It's the end of my fourth week on the Lower Back Fix programme at Iconic Fitness in Dubai Marina and, if you've been following previous instalments, you'll be aware that there have been a few bumps along the way. That said, I've begun to notice increases in my strength and stamina, and Mrs H is starting to see improvements in my physique. She's a firm believer in brutal honesty, so for her to say I'm getting slimmer is a big deal.
However, it’s time to get on the scales in front of my coach, Hannes Loubser, and let him loose with his pincers and tape measure for some factual evidence of my progress – or lack thereof – over the past month. My first measurements were enough to shock me into action – my sedate existence over most of my 46 years has resulted in me being out of shape, unfit and experiencing horrible pains in my lower back. My waist-to-hip-ratio was 1:1, putting me in what Loubser refers to as a “high-risk health category”, as this measurement is a reliable indicator of overall health. Ideally it should be 0.8:1.
He prods, pinches and measures, writing numbers in a book that he then puts into a computer programme that works everything out. He says the areas he's targeting on my torso with his pincers, which squeeze the skin and measure the amount of fat under it, will give the "worst possible results", which he'd rather go by than some areas that tend to paint a rosier picture.
The news, he says, is excellent. Despite the recent setback, there was good consistency for the rest of the month and he says the results might have been even better if I'd had an unbroken run at it. Anyway, some numbers:
My chest circumference has decreased by 1cm to 116cm, which is half of what it should ideally have done. My waist is down by 4cm, which is more than expected, and my hip measurement is down 2cm, which is in line with what Loubser said would be ideal. This means my WHR has dropped by 0.02 but that's still not enough for me to be out of the danger zone.
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Read more of Kevin's fitness journey:
From fat to fit: Staying the course when one is sick
Sorting out the diet one week at a time
Getting started with the first workout
Facing the hard truths
Sedentary with sciatica, it’s time for a fitness fix
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Thighs? Those squats are paying off, as they’ve grown by 3cm to 58cm, while my calves have (unusually) dropped by a centimetre to 36cm each. My biceps, in a relaxed state, have decreased by 3cm but remain the same when flexed. “That’s great news,” says Loubser. “The difference in relaxed-to-flexed is increased, which means your strength is up and you can recruit more muscle fibres. More muscle fibre recruitment means higher potential lean mass gains and this in turn increases your metabolism, which is a challenge for any middle-aged man. A higher metabolism means faster weight loss and more consistent health.”
As for my weight, I've put on 400g. "But as I've mentioned so many times before, you can't just look at the scale," he says, knowing I'll be miffed about it. "The lean mass, body fat and desired fat loss will tell us the whole story."
My body fat percentage is down by 2.61 to 27.99 per cent, which Loubser says is an ideal amount of loss for a month's training, while my lean mass has gone up by three per cent to 69.12. "That's almost 3kg of muscle mass gain. This is why you have lost centimetres but the weight on the scale hasn't changed.
This is a lot of muscle gain in a short time – you have reacted well.
"I need to mention, though, that one cannot increase 3kg every month. This number will decrease, so its important we increase the discipline of healthy eating habits and increase your training intensity. You have gained a lot of muscle mass because your body isn't used to training, so it's 'made up for lost time' in a sense," Loubser explains.
So, in summary, I weigh more than before I started, but I need to lose 3kg less fat. These numbers show that hard work does pay off, after all, and that it isn't too late for me to get from fat to fit.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH DETAILS
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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.
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WandaVision
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany
Directed by: Matt Shakman
Rating: Four stars
Company profile
Name: Fruitful Day
Founders: Marie-Christine Luijckx, Lyla Dalal AlRawi, Lindsey Fournie
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2015
Number of employees: 30
Sector: F&B
Funding so far: Dh3 million
Future funding plans: None at present
Future markets: Saudi Arabia, potentially Kuwait and other GCC countries
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.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Fringe@Four Line-up
October 1 - Phil Nichol (stand-up comedy)
October 29 - Mandy Knight (stand-up comedy)
November 5 - Sinatra Raw (Fringe theatre)
November 8 - Imah Dumagay & Sundeep Fernandes (stand-up comedy)
November 13 - Gordon Southern (stand-up comedy)
November 22 - In Loyal Company (Fringe theatre)
November 29 - Peter Searles (comedy / theatre)
December 5 - Sinatra’s Christmas Under The Stars (music / dinner show)
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The%20specs
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PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani