A participant enthrals the crowd with dance moves in Dubai.

The Dubai Fitness Challenge (DFC) has been stepped up several notches in this third edition, as Dubai transforms into the world’s first and only city gym starting this weekend – from Oct.18 to Nov.16.

Offering Dubai residents new and exciting ways to be “In It, Together” and commit to 30 minutes of physical activity for 30 days, this all-inclusive fitness movement launched in 2017 by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, promises to bring health, wellness and active life to all its people.

Returning to this year’s edition are two flagship Fitness Villages at Festival City Mall and Kite Beach, supplemented by 10 community-focused Fitness Hubs, over 40 fitness events and more than 5,000 fitness and health programmes spread across the city.

Furthermore, to truly inspire sustained shifts towards an active and healthier lifestyle, DFC will introduce new elements including the ‘City is a Gym’ activation and the ‘Find Your 30’ virtual content hub, and a wider range of health and wellness programmes, extending the appeal to more segments, and making it even easier for all to complete their 30 minutes of daily exercise.

DFC is set to spring the city into action with a jam-packed calendar of fitness and wellness events, classes and sessions throughout the month, to ensure there is something of interest for all communities, ages, abilities and fitness levels.

Going a step beyond physical events, DFC this year has created new ways for the city to participate in the Challenge.

‘Find Your 30’, a new virtual platform on the DFC website, provides a multitude of a freely accessible content in easy-to-digest formats including articles, videos, vlogs, podcasts and daily challenges, amongst others. The library reflects the Challenge’s 360-degree approach to health and wellness – spanning highly relevant topics like social health, stress management, nutrition and preventive medicine to complement an extensive repository of fitness-based content.

The ‘Find Your 30’ platform will be continually updated and remain online beyond DFC for all participants and registered subscribers.

Another new addition to 2019 Dubai Fitness Challenge is ‘City is a Gym’ – a personal training buddy that takes Dubai’s commitment to fitness to a whole new level, manifesting as a virtual map that highlights 30 free workout zones at different venues across the city.

Each location has a bright locator that houses a special QR code, which upon scanning, takes participants to a 30-minute video unique to that location.