Former sprinter Lorna Ostia, from Bohol, builds Dubai personal training business Loo Fitness

Expat Media profiled Lorna Olarita Ostia, a former varsity sprinter from Bohol who came to the UAE in 2015 as a personal trainer and now runs Loo Fitness in Dubai. She says a Dh30,000 grant from winning the Philippine Business Council Dubai and Northern Emirates Masterclass Season 2 became the foundation for the business.

Lorna Olarita Ostia, who is from Bohol in the Philippines and once ran barefoot because her family could not afford running shoes, now owns and runs Loo Fitness, a personal training business in Dubai, Expat Media reported on 3 November in an exclusive interview.

From Cebu track to the UAE

According to Expat Media, Ostia was a varsity athlete on full scholarship at the University of Southern Philippines Foundation in Cebu City, specialising in sprint events. She won three gold medals at the Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) National Meet, at one point held the PRISAA 200-metre record and was twice named Most Outstanding Athlete. After college she worked as a physical education teacher in Thailand for two years.

She arrived in the UAE in 2015 and was hired as a personal trainer at a fitness company four days before her visa expired, Expat Media said. She stayed five years and was consistently named the company's Best Personal Fitness Trainer, and many of the clients she began training in 2015 are still with her.

A grant that became a business

When clients urged her to expand, Ostia joined the Philippine Business Council Dubai and Northern Emirates (PBC-DNE) Masterclass to learn the business side first, including UAE laws. Expat Media reported that she became Grand Champion of Masterclass Season 2 in 2025 and won a Dh30,000 business grant with her pitch for Loo Fitness, money she used to process licences and visas for her trainers.

The Filipino Times reported in July 2025 that PBC-DNE launched Season 2 as a 13-week business and leadership training for Filipino professionals and entrepreneurs in the UAE, ending with business-plan pitches for prizes worth up to AED 30,000.

"I didn't expect to win," Ostia told Expat Media. "For me, joining that Masterclass was already a victory."

What Loo Fitness offers

Expat Media said Ostia launched Loo Fitness in December 2025 and expanded it on 1 March 2026. The business offers personal training at clients' homes, including functional training, weight loss, toning, pre- and post-natal fitness, nutrition and general athletic training, for clients from age three to their 70s and beyond. Sessions generally last an hour, can be booked up to three times a week, and can also be held at beaches, parks or gyms.

Her motto is "No pressure. No perfection. Just progress." Ostia told Expat Media she hopes to set up a Loo Fitness Academy in the UAE, expand the business to the Philippines and keep supporting young athletes who cannot afford equipment. Her favourite part of being an entrepreneur, she said, is "helping fellow dreamers have opportunities here."

Subscribe to newsletter