This week saw the launch of the annual Dubai Fitness Challenge – thirty days of getting active for thirty minutes. For the next month Sport360 is talking to athletes who are getting involved in the initiative, first up is aerialist and runner Yasmin Baker.
One of the things I was pleasantly surprised about was how many people embraced the 30×30 challenge last year and how much they got into it. It made being active cool and accessible, there are so many free classes and things going on there’s no excuse not to join in, and it’s only 30 minutes, which people are able to fit into their day and find more manageable. During the Dubai Fitness Challenge I’m running some women-only workouts and making sure I’m personally more active than I normally am for the next month. For me, going to the gym alone is not that appealing, but if I get invited to do a group activity or class I’m much more inclined to go and that’s what the fitness challenge does so well – it gets groups together to work out. The fitness community is almost like a family here, it’s a nice vibe when you go to events together and people are really friendly.
If it’s your first 30×30 I would just try new things once because you’ll probably stumble on activities you enjoy that you didn’t think you would. There’s so many events to check out, there will be something you actually enjoy, you don’t have to do it just to lose weight or get stronger. I was like that when I started running, I only did it because I didn’t like it and wanted to learn to enjoy it, that’s when Red Bull contacted me. I posted that I was drinking it ahead of a night run I was doing because I needed the extra energy to get out and run. I juggle work with fitness and some days it is hard to get motivated to exercise if you’ve had a long day but you need to have the discipline to keep active. I try and get in a 30-minute work out every day even when the fitness challenge isn’t on, just as part of my routine. I trick my brain by during a class or work out first thing in the morning before I’ve had time to think about it. I actively try and make fitness fun, like with a new playlist or something, and that’s what the Dubai Fitness Challenge does as well it gets people active and having fun together.
