10 Fitness Trends in Morocco

Yoga has been known to Moroccans for only a couple of years. It was around eight years ago that it first emerged and since then, both men and women love it! There are several types of yoga, but the most important thing is to find yourself a teacher that understands how your body works and where to push your boundaries. It is so popular because it relaxes you from deep withing and you can even opt to take private classes which will only make the experience even better.

People who love pilates usually love yoga too, since they are quite similar, and you will probably build relationships based on your fitness taste! Pilates is definitely an activity for everybody, as it doesn’t require extreme difficulty and was actually first created as a way to help injured dancers get better. Today, it is more of a form of relaxation and socialising, as people who continuously meet at these classes end up developing a bond!

CrossFit is a relatively new way of training, it was created in the early 2000s, and it has since become one of the most practiced activities around, with its intense muscle workouts and intensified body movements. In Morocco, more and more people are getting into it, two of which are bloggers Amine and Sofia, who promote a healthy lifestyle as well as their own CrossFit gym!

Yes, boxing is rapidly becoming popular among the Moroccan community, that is using this method as a new way of dealing with stress, especially in cities such as Casablanca and Rabat. Although it might seem a little aggressive at first, you must give it a try and you’ll soon realize how good it feels to release all those negative feelings through your fists. There are many centers across Casablanca who offer boxing classes exclusively and sometimes even private sessions.

This new trend just recently emerged in Morocco, as a few centers opened across the kingdom, notably Aqualine Wellness in Marrakech. This center helps women either lose weight or tone their muscles through their innovative machines, which include the water bike, water run and water step. Each of these machines work different muscles in the body to achieve the desired goal, and each one is placed in its own private room, where you can listen to cool music through headphones and watch the TV. They provide slippers, a robe and a bottle of water for each session, which feels like a pamper session more than a work out! They also have a floating room, where people come to float and meditate, relieve stress and just relax.

Aqualine Wellness, 31, Rue Moulay Ali, Marrakech +212524443000

An absolute classic, jogging. Yes, it might sound a little overrated, but isn’t it underrated? Jogging has become such a normal part of people’s life, that sometimes they might forget the true and efficient advantages that it has. Everyday, across Morocco’s parks and seafronts, you will see a number of all types of people that are just enjoying their daily or weekly jog.

Water aerobics is a form of resistance training that helps you strengthen your muscles and burn calories, it is exactly the same as land aerobic, except the fact that you can’t feel the weight of your body thanks to the water, therefore it reduces the impact on your joints, making it much less painful afterwards. This is one of the best activities to do out there, because it’s fun, it’s quick and it doesn’t hurt! Moroccans are loving it at the moment, especially women who are expecting babies since it is a very recommended activity to do if you are pregnant.

Zumba is such a fun class to take if you want to add more spice to your workouts. It is a form of working out while dancing to a song that you like, and at the same time, it helps you strengthen your core and tone your muscles. This type of work out will leave you dripping in sweat, exhausted, but super pumped and energized, and yes, it does help lose weight!

Meditation might not be considered ‘fitness’, but it kind of is, for the soul. This type of practice focuses on achieving full mental and emotional blissfulness, that truly cleanses your soul, and although it may sound simple, it’s certainly not. To complete this practice, you must deeply concentrate in quiet, and try to connect with your inner soul through your mind and your breathing, but you must let it all naturally happen, until you reach the desired atmosphere.

Fast walking is not the same as race walking — which includes additional hip movement — as it focuses more on having a good posture, arm movement, foot motion and other factors. You must make sure you are equipped appropriately, with flexible and lightweight shoes. This could potentially be a great workout as it does burn calories, but the faster you walk the more you shed, as they say ‘no pain, no gain!’