Coaching in Uzbekistan stopped being a private matter on 13 July 2012. Resolution No. 214 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 13 July 2012, "On measures for the further regulation of coaching activity in the Republic of Uzbekistan", together with the set of organisational measures No. 07-9-26 of 17 August 2012, obliged every practising coach and instructor to submit a file of documents. Today three doors lead into the profession: a degree from a university of physical culture; the retraining courses the Uzbekistan Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation began in 2016 together with the non-state education institution MASTER TRAINING; and the federation's own examination, thirty question papers with four tasks each, published on 21 February 2014.
Everything below can be checked. The main source of this article is the open archive of the Uzbekistan Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation: 137 tournaments and events from 1987 to 2025, holding 2,579 photographs between them. The archive as a whole, including personal pages, calendars and documents, runs to 225 records, 2,623 photographs and 140 documents. Where a document breaks off, or offers an estimate instead of a count, this is stated plainly.
Certification and attestation: what changed in 2012
The federation's notice "Attention, bodybuilding and fitness coaches and instructors!" is filed in the archive under the heading "Certification and Attestation" and opens with an honest admission: legalising coaching work "has always been one of the most painful questions". The answer came from the two 2012 documents. Under them a practising coach assembles a file: an application, a personal form with a 3x4 photograph, a copy of the passport with registration, a diploma in higher or specialised secondary vocational physical education if the applicant holds one, and so on down the list.
One caveat. The text of the notice preserved in the archive breaks off at the fifth item, so the complete list of documents cannot be reconstructed from this source. But two words in the fourth item decide a great deal: "if the applicant holds one". A degree from a physical education institute was desirable, yet it was not the only way in. The federation opened the second door two years later, through an examination.
The federation's examination: thirty papers, each with two real people in it
On 21 February 2014 the federation published the examination papers for bodybuilding and fitness instructors: thirty papers, seventeen thousand characters. The structure of a paper never changes, and it states the demands of the profession more clearly than any charter:
- A theory question. Types of muscle tissue, antagonist muscles, tachycardia and bradycardia, anabolism and catabolism.
- Two client cases. A woman of fifty-two with hypertension. A housewife with three spinal hernias. A sixteen-year-old from combat sports.
- A question on how competition works and on the federation itself. Weight categories, the mandatory poses, WBPF disciplines, and the year the federation joined the WBPF and ABBF families.
The heart of the examination is the cases. Behind every set of conditions stands a person with an age, a state of health, a way of life and a goal, and the candidate must build a programme for that person specifically. The third question is no formality either: a coach is expected to know not only muscles but the history of the trade he serves.
The boundary of the profession runs where the physician begins
An examination built on client cases teaches not only what a coach does, but what a coach never does. Alexander Sakharov, an international-class master of sport who has worked as a coach since 1993, lists what a coach is obliged to study and then draws the line himself: dietetics, in his words, is a physician's level of work. Timur Sabirov, president of the federation, speaks about supplements just as soberly:
With some supplements you can even ruin your own health.
Three doors into the profession, and a stairway into judging
| Route | Where | What it certifies |
|---|---|---|
| University degree | A university of physical culture; the 2026 monograph names the Uzbek State University of Physical Culture and Sport as the specialist institution | A diploma. The university of physical culture and sport has a department where bodybuilding and fitness coaches are trained for four years to bachelor level |
| Retraining | Courses by UzFBF and MASTER TRAINING, begun in 2016 | The tracks "bodybuilding instructor" and "fitness instructor"; the two parties agreed to hold the second stage of examinations jointly |
| Instructor examination | Uzbekistan Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation | The papers published on 21 February 2014: 30 papers, 4 tasks each |
| Judge attestation | The federation; procedure published on 7 March 2016 | A judge's passport and an entry in the general register of judges |
The first coaches learned from translated literature
The core group of the first coaching mentors formed in the eighties, in the era of "basement" enthusiasm: there was no methodological base, knowledge was taken from translated literature, and machines were built by hand. That is how the 2026 monograph on the development of bodybuilding in Uzbekistan describes the period. Later many athletes finished competing and came back to the gym as coaches.
