Strength is more than muscle. Our happiness depends on how well we balance body, heart and mind — and today we need to be strong in all three.Ahmed Muaz · Founder, The Hammer
2014 – 2015
We started small, and we started with the young.
On 2 November 2014, Ahmed Muaz registered The Hammer in the Maldives.
No titles yet. No trophies. We built it largely from recycled material — steel picked by hand from a scrapyard, cut in a shower of sparks and given a second life. A bare hall, dust, and a hammer set into the concrete at the door: the first day of everything that follows on this page.
Before the trophies, there was a student.
Dharumavantha School named Rif’aan its best all-round student of the year. He was deputy school captain, and second in the national O-level Top Ten. A year later, he would carry our name.
2016 – 2017
Then came the nights we still talk about.
We asked him to carry our name — to show young Maldivians that the books and the barbell belong together. His coaching and competition support were planned around his studies, never the other way round.
Mohamed Rasheed — Rachay to everyone who knows him — won Mr. Maldives while with The Hammer.
He walked off that stage with the trophy in his hands, and a whole gym walked a little taller the next morning.
We also helped fund Naushad Naseer and Yazdhan Mohamed’s competition preparation. A year later, Naushad placed second in Sports Physique (up to 165 cm) at Mr. Maldives 2017.
The moment will be ours for all time.Hammer Instagram · 12 August 2017
Mohamed Yameen won the heavyweight class — and then the overall Mr. Maldives title.
The Hammer came home from Mr. Maldives 2017 with three medals — Ahmed Rif’aan Rasheed and Ahmed Fazeel among the athletes wearing them. Sun also reported two earlier first-place finishes for Hammer.
On the same stage stood the student we had believed in. A year after he took our name, Rif’aan stepped under the lights himself: third place in Sports Physique (166 cm and above).
Photos: Hammer Instagram (30 Nov 2017, 4 Dec 2017, 15 Jan 2018) · Naushad on stage: BBAM / Mohamed Shafy
2019 – 2021
What began in one gym in Malé was now being seen across the Maldives.
@sharksmaa is in the house· Hammer Facebook · 30 June 2019
Strength comes in more than one discipline.
The Hammer joined hands with Sharks Martial Arts Academy — Sharks MMA — to motivate and encourage fight clubs in the Maldives, and welcomed the academy onto our gym floor.
Two years after that night in 2017, the medal was international.
Ahmed Fazeel — one of our three medal winners at Mr. Maldives 2017 — won bronze for the Maldives at the 12th South Asian Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championship.
At The Marina at CROSSROADS Maldives, The Hammer received the Excellence in Healthcare (Health & Fitness) award at the Maldives Business Awards.
Our name is on the certificate. It belongs to every member who has ever trained with us.
When the lockdown closed the gym doors, we opened one on every phone.
We launched Hammer MV, an app that was free to join on iPhone and Android, so members could keep training at home and stay in touch with Hammer’s own trainers. Ahmed Muaz called it “a virtual fitness partner”. More than 500 people had downloaded it by the next day.
We announced Lose to Win 50K, our community fitness transformation challenge.
Because not every victory comes with a trophy.
Four years after that night in 2017, he did it again.
He was a Hammer trainer through 2020, the year the championship was cancelled for Covid-19. When Mr. Maldives returned on 26 March 2021, Mohamed Yameen won his weight class and the overall title, competing for The Hammer.
It was his second Mr. Maldives title with The Hammer, after 2017. We are proud of both.
We started with the young. Years on, we were still starting with the young.
For the school holidays we introduced a special membership for children. Reporting it, Avas looked back at the young people The Hammer has brought into fitness and bodybuilding — Yazdhan Mohamed, Naushad Naseer and our ambassador Rif’aan among them.
2023
New names stepped onto the stage — and one name we will always carry with us.
Two athletes. Two medals. One gym behind them.
Both competed under The Hammer, as listed by the Bodybuilding Association of Maldives.
Some people never leave a gym.
On 20 September 2023 we paid tribute to Umar, and to the inspiration he gave this team. We carry it into every session.
2025 – 2026
Twelve years in, we are building again — for the members who are just getting started.
The Hammer expands its equipment to strengthen its backbone, with the latest Matrix cable machines, Matrix’s pride the MEGA Rack, and more.
The gym, in every member’s pocket.
Version 1.0 of the new Hammer member app for iPhone was released on the App Store. Updates in October added member tools, 3D anatomy and exercise previews, InBody reports and Ask Hammer.
So that no member has to guess about their own progress.
We introduced InBody 380 scanning at the gym and connected the results to our member app. Members can review their scans and ask Hammer AI to explain what changed and suggest training priorities.
To make The Hammer the Maldives’ first AI-powered gym.
The people
Every face here was built in this gym — the characters of The Hammer, over the years.
To every member, coach and athlete who has ever trained here — thank you. This story is yours.
The Hammer · Malé · Since 2014Every name on this page started with a first session. Yours can start today.