Profile - Gena Nicole Lawday

On 23rd September, I participated in the "Fittest Trainer in Dubai" competition. It was billed the first of its kind in the UAE, and an opportunity for the REPS registered trainers of Dubai to show off a little.

Qualifying was a piece of cake. All you had to do was a few plyometrics in under 60 seconds. Easy.

The challenge itself was pretty, well, challenging. It started with a 1.5 km run at 5%, which for most Gym Athletes, should be a piece of cake, since we are used to the dreaded 10%! And this was the event I felt the most confident in, as running at an incline is an area of passion for me. That being said: I got smoked by the other girls in my heat. One of the girls (the eventual winner) came out, pounded that out in 6 minutes. Simply  amazing.

I'd paced myself on the run strategically to be able to finish the challenge. Funnily enough, the rest of the challenge seemed so easy, so I think I paced myself too conservatively. I'd built the rest of it up so much. It consisted of press ups, box jumps, 20 kg shuttle run and then boxing bag flips. I'd never done boxing bag flips, and didn't have access to a boxing bag, so I did not know what to expect. But they were very easy and practically a recovery set. It all ended with a 500 m row and 20 of the worst squat thrusts ever seen.

All in all, it was a great experience. I struggle with nerves when I compete, and I definitely felt it on the run. While I did poorly in my heat (3rd of 4), overall, I finished 5th in the women, and in an interesting twist, would have been 10th in men's (they had twice as many competitors). I would have qualified for the finals, alas, I had a wedding to go to and made the decision not to stay. I definitely felt that the training I've completed with the Gym Challenges helped loads. Next year though, I'll be going much more prepared and having had a solid year of training and anticipate being a solid contender!

Well done to World Gym Challenge Gym Athlete - Gena Nicole Lawday