In the 2026 interviews the first coaches are named: Salim, Bekzod Shukurov, Armen Pashikyan. Davron Tuygunov adds Ruslan Sharapov, who is still his coach and mentor today. World champion Vitaly Skripachev names Salim from the PROFORM gym as his first coach and remembers not a method but an instruction: do not stop, even after a defeat. Umar from the Kitab district of the Kashkadarya region, absolute champion of 2019 in the 75-kilogram category, has worked with the same mentor, Bekzod Shukurov, for fifteen years.
On 12 April 2013 the seminar in Tashkent was led by Flex Wheeler
The seminar, master class and press conference of a legend of world bodybuilding survive in the archive as forty-four photographs and one document; the master class was held at PROFORM. Anyone could take part. Participants registered on 15 March 2013 at the Olympic Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan: bring a copy of your passport, pay a seminar fee of 40,000 sum; winners of first and second places at the 2012 Uzbekistan championship were admitted free of charge.
In the same year the federation released a series of master classes with the country's best bodybuilders. On camera: Anton Perov, then head coach of the national team; Armen Pashikyan, federation coach and reigning absolute champion; Alexander Sakharov, then head coach of the junior national team; and PROFORM club instructors Lyudmila Bogatyr and Maria Reznichenko.
A judge is examined in two stages
On 7 March 2016 the federation published the attestation procedure for judging candidates. Theory first: how competition is organised, the system of categories, anatomy, and cross-questioning on the assessment criteria. Then practice: the candidate scores a qualifying round unofficially alongside the acting panel, and only if the scores agree with those of the official judges does the head judge admit the candidate to the final round. The new judge's name is entered in the general register and a judge's passport is handed over.
In April 2016 six candidates passed: Alina Yafizova, Diyerbek Matkarimov and Sardorbek Tukhtarov from Andijan, and Farkhod Uralov, Nodir Yusupov and Bunyod Normatov from Jizzakh. All six were cleared to judge at the federation's May tournaments. The published register of judges lists twelve names, in categories from third class to international.
How many certified coaches the country has
The 2026 monograph gives the following figures: 2016, about 450 people; 2018, 680; 2021, 920; 2024, 1,450; 2026, 2,100. Over the decade the share of certified female coaches grew from 15 to 35 per cent. In 2016 there was one coach for every 150 people training; by 2026 the ratio had come down to one in 60.
The caveat without which these numbers cannot be read: the source gives the 2016 figure as approximate and the 2026 figure as a forecast, not a count. At the time the monograph appeared the country had no national coach certification system: its creation is listed there under future prospects.
What is being prepared: a 720-hour retraining programme
One document deserves separate mention, and it currently exists as a draft. It is the retraining curriculum "Bodybuilding and Fitness Coach", 720 hours in total: 704 hours across thirteen modules and 16 hours of final assessment, against a statutory minimum of at least 576 hours under Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 355 of 4 July 2022. Tuition is full-time, the course runs 20 weeks at 36 hours a week, and it ends with a certificate of retraining. The programme contains modules on anatomy and biomechanics, exercise physiology, client screening, exercise technique and spotting, nutrition, psychology, emergency situations and supervised practice. Admission requires an age of 18 or over, a document of specialised secondary or higher education, and a medical clearance for physical load issued no more than six months earlier. A sports rank, competitive experience and gender are explicitly not conditions of admission.
An honest word on its status: the document has been prepared for approval by the Uzbekistan Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation and endorsement by the Ministry of Sport, and its sign-off sheet is blank. It states no start date, no intake and no price, and claiming that the course is already running would not be true.
Where this school works every day
The name PROFORM appears in the federation's archive from 2011 onwards: the PROFORM fitness club organised the Night of Champions 2011 show tournament at the Zerafshan concert hall. From 2013 to 2025 the PROFORM Classic festival stands in the federation's calendar across twelve records. Flex Wheeler's master class was held at PROFORM in 2013, and club instructors led the federation's master classes. Timur Sabirov, president of the Uzbekistan Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation, is the founder of PROFORM DINAMO; by his own account he spent about twenty years refining his system, first on himself and then on his students.
PROFORM DINAMO, Mirzo Ulugbek Avenue 8a, Tashkent. Open around the clock. A tour of the club is free. Phone +998 94 045 54 48.