The Doha Corniche is one of the major destinations for people who wish to get fit by jogging or simply brisk walking. PICS: RAYNALD C RIVERA/THE PENINSULA
At 4am, the skies over Doha are pitch black and the city is still asleep but Alfred is already wide awake.
Only the yellow glow emitted by the lampposts lights up his path as he makes his way to Najma Park.
He wipes the sweat dripping down his forehead; his heart beats faster while his strides turn shorter and swifter.
Early morning brisk walks have been an integral part of Alfred’s daily routine which, he says, boost his energy making him feel better and healthier considering the nature of his work.
“My job as an accountant requires that I stay in the office, and most of the time I just sit in front of my computer. It can be both boring and risky healthwise, that’s why, over a year ago, I decided to see to it that I start my day with regular walks,” he relates.
The COVID-19 pandemic, however, halted his daily walks for several months, but after a brief hiatus he resumed after restrictions had been relaxed three months ago.
Amid the enormous health challenges posed by the pandemic, medical experts recommend moderate-intensity exercises to achieve a healthy life, a good example of which is brisk walking.
“I started doing 30-minute walks five days a week. Now I scaled it up to one hour and I’ve never felt healthier. Of course, I always try my best to eat healthy every day to fully achieve a healthy body,” said Alfred.
With regular brisk walking comes a multitude of benefits which extend to diabetics as well as it has been scientifically proven to decrease blood sugar, improve cardiovascular fitness and control weight.
“My has doctor advised me to do some exercise to lower my blood sugar, and I opted for brisk walking which has been very effective for me,” said Shafeeq, a diabetic who rarely fails to have his routine walks every day.
Amid the pandemic, he said there’s nothing to be anxious about “as long as you follow all the precautionary measures suggested by experts and authorities, and keeping a safe distance from other people is one of the most important while walking.”
Safety is foremost to Shafeeq that’s why, like Alfred, he takes his daily walks early in the morning when there are very few people walking at the park.
Every morning, the 39-year-old engineer by trade has set a target number of steps from his house to the park, where he completes several laps, and back.
“I used to walk 7,000 to 8,000 steps daily months ago before the pandemic, but in the past three months I exceed 12,000 steps daily,” he said, expressing satisfaction on the effectiveness of his routine as reflected in the improved results of his blood tests.
For a change, Shafeeq sometimes visits the Doha Corniche for his walks specially during weekends.
“Good thing about Qatar is that it offers many options to walk around to get fit and healthy with the many locations it has developed such as Al Bidda Park, Aspire Park, and the Doha Corniche just to name a few,” he said lauding the various facilities that can be found in the parks.
There are around 95 parks in Qatar, majority of which can be found in Doha.
There are a total of 38 parks located in Doha, followed by Al Rayyan which is home to 29 parks, Umm Salal with five parks and Al Sheehaniya with three parks.
With their long winding clean concrete footpaths, the well-maintained beautifully manicured parks around the country also serve as good motivation for people like Alfred and Shafeeq to engage in fitness activities.
On how he consistently wakes up every morning to take his walks, Alfred says it’s a matter of commitment and setting priorities.
“In hindsight, I’ve never imagined I would be able to achieve what I have, but based on my experience I realized that as long as a person is determined he will be able to do whatever he puts his mind into,” he said while he waves to another person walking at the park.
“We have built a sort of community of walkers here. There was a time when I wasn’t able to visit the park to have my morning walks for a couple of days because I was quite busy at work and that person asked me where I was. It feels good that we have become familiar seeing each other every morning that we look after each other even though we don’t personally know one another,” he said.
With the daily struggles brought about by the pandemic, improvement in one’s sleep and relieving anxiety are some of the many benefits of walking according to some experts, while others say walking can also potentially spark one’s creativity.
