Since our first UAE studio opened in August 2023, Dr.stretch trainers have completed more than 88,000 one-on-one assisted stretching sessions with over 21,500 clients from 104 nationalities. Every session is recorded in our booking system: when it took place, how long it lasted and whether the client came back.
We looked at all of it, anonymised and in aggregate, to answer a simple question: how does the UAE actually stretch? Some of the answers surprised us.
Since the UAE moved to a Saturday-Sunday weekend, Sunday has become the busiest day in our studios. Across all sessions, Sunday is 44% busier than the average Monday to Friday, and Saturday is 35% busier. The weekend carries 36% of all sessions in just two days of the week.
Midweek is the quiet patch. Wednesday is the least-booked day, with Monday, Tuesday and Thursday close behind. Friday sits in between, as the working week winds down.
Our reading: for many people, a stretch is part of how they reset before the week starts again.
On weekdays, bookings build through the afternoon and peak at 5pm, the single busiest start time of the week. The 4pm and 6pm slots are next. In total, 39% of all sessions start at 5pm or later, while only 13% start before midday.
Weekends look different. Instead of one evening peak, demand runs flat from about 1pm to 5pm, with no single hour standing out.
The pattern fits a working population: people stretch on the way home from the office, or in the middle of a weekend day, rather than first thing in the morning.
Across the UAE, 67% of sessions are 60 minutes, 17% are 90 minutes and 11% are 40 minutes. The average session lasts just over an hour.
The two emirates split on the long session. In Abu Dhabi, 22% of sessions are 90 minutes. In Dubai it is 13%. Put another way, an Abu Dhabi client is about 70% more likely than a Dubai client to book the longest session. Dubai clients lean harder on the 60-minute session, which makes up 71% of their bookings.
We can only guess at the reason. Commute times, a different pace of life and the longer history of our Abu Dhabi studios may all play a part.
Stretching is often seen as a women's activity, in the same bracket as yoga or Pilates. Our data says otherwise: 69% of our clients are men, and they book 70% of all sessions.
Men and women use the studio in a similar way. Men book slightly more 90-minute sessions (18% of their sessions, against 16% for women) and lean a little more towards evenings and weekends. Women are slightly more likely to come in the morning.
One likely reason: assisted stretching suits people who know they are tight but will not stretch on their own. A trainer does the work, and the client only has to turn up. For women who prefer more privacy, every Dr.stretch studio has a private ladies-only room.
Among clients whose age we have on record, 40% are 35 to 44. Clients aged 25 to 34 and 45 to 54 make up about 22% each, and one in three clients is 45 or older.
Two things change as clients get older:
For more on stretching later in life, see our guides to assisted stretching for the ageing body and stretching for longevity.
Clients who come back do not wait long: the typical gap between the first and second visit is seven days. From there, most regulars settle into a weekly or fortnightly rhythm.
That matches what our trainers see. One session shows you where you are tight. Coming back regularly is what lets a trainer build on the last session instead of starting again each time.
Our clients come from 104 nationalities, a mix that mirrors the UAE itself.
This report covers completed one-on-one sessions recorded in the Dr.stretch UAE booking system from 18 August 2023 to 2 November 2026, across all our Dubai and Abu Dhabi studios, including our first studio at Shams Boutik on Reem Island, which closed in August 2026. It excludes cancellations, no-shows, events and internal bookings.
Figures are anonymised aggregates. No individual client can be identified. Gender, age and nationality come from client records. Age is given for 89% of clients, and age percentages are of those clients. Session times are local UAE time. Percentages are rounded.
Journalists and researchers are welcome to quote these figures with credit to Dr.stretch UAE and a link to this page. For more detail, contact us.
At Dr.stretch UAE, Sunday is the busiest day and 5pm on a weekday is the busiest single slot. Sunday is 44% busier than the average weekday. Weekday mornings, especially midweek, are the quietest.
About an hour. Two thirds of our sessions are 60 minutes, 17% are 90 minutes and 11% are 40 minutes.
Yes. Men make up 69% of Dr.stretch UAE clients and 70% of sessions.
Clients who return typically book their second session within seven days, and most regulars settle into a weekly or fortnightly rhythm.
Dr.stretch is a Japanese assisted stretching brand founded in 2010, with more than 300 studios in eight countries. Trainers use the Core Balance Stretch method. In the UAE we have six studios: three in Dubai and three in Abu Dhabi.
See all our studios in Dubai and studios in Abu Dhabi, or go straight to Reem Mall, where the photos in this report were taken.
Interested in reading & learning more? check out some of our other posts below!
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
%20band.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
