Simply Abu Dhabi XI

N erio Alessandri is a remarkable man who has built a world leading company in the fitness and wellness industry. From the humble beginnings of his garage, with his own sweat and innovation, Alessandri laid the foundations for the Technogym empire. Jordana Lynch talks to him about his life’s work. Not many people can claim to have turned their hobby and passion into their job. It takes commitment, determination and most essentially, a dream. There must be that burning desire to realise a dream that will drive you to succeed. In 1983, aged just 22, Nerio Alessandri built his first gym machine in the garage of his home in Cesena, Northern Italy. Alessandri was a graduate in Industrial Design and also passionate about keeping fit and being healthy. In that era the gym, so commonplace in our lives now, was a very different place. The equipment was often crude and rudimentary and there was very little known about an all- encompassing holistic approach to maintaining good health and fitness. Alessandri married his talent and flair for design with an astute recognition of a gap in the market, and created safe, effective gym equipment. Today, Technogym is a fully-fledged world leader in the Fitness and Wellness solutions sector and the company has supplied in the region of 65,000 gym and wellness centres, and over 100,000 homes, all around the world. It is estimated that approximately 35 million people use Technogym products every day. From the confines of his garage and with his desire for a new approach, Alessandri’s company has grown to employ around 2,200 people in 14 locations across Europe, the Unites States, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and South America. Technogym exports 90 per cent of what they manufacture to over 100 countries. The company is a celebrated trailblazer in the fitness sector and has supplied training equipment to the last four editions of the Olympic Games, fromSydney and Greece through to Beijing and London. Speaking with Alessandri about their contribution to the Olympic Games, he says, “The London 2012 Olympics were a unique chance to promote wellness as a social HealthyMind, HealthyBody 6 6 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I

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