This Filipino fitness trainer trains UAE soldiers

Ruperto D. Marquez III

Military fitness coach Ruperto D. Marquez III has been training soldiers and conducting military fitness courses in the UAE since he arrived in the country last February 2016. Currently, he is also the sole coach handling the military course for soldiers in Hatta.

For several years, Marquez has been a fitness coach for famous celebrities, including Ivana Alawi and Nadine Lustre. The celebrity fitness coach has also been featured on local TV shows. In the hopes to fully support his family and establish a decent career and personal growth, he embarked on an overseas journey.

“Dubai offers a lot of opportunities for career, financial, and career growth,” he said, noting that while living overseas, he’s able to secure an MBA degree and finished a photography course. Despite living a comfortable life, he still volunteers himself to teach a caregiving course in one of the Filipino schools in the UAE.

On the sidelines, he does jiu-jitsu where he learned the importance of discipline and keeping his body and spirit healthy. During his spare time, he and his sisters organize outreach programs that support the less fortunate within their community.

“I enjoy this job because this is my passion. I love being fit and teaching people not just how to be physically and mentally fit but how to change their whole perspective in life. It is like I am not working at all,” he said when asked about the best part about practicing his profession.

Just like any normal overseas Filipino worker, he also struggled with homesickness. “I am very close to my family and living away from them has been really difficult for me during my first year but they are very supportive. I made them my inspiration and motivation to do what I intend to do here. I want to make them proud of me as much as I am proud of having them,” he further added.

If time and fate permit, Marquez plans to migrate to Canada and bring his kids there and continue his coaching and teaching younger generations who are struggling. “It is my dream to hear my students say, ‘Coach, because of you, I didn’t give up’,” he said.

Marquez, who lives in his mantra “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” advised his fellow kabayans to always put God in the centre of their lives as good things will follow. “Living alone in a foreign country, away from our family, may not be easy but always remember the reason that brought you here and focus on it.”

“This Filipino fitness trainer trains UAE soldiers

image credit: supplied

KUWENTO NG TAGUMPAY19