Swapping high physical fitness training for a slow but steady alternative.
In the second year of the Dubai Fitness Challenge, gyms and walking tracks alike have been crowded with people committed to the half-hour month long physical training. If anything, it’s an upgrade for all; getting ahead in stamina by starting slow and building up in a span of thirty days. The widespread idea though is restricted to making an effort by intensely challenging the body. As stated in Arabian Business, the fitness industry in the UAE currently is worth $380 million, but are we utilizing the right sort of fitness? What with soul cycle on the one hand, and circuit training on the other, the pressure is real. Pun intended.
According to the National Foundation of Professional Trainers, cortisol, which is a hormone that consumes energy, increases due to stress or overtraining (Kronemer, 2017). Andy Harper, the founder of Iconic Fitness, tells Bernd Debusmann Jr of Khaleej Times that present clientele in Dubai are in fact, overtraining. He claims that “people have an unhealthy relationship with exercise and their bodies.” Not only are these facts worrying, but there also seems to be a lot at risk as well. At Mediclinic City Hospital, Dr. Shine Ashokan emphasizes on the injuries that the “young population here” suffer from (Debusmann Jr, 2017).
Overtraining can be found in exercises such as lifting, running, or cycling (Read,n.d.). It is essential to note that new exercisers must avoid overtraining, since it is common to fall into the “dose-response relationship”. The term is known as excessive exercising without the necessary recovery. There can be no doubt that the concept applies to both men and women, who both could experience signs from reduced running speeds, decreased agility, strength and endurance. Loss of appetite or fatigue is derived from hormonal imbalance, also found in women (Robinson, 2017).
An alternative to overtraining is yoga. I’ve been practicing yoga for approximately three years come the new year of 2019. My curiosity for yoga sparked during my internship with Aida Al-Busaidy at Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in early 2016, when working on the Middle East’s very first Yoga festival “XYoga Dubai”. The only prior experience I had at the time were two classes and a few YouTube tutorials, which was practically amateur. Whilst Indian actress Shilpa Shetty and Yoga guru Suneel Singh guided the crowds for an hour on stage across Downtown Boulevard, it occurred to me that yoga was indeed no simple fete. I observed with fascination as people of all ages took part (children included); moving in sync to the series of movements.
This synchronicity had a big hand in jump-starting my journey into yoga and thus it began with The Studio Yoga and Fitness, which is located in Wasl Square. It was all but an easy start, given the lack of patience that I had with my stamina. Eventually I came to understand how setting high expectations so early on did little to soothe my frustration. The willingness to master the different positions was my main goal, although it proved challenging. However, I did persist, and so in each class I always looked forward to the last position “Savasana” also known as “Corpse pose” for its highly calming properties. Judith Hanson Lasater, a San Fransisco Bay Area-based American yoga teacher and physical therapist claims that the final pose provides relaxation to the body and mind. Over time it did indeed align both, so that I came to a new state of thought and discipline.
A saddening reality is that yoga is underestimated within some groups in the community, who believe that yoga is “too slow” and doesn’t deliver immediate results. What people need in this stress-inducing era is not a fast paced, all-or-nothing exercise routine to maintain a healthy body, but a channel that creates total control of the mind and senses. Yasmin Yacoub, a yoga teacher at Rise Fitness Boutique, likens crossfit (one of the exercises that prompt overtraining) to a short-term goal that disregards your joints. “The majority (clientele) come to yoga class for stress relief, only to realize that it takes effort and sweat as well,” she claims. “They leave like they’ve discovered something new and will start to notice the change in the body like posture, digestion and in their minds as well.”
As a method to counter stress while also maintaining a healthy body, yoga is the better of the two, if also to complement another form of exercise. Proof of limited obstacles is apparent, as Elizabeth Scott mentions benefits such as less anxiety, flexibility, and improved sleeping to name a few (Scott, 2018). Yacoub adds: “I was unconscious of my body. If I ever go back there with this mentality, things would change.”
References:
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/news/uae-health/over-training-could-be-taking-a-toll-on-your-health
https://www.nfpt.com/blog/exercise-lower-raise-cortisol-levels
https://www.timeoutdubai.com/sportandoutdoor/
features/65329-how-to-avoid-injury-and-overtraining
https://www.yogajournal.com/practice-section/upside-down
https://www.arabianbusiness.com/lifestyle/wellness/
377764-business-of-fitness-uaes-380m-exercise-industry-enters-new-cycle
https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/6466/9-signs-of-overtraining
https://www.verywellmind.com/the-benefits-of-yoga-for-stress-management-3145205
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