Polar opposite friends sign up for Dubai Fitness Challenge to stay active

Majed Albanna was never keen on fitness activities until he accepted the challenge.

Dubai - The duo, who attend Universal American School (UAS) in Dubai, have already hosted several fitness themed classes on their campus.

Emirati students Majed Albanna and Aisha Anoohi were both on the same wavelength when it came to signing up for the Dubai Fitness Challenge. But their views on fitness varied considerably.
"I was always involved in team sports," Aisha told Khaleej Times. Majed, however, was not. "I never worked out. I didn't even get involved in physical activities."
Now, since kickstarting their journey and saying yes to the Dubai Fitness Challenge on Friday, the 16-year-old students - who are polar opposites when it comes to their active lifestyles - are coming together to increase not just their fitness levels, but also that of their fellow students and teachers too.

"I'm using this challenge as a platform to improve my life. We're trying to encourage our school to get involved in it too," Majed said.
The duo, who attend Universal American School (UAS) in Dubai, have already hosted several fitness themed classes on their campus. And their next goal is to sign a whole team of teachers and students up for the Colour Run on November 11.
"Getting active as a community is something we want to continue. Even after the challenge is over, we want to keep up the momentum," they said.
Since Friday's challenge kicked off, between them, Majed and Aisha have managed to complete about 3,400 moves daily (on average) as part of the initiative. Majed has been hitting about 2,111 moves per day, while Aisha is averaging about 1,362 moves, according to their app readings.
"I've been using the gym outside my school. I will work on my upper body using weights once a week and on the other days I will focus on cardio," Majed said. And when he's not at the gym, it's a run along Mamzar Beach (right next to his house), which is helping him reach his 30 minutes for 30 days target. "On day one and two of the challenge though, I took full advantage of the opening weekend carnival and used the free gym equipment at the park."
For Aisha, her journey so far has been similar to her normal daily routine; joining her teammates for volleyball and basketball at school. But she has switched her physical activity up a bit by doing morning yoga workouts at home.

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