination skills will become from listening to counts and memorizing combos - boxing takes thought, it is brain fitness as much as it is body fitness. Moe believes that boxing has become so popular in the last few decades because other exercise formats can grow repetitive fairly quickly, while boxing is continuously changing as new moves and techniques evolve. Through each class he teaches, Moe aims to emphasize that learning how to move your body as a whole and in unison is at the core of authentic boxing. Along with unison movement is mindful breathing, which reduces the heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and increases overall caloric burn.

During his own workouts for his personal development, Moe always goes for outdoor workouts alone and in the zone, often without any background noise except the sounds of nature. His primary cardio source is boxing, but he also enjoys jump roping. His typical workout consists of switching between boxing rounds and weight lifting. He alternates punching combos with weighted exercises to strengthen each muscle group. Whether it’s chest presses or tricep extensions, Moe focuses on simple exercises and repetition of each movement. The farmer’s walk commonly makes an appearance in Moe’s workout routines. It’s a strength-based conditioning exercise that incorporates holding heavy weights while forward walking, most effectively executed when focusing on a strong grip to protect the wrists. Dumbbells of various weights are a must-have during his workouts, along with the occasional use of resistance bands.

Graphic via Inspire US

Above all, Moe’s goal when exercising entirely for his own health and wellbeing is to improve his longevity. Every exercise and individual movement is powered by Moe’s desire to have a strong and effective workout that he feels demonstrates his best range of motion as he focuses on “pumping” his muscles, which he believes is an immediate benefit of weight lifting. Just as he encourages his clients to focus on functionality, he remains disciplined in doing the same for himself, along with centering his attention on coordination and technique, which he has discovered are all areas many of his clients tend to neglect.

The sad reality for many full-time fitness instructors and trainers is that it often becomes easy to begin neglecting themselves and their ongoing advancement throughout their own fitness journey. The fulfillment gained from working with others to reach their health goals is incredibly rewarding, but requires continuous work both inside and outside of the gym to create unique and personalized plans for each individual. In the past year, Moe only remembers a handful of times when he was able to remain fully present in his own workout. After spending close to 10 hours at The Jym everyday, Moe finds it challenging to get in a workout of his own. However, he has recently made a conscious effort to prioritize his own mental and physical health and wellness, which has also reignited his love for pushing his limits to see all that he is capable of when giving his personal workouts his all.

To ensure that he is fully prepared to offer new and improved boxing techniques and movements, Moe stays up to date with the most relevant boxing coaches and fighters on social media, along with watching recent boxing matches as he watches for combinations that he can try out for himself before adding them to his classes. Every boxer has their own unique strengths and contributions to a match and to each move. Moe admires boxer Roy Jones Jr. for his exceptional power and speed, boxer Vasyl Lomachenko for his technicality and use of various angles as he executes movements, boxer Canelo Álvarez for his defense skills and swift head movements, boxers Muhammad Ali and Naseem Hamed for their quick footwork, and boxer Mike Tyson for his ability to move his entire body in unison as he connects each movement to the previous. Moe’s 3 mentors have also been ongoing sources of knowledge and wisdom for him as he observes their teaching styles and absorbs all that he can to best shift his approach to boxing in a way that allows him to grow as a coach himself.

“The second that you think you know it all is also the second that you knocked out. There is always development and growth, and you have to be constantly chasing it."

  - Moe Omar

The shift from teaching boxing through personal training to teaching in a formal class setting has challenged Moe as a coach in ways that have reshaped his approach in the best ways possible. The shift from giving one-on-one instruction during personal training sessions to attending to over 20 people in a class has driven Moe to become more multi-task oriented. For the entire duration of each class, he divides his attention amongst each participant as he actively goes back and forth between people to correct their form and encourage their efforts. This has helped him achieve his goal to learn all of his class attendees’ names to authentically create a personal environment where each person feels not only seen, but also valued. Personally training different people with different “energies” and attitudes prepared Moe for the need to assess each class so that he is able to adjust the pace and tone of the class to match the needs of all participants each individual day. Coaching in a group setting has served to make Moe even greater at sensing when to offer extra motivation or slightly pull back when participants are feeling intrinsically motivated.

As he aspires to become a greater version of himself both in and out of the gym, Moe maintains his driven attitude by remembering his ultimate goal as a coach, to ensure that his teaching methods and leadership result in those around him becoming healthy and functional in ways that will significantly enhance their mindsets and self-confidence in achieving all that they set their minds to. Moe aims to coach in ways that place the importance of living a long and healthy life at the forefront of people’s minds so that they come to value longevity as a necessary component of a thriving life. He does this by teaching that achieving longevity is made possible when one becomes self-aware of their own body and their surroundings so that they can focus on their individual needs at each stage of their life.

“Just as we can't live a day without having a meal, or without sleeping, we cannot live a life without exercise."

  - Moe Omar

Moe’s wish for everyone at any point on their path to a “healthier self” is to put all existing thoughts about boxing aside and just try it. Forget any pre-existing notions about boxing as a violent sport that requires pain for success. The need for each person to better themselves and to boost their own confidence, clarity, and focus is one that can only be met through challenging oneself and pushing limits that have yet to be tested.

So try that workout. Try that class that you’ve been watching from outside of the classroom windows. Don’t delay things until tomorrow or the day after, because that day may not come.

A message from Moe to all: Take care of your body and your temple, and it will take care of you too. Working out for yourself is not selfish. When done the right way, exercise makes you the best version of yourself for not only you, but also for those around you.