Two bankers, one pilot and a law student are the Emirati owners of behind Abu Dhabi’s first CrossFit gym, Code CrossFit. We speak to Mohammed Al Tamimi, a 30-year-old Etihad pilot and a CrossFit Level 1 trainer, about the hard-core venture.
How and when did you get involved in CrossFit?
I got involved and started CrossFit three years ago. I used to read about it, but I’m proud to say that the person behind introducing me to it is Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed Al Maktoum – we met in 2002 when I was training with Gulf Air. From that time onwards, he has always been supporting and motivating me, not only to be fitter but also to be knowledgable about fitness and CrossFit in particular.
Why open a CrossFit gym in Abu Dhabi?
Abu Dhabi is the capital of UAE and it’s a shame not to see a CrossFit box open or people knowing about it there. Additionally, since I work in Abu Dhabi, I thought it will be more convenient if I open in the city since I usually had to drive all the way to Dubai to do my workouts. In the meantime, my friends and co-founders, Marwan Nabil Abdul Ghafar (27, manager of corporate banking at HSBC), Mansoor Nabil Abdul Ghafar (25, assistant manager of business banking at HSBC) and Mohammed Khalid Abdul Ghafar (24, student at Duke University law school) – who, by the way, are all holders of CF-Level 1 certificates and have been CrossFit enthusiasts for more than two years – were thinking of opening their own box in Dubai, so after discussing opening in Abu Dhabi with them, we agreed on opening it here because there is higher potential to spread and influence others.
What kinds of people does CrossFit attract?
CrossFit is for everyone: old, young, kids, fat and thin. As CrossFit always says, exercise is varied by degree not by kind. For example, you could be old and squat without weights, or do dead lifts (like picking up a bag from the ground). Additionally, CrossFit is a mixture of functional (natural and useful) movements, which you do daily using body weight or extra weights. And overall it’s fun in the end.
Why is there a large, horned vomiting creature on the wall?
Mr Pukie is a CrossFit symbol in every box, and basically if you do CrossFit for the first time, most likely you’ll meet him. It’s a fun character, which I think you try to avoid by getting fitter and working hard.
• Code CrossFit is located in Danat Tower B, behind the Holiday Inn near 31st Street and Muroor Road. The gym offers mixed and ladies-only classes daily from 6am to 9pm, from Sunday to Thursday, with two classes on Saturday. The first class is free, with prices of Dh120 for a walk-in and packages starting at Dh850 for eight sessions. Call 050 297 5222 or email codemcrossfit@gmail.com for more information
amcqueen@thenational.ae
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
KEY DATES IN AMAZON'S HISTORY
July 5, 1994: Jeff Bezos founds Cadabra Inc, which would later be renamed to Amazon.com, because his lawyer misheard the name as 'cadaver'. In its earliest days, the bookstore operated out of a rented garage in Bellevue, Washington
July 16, 1995: Amazon formally opens as an online bookseller. Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought becomes the first item sold on Amazon
1997: Amazon goes public at $18 a share, which has grown about 1,000 per cent at present. Its highest closing price was $197.85 on June 27, 2024
1998: Amazon acquires IMDb, its first major acquisition. It also starts selling CDs and DVDs
2000: Amazon Marketplace opens, allowing people to sell items on the website
2002: Amazon forms what would become Amazon Web Services, opening the Amazon.com platform to all developers. The cloud unit would follow in 2006
2003: Amazon turns in an annual profit of $75 million, the first time it ended a year in the black
2005: Amazon Prime is introduced, its first-ever subscription service that offered US customers free two-day shipping for $79 a year
2006: Amazon Unbox is unveiled, the company's video service that would later morph into Amazon Instant Video and, ultimately, Amazon Video
2007: Amazon's first hardware product, the Kindle e-reader, is introduced; the Fire TV and Fire Phone would come in 2014. Grocery service Amazon Fresh is also started
2009: Amazon introduces Amazon Basics, its in-house label for a variety of products
2010: The foundations for Amazon Studios were laid. Its first original streaming content debuted in 2013
2011: The Amazon Appstore for Google's Android is launched. It is still unavailable on Apple's iOS
2014: The Amazon Echo is launched, a speaker that acts as a personal digital assistant powered by Alexa
2017: Amazon acquires Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, its biggest acquisition
2018: Amazon's market cap briefly crosses the $1 trillion mark, making it, at the time, only the third company to achieve that milestone
