Boxing is a popular workout for a reason: it offers all the fitness benefits of the real thing, all without the intimidation of stepping into a ring or risking any real blows.
One of Dubai’s most popular studios, Boxica in Studio City, has been doing a brisk business post-pandemic by going beyond boxing to offer unique mix of strength, indoor cycling and circuit-style workouts.
The founder of this growing movement is Cyrus Rustom, a former member of the elite Royal Marines Commandos.
Cyrus joined the military when he was just 16 years old and went on to complete a tour in Afghanistan.
No stranger to hard work and perseverance, he opened his first gym in Dubai back in 2013, and then Boxica in 2020, right in the midst of the pandemic.
Despite those challenges, Boxica has grown into a thriving community of 500 members.
He speaks to Livehealthy about the reasons why boxing has become so popular, what a healthy weekly workout routine should look like, and why going out of your comfort zone can be hugely beneficial.
How did Boxica start?
We opened the week after lockdown. I remember being outside while all the contracting work was going on, and my business partner said to me, “I think we’re going to go into a lockdown in a few weeks.” I laughed, as we all did back then.
Then obviously, we went into our lockdown. Luckily, the contracting work was allowed to carry on, so we could just about manage it from home. It was extremely stressful. It was still a very unknown time, but we opened a week after lockdown ended and it was a slow start. It was tough. People didn’t want to be near anyone. They wanted to be at home.
The first year was really hard, but we’re still here. We had to use all our energy and experience to build up a community. A lot of gyms say this, but it’s the people and the community that we’ve built that has allowed us to be a success. For our members Boxica is like their second home. Without them, there is no Boxica.
How do you build a gym community?
The location is very important as it dictates the type of people that you’re going to attract. Studio City is a very residential and family-orientated area. Whereas, if you’re in the city centre, you might struggle to persuade people to hang around after work and go to the gym.
We put a big focus on how we talk to people and the attention we give them. We have created an un-intimidating and friendly atmosphere. We also do a lot of events outside of the gym like boat parties, rock climbing, hikes and barbecues. Our family day was amazing and all the members brought their kids. Events help create that second-home feeling. They don’t have to be big, extravagant, or expensive. Just an opportunity for people to talk and get to know each other. Our members have made so many friends at Boxica. They think they are just signing up to get fit but they walk away with five or six new close friends
It’s hard to build a community at big gyms that have 5,000 or 3,000 members. It’s impossible to know that many people. But at Boxica, we’ve got around 500 members, so it’s a lot easier for everyone to build relationships.
People will leave a gym if a new and better one opens next door, but it’s a lot more difficult to leave people who care about you. You need to speak to people and get to know them on a one-on-one basis.
What is the concept of Boxica?
We started with a boxing and fitness studio. Myself and my business partner did a lot of travelling and research in London, Amsterdam and New York. We tried out so many different concepts and studios.
We took the best from all the places we tested and we eventually decided to combine both boxing and fitness. We wanted to make it friendly and accessible for everyone, regardless of their fitness level. It has been a hit since day one, and it’s still our most loved class.
Offices in the UAE can be quite stressful environments. Generally, people are here to work hard and earn money, and they’re very driven. With that comes extra stress.
So we let people have a go at hitting a bag in a fun environment where they’re not going to have to fight anyone, but still get the benefits of boxing.
Another reason why we’ve done so well is we listen to feedback. When our members said they wanted to try some different things, we expanded outdoors and bought a load of barbells, kettlebells, battle ropes and cardio machines. We run an outdoor strength class, which is purely an hour of resistance training and lifting weights, and we run a ‘Sweat’ class, which is a boot camp-style, burn-as-many-calories-as-you-can kind of class.
Then we rented some more units and turned one into an indoor cycling studio. We have technology that tracks your distance and your calories.
We’ve also got another area where we do a lot of kickboxing and Muay Thai, and we do one yoga class per week. Our goal was to have everything under one roof, so members don’t need to go anywhere else.
What’s the next fitness trend in the UAE?
Right now boxing is really kicking off. I think we were early in the trend and a lot of other places will keep opening.
As I said you have to provide variety. People like variety.
Dubai is a very fast-moving place and the businesses that succeed are the ones that are open to change and embrace different things. But doing different things requires a lot of energy, people, and ideas. We believe that we’ve done so well because we’ve constantly evolved. Even now we’ve got other projects in the pipeline.
I’m excited because the fitness industry is either going to go very boutique and high-end, like Boxica, or it’s going to be all about big gyms where you pay 150 dirhams a month, you get basic gym equipment and you go in, train, leave and that’s it. Some people want that. They want to pay as little as possible to get their workout in.
Or you can come to a place like Boxica, where you become part of the community, have a coach taking you through every single class and get advice on nutrition. We’re an all-inclusive community. You pay a bit more, but you get more back in terms of customer service.
What are the benefits of boxing?
