Fighting Fit DXB is a reality tv show about UAE residents being put through their paces, in an eight-week stint; being taught how to box, and ending up in the ring at the end of the eight weeks. 

The idea of it is a little scary for some, exhilarating for others and questionable for more. 

As a former participant of the show, I implore you, to apply. 

Fighting Fit DXB changed my life

In 2015, I flippantly put my name on a list of applicants for a reality tv show – for work. My boss told me to go down and check out the auditions for a news story, so I applied to get the inside edge on the story. 

Recommended

Someone Went Around Rating Hand Sanitisers Around Dubai And The Results Are InUAE Volunteers Are Stepping Up And Sharing Their Journey From The COVID Vaccine TrialsA Dubai Teen Will Run Four Hours Every Week In A Passionate Plea To Get Support For Climate Change

A few days later, I got a call from a producer, asking me more about myself. I was taken aback, but never one to shy away from stories, I chatted away about my life, my struggles, my aims and my general day. I didn’t think much of it. 

At the auditions (free workout, winner! I thought), I got asked a bit more about myself – why did I want to get in shape? I was sheepish about my weight, I had spiraled out of control with eating and drinking and thought the 10-minute walk from my house to the metro was enough exercise. 

Before I knew it

I was in, I’d been allocated a gym and a team, and had committed to an eight-week intensive boxing training course, and was being punched in the face for the first time in my life.

It was shocking at first, being punched. I didn’t like it. I cried. I fell over. I curled up in a ball and begged my coach to let me stop. But the coaches, and my team didn’t let me stop. They made me keep going. 

Boxing may seem violent or gruesome 

And sure, there’s the occasional nose-bleed, but it’s rewarding. It is just you, in the ring – there’s nothing to hide behind, nowhere to run, and it forces you to dig deep and find the courage, to walk forward into head-on punches and keep moving. 

Before I knew it, I was hooked 

I was excited to get in the ring, to have my turn. To get in and have a go, throw some punches, take some punches. I became obsessed, I loved it. All I could talk about was boxing. I felt alive. 

I was losing weight, getting stronger, faster and fitter. And my mental state was stronger than I’d ever felt. I learnt to block out the negative voice in my head – the one that told me to quit at the start. I pushed myself harder than I’d ever pushed before. 

I was proud of my first nosebleed

The show allows you to rediscover yourself 

You learn so much more about what you are capable of – there were mornings I cried because the punches hurt. 

There were mornings I ran out of the ring and my coaches shouted at me to get back in. There were days were I literally fell over, and didn’t want to get back up. 

But there were also days were I couldn’t believe how lucky I was, to get this opportunity – to run through Wadi Adventure in a competition, do a 42-flight stair-climb at Media One, to participate in a free two-month intensive training programme, and make new friends, and got to have a whole team of people invested in my training, my fight, and my wellbeing. 

The stairclimb at Media One was one of the toughest

I also lost nearly 7kg in eight weeks

Fighting Fight DXB taught me how to fight, inside and outside the ring

It taught me how to pick myself up, dust myself off, and get back in there, in boxing, in training and in life. 

And it will do the same for you. 

Apply via social media using the hashtag #IcanIhaveIam