Duo’s fitness resolution: 20 years and counting
abu dhabi — In a country battling lifestyle diseases, a sexagenarian duo is giving life lessons on fitness to Abu Dhabi residents with their daily regime of 5-6km schedule on Abu Dhabi Corniche.
The expats — a doctor and an engineer from Kerala — claim they have been jogging, walking and exercising every day for more than 20 years, and have successfully fended away lifestyle diseases.
“This is our fitness regime for past 21 years. In a week, our outdoors schedule is for five days, one day is for exercising at home and Friday is for rest. I am keeping fit with this routine,” said Dr M.V. Rajan, a specialist internal medicine at the NMC Specialty Hospital Abu Dhabi.
Rajan is an Abu Dhabi resident for more than 30 years. He used to always exercise but it was only after nine years of stay in the Capital that Rajan started following a proper daily routine.
“I found a good friend in K. Shekaran and we had similar views on fitness. From then onwards, we started morning walks without fail. Between 5am to 6.30pm, we will do multiple rounds of a section of Corniche, exercise for 30 minutes and finish with a final round of walk. We cover 5-6km daily.”
Many health benefits
The duo used to jog for 15 years and now do brisk walking. “We used to walk on Old Corniche. We had more people walking then than now. It could be that there are more avenues to walk now,” he said about a fitness trend.
The doctor said a daily fitness
the elderly duo walks 5-6km daily between 5am and 6.30pm.
schedule helps to control blood pressure, diabetes, bad cholesterol, weight, sugar levels etc.
According to the International Diabetes Federation in 2017, 17.3 per cent of the UAE’s population between the age of 20 and 79 years got Type 2 diabetes. “Importantly breathing exercise makes you very fresh and prepares you for the day ahead. I recommend such a regime to all my patients and I am sure many are following it,” Rajan said.
And it is mostly Shekaran who wakes up Rajan in the morning. “I call doctor by 4.45am and by 5.10am we start walking. Apart from walking, we also do yoga and breathing exercises for 15 minutes.
“I had issues of spondylitis and used to visit hospital too often. I also had problem with blood pressure. It is this fitness schedule that has helped me fight such discomforts. We two walk together for five days and if I get time, I walk on rest days too,” said Shekaran, who has completed 42 years in Abu Dhabi. “Spending 90 minutes or so for your own body helps your daily work routine and health too,” Shekaran added.