Boxing brings loads of benefits. It improves agility, coordination, power and strength. But I think the biggest reason why it’s so popular is because of the way it boosts mental health. There’s something special about punching a bag.
When we started Boxica, our tagline was ‘find your inner hero’.But, when we opened after lockdown, people were stressed out and they kept telling us “this is my therapy.” I didn’t just hear it once or twice, I was consistently hearing it. So eventually we changed the tagline to “Boxing is therapy”. That’s on the back of our t-shirts now and it’s a key part of all our messaging.
Can you only do boxing?
Both women and men need to lift weights and do some form of cardiovascular training. You should mix it up.
If your goal is to gain muscle, you should do three to five sessions of resistance training, and one to two sessions of cardio per week. Or to generally stay lean, toned, and athletic, two to three full-body resistance training sessions per week and two to three high-intensity cardio-style classes provides a nice balanced mix of everything that you need.
Are more people realizing the benefits of lifting weights?
Yes. People are becoming a lot more educated and understanding the importance of resistance training. There’s a lot of podcasts and information out there talking about health, what’s good for you, what gets you lean and toned, and what is good for the body.
Initially some people might find it hard to accept strength training because they finish the class and don’t feel as sweaty as they normally do. But it’s so good for you.
How does strength training make you feel?
You feel great. After all, your body releases endorphins through any movement. Even if you go for a walk, you feel good after it. The runner’s high after a very high-intensity workout can make you feel amazing.
But there’s a flip side to that. If you’re always hammering yourself in the gym and going all out, that’s not good because you’re pushing yourself too hard. It’s short-lived. There’s only so many of those sessions that you can do before you start getting injured or mentally or physically tired. Your sleep and hormones will get messed up.
It’s all about balance and mixing strength training with some high-intensity workouts. My advice is always that it’s not about how hard you can push in one workout, it’s about how long you can keep showing up for. It’s all about consistency.
How do you approach members who are addicted to exercising?
Well, some people don’t want to listen. But I’ve been in the fitness industry for 15 years and I’ve coached a lot of people. So I know how to explain it to people in a way that they’ll understand. I just hope they will listen and take some of my tips on board. I tell them that if they’re struggling or stressed out, coming to the gym and going all out is not going to help them.
Also, from a business point of view, I don’t want someone coming and burning out after a few weeks or months and then leaving. The value’s in long-term relationships.
Tell us about the Royal Marines…
Yes, I wanted to join from a very young age. A friend of mine’s brother was in the Marines, and he came into school one day when I was 12 and showed me a picture of his brother in uniform with his commando beret on. From that second I was obsessed with joining the Marines.
At the time, you could be 15 and 9 months old to apply to join. I walked into the recruitment office when I was 15 years and 9 months old exactly.
The guy there almost didn’t let me go through the recruitment process because the percentage of people who passed the training at such a young age was so small. But he didn’t know that I had been training since I was 12. I was obsessed. I didn’t go to school. I was 100 percent all in on joining, and very fit.
They sent me on this three-day course and I was at the top of the class for fitness and I knew everything about the Marines, so they let me in. It wasn’t a smooth ride though, I got injured a few times. Commando training is one of the longest and hardest programs in the world. But I did it and I learned so much. It taught me a lot about discipline, how to stay cheerful in hard situations, teamwork, leadership, how to look after yourself, and keeping a positive mindset. Anything I do now is just a breeze compared to some of the commando tests. It builds character. I wouldn’t want my son to go into the military, but for me at that time, it was the best thing for me.
In the Marines, the mindset is that nothing is impossible. You never ever give up, and I keep that mindset as a civilian too.
Are many people getting too comfortable these days?
I do think people need to learn to come out of their comfort zones. Even I get pulled into my comfort zone sometimes and I have to push myself in order to keep progressing forward. At Boxica, we’ve started doing a lot of ice baths. It lets us take people out of their normal routine and put them in a potentially uncomfortable situation, even if it’s just for a short period of time.
There are also so many courses and adventure races you can do. There’s a lot on offer and I definitely encourage people to push themselves. It’s really good for you, both physically and mentally.
What do people get wrong about fitness?
People like to push a specific niche item, diet or regime because they’re going to make money off it, but there’s more than one way to skin a cat. There’s a lot of good coaches out there pushing good information. It’s really not that complicated, but a lot of people like to make it seem like it is. We’re all different. We all respond differently to different types of training and diets. Some people feel better as a vegan, and some prefer being a carnivore. I tend to stay away from the extremes and not push any one specific aspect of training or diet.
What is your top healthy lifestyle tip?
Nutrition is key. You can train all you want, but if the wrong things are going in your mouth, it’s going to affect your health negatively. My advice would be, don’t try to be perfect with your nutrition. It’s just about trying to be a little bit better. Food quality, especially in this part of the world, is really important. Put healthy and natural foods into your body 90 percent of the time, and for the other 10 percent you can eat whatever you want.
For more information, visit @boxica.
