Nordine Zouareg discusses how he became Mr. Universe and a celebrity trainer

I had the pleasure of being introduced to Nordine Zouareg through a friend of mine. She had met Nordine at the Miraval Resort in Arizona, where he works with celebrities like Oprah and John Kerry. My friend gushed about how nice he was! I asked her if she had mentioned her connection to me and Soloflex, of course she hadn’t ;).

I was really curious if he had ever worked out on the Whole Body Vibration Platform; could he be training his clients on one? I decided I would just ask him so I sent him an email, and that’s how we met. His story is the Soloflex dream! He’s the scrawny kid who knew he could become Mr. Universe if he put his heart and soul into it. This is such an fabulous and inspiring story. I had no idea this guy was going to be so cool!

Molly Wilson: How did you get started in bodybuilding?

Nordine: It was back in 1982 when I decided to put an end to a very long time of abuse, low self-esteem and spiritual disconnection. I was 19, and weighing 108 lbs I was beaten daily by bullies at school and had no girlfriend – though I loved someone secretly but was too ashamed of my body to tell her. It took years of abuse and hurt for me to discover that there was a better life ahead. It was only up to me to make the decision to be, to do and have what I wanted. I went through a process I developed accidentally to create a better life for myself; a call to finding your true core desire – mine was to become Mr. Universe.

Molly Wilson: You are one of the premier celebrity fitness coaches in the world. How did you differentiate yourself from other fitness trainers in the industry?

Nordine: Years of experience and my quest for a better life taught me that if I wanted to make a difference in this world and help people better themselves, I needed to learn about all three expressions of life; the body, the mind and the spirit. Learning through the process of my own personal growth led me to work with the most incredible people on this planet. Know who you are, know what you want and how you want to live your life…..this is most crucial to one’s success in anything. Life is professional game, don’t play it as an amateur.

Molly Wilson: Explain Bodymindfullness – the physiological piece to getting and staying in shape.

Nordine: Bodymindfulness is the name of the center I developed and lead for seven years at Miraval Resort, an upscale resort in Tucson Arizona. Bodymindfulness stems from mindful fitness, a process I teach my students and clients. Mindful fitness is about closely observing your private, spiritual world, allowing you to discover deep and true feelings about how to live your life.

It’s about soul building. By soul building, I mean the careful cultivation of self-control, self-esteem, goals, attitudes, faith, emotions, intuition and willpower. Without the soul, the body and the mind cannot exist. Going through this process allows one to have a better vision of peak mental, physical and spiritual health.

Molly Wilson: How did you become familiar with Soloflex, and do you remember the early influence that Soloflex had on the weight lifting and the fitness industry?

Nordine: Absolutely! The Russians were always at the forefront of weight lifting and were certainly on the lookout for innovations. Soloflex revolutionized the way we worked out. People ask me if I only had 20 minutes a day to work out, what will I do? My answer is always “why would you complicate your life? Use Soloflex!“. There were many other modalities and gadgets invented back then and still now, but Soloflex is the real deal.

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I can’t thank Nordine enough for his time, energy and the credibility he lends to our products!

Over the years Soloflex has worked with other well known fitness experts including Arnold Schwarzenegger (Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia, who endorsed Soloflex from 1981-1985) and Frank Zane ( another Mr. Olympia ) . Nordine has been one of the most responsive and easy people I have ever talked to. You can really sense his energy and enthusiasm for life, how refreshing!

To learn more about Nordine, visit his website.

• Published by molly on December 16th, 2008 in Interview.
• 12 Comments
• body building, mr. universe, Nordine Zouareg, personal trainer