After more than three months of being closed, gyms in Abu Dhabi have started welcoming members back to their premises.
From July 1, gyms around the capital began opening their doors; but the fitness facilities look very different to how they did before they closed in March.
Reopening came with a list of conditions from the government. Visitors and instructors must adhere to social distancing of at least two metres, carry sanitiser and train alone if they are not taking part in a group session.
The rules also state that all guests and staff should have their temperature taken before and during training sessions, and wear masks and gloves at all times.
Dubai gyms were allowed to reopen at the end of May, and some are now back to 100 per cent capacity, however, health and safety measures remain in place.
Here are some of the measures being taken at Abu Dhabi’s most popular gyms:
Abu Dhabi Country Club
The facility, which has five studios for classes and one for cycling, reopened on Wednesday, with a limited class schedule.
Programming has been arranged to keep a two-hour gap between classes – if they are in the same studio – so that proper sanitisation can be completed.
Capacity is capped at 50 per cent, with gym-goers asked to stand three metres apart through stickers on the floor. The cycling studio's 80 bikes have been reduced to 30, with riders also spaced three metres from one another.
Instructors will be tested for Covid-19 twice a month and temperature checks will take place for everyone. Those attending classes are asked to arrive 30 minutes prior and must wear gloves and masks at all times. However, during a class, participants are allowed to pull their mask down to their chin, but need to pull it back up once the class is done. Locker rooms and showers will be closed.
Haddins Fitness
The popular Zayed Sports City gym will reopen on Sunday, with a mix of scheduled classes and open gym time. Both classes and the open gym will have a capacity limited to 16 people, and booking in advance is essential. This can be done via the app for members, and by calling or emailing Haddins for non-members.
Inside the gym, deep cleaning and disinfection will take place during a 30-minute gap between classes, and equipment will be single-use and must not be shared between classes. As per guidelines, everyone will be required to wear a mask and maintain a two-metre distance.
The Room
This facility, also based in Zayed Sports City, will reopen on Sunday, with a new class schedule and a number of new safety measures in place, including capped class sizes to allow adequate space between members as they work out. For yoga and Pilates, classes will be capped at eight, while for Pump, Shape, Zumba and Spin, sessions will take place in a bigger studio and will be capped at 14. Reformer classes will be limited to four. Class times will also be reduced from one hour to 45 minutes, to allow for enough time to deep-clean between sessions.
The gym has also gone cashless, meaning all classes will need to be booked and paid for in advance.
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Dubai gyms reopen:
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Vogue Fitness
The Yas Island gym reopened its doors on Wednesday to welcome its members back after more than 100 days of closure. It will be operating a strict three-phase reopening plan, which will begin by allowing eight people in a class at any one time. All members will be required to adhere to the government’s PPE rule, as well as have their temperatures checked upon entry to the gym.
Both classes and open gym sessions will require booking in advance, and the sharing of equipment will not be permitted. There will be spaced-out designated workout zones on the floor to ensure the mandatory two-metre distance rule is adhered to.
Classes will be limited to 45 minutes, to allow for enough time to deep-clean between sessions.
Bodytree Studio
The yoga studio will reopen on Sunday. It has made a number of amendments to its classes and ways of working to ensure it adheres to government guidelines and its members remain safe.
All classes will need to be booked in advance and no walk-ins will be accepted. Classes will also be scheduled to start at least 15 minutes apart, to avoid crowding in the reception area. Reservations will open on a Thursday for classes the following week, and will be allotted on a first come, first served basis.
All staff and members will be required to follow PPE guidelines and have their temperature checked upon arrival, and all equipment will be deep-cleaned after use. Guests are asked to wear Pilates socks for all equipment classes, as well as bring their own mat and towel.
F45 Zayed Sports City
The circuit gym will reopen on Friday. It has switched up its format so that all members will complete their workout within a fixed station, meaning they will not share equipment or move freely around the gym.
Class times have been amended to allow for deep cleaning between sessions, with a 30-minute break. The gym is adhering to government policy and operating at 50 per cent capacity, while ensuring all staff and members undergo regular temperature checks, wear masks and use hand sanitiser.
All members should bring their own water and towels, and classes will need to be booked in advance, with a strict three-hour cancellation window in place. F45 will also be replacing its signature end-of-session high five with feet kicks.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Funk Wav Bounces Vol.1
Calvin Harris
Columbia
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Contracted list
Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine, Matt Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye.
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
'Midnights'
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Honeymoonish
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
2019 Asian Cup final
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Friday, 6pm
Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
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