Saudi Gazette report

A Saudi woman who gave in to the passion of practicing a unique and branded fitness regimen CrossFit showed that she would go to any lengths to practice this sport. No social constraints or her high profile job could keep Amal Baatiya away from her passion.

Baatiya showed a single-minded purpose in practicing her sport, which is not popular in the Arabian Gulf region. She is one among the women who are ambitious to achieve their goal and reach a special place in Saudi women’s sport.

Not only was she trying to stay fit with CrossFit, but she also tried to expand the sport’s footprint with repeated positive spins in order to bring in as many of her colleagues and friends to this indoor sport and training them.

She, a mother of two (Yusuf, 12, and Malik, 7), derives support from her children’s encouraging outlook thereby allowing her to forge ahead with her passion. In addition to her passion, delving into the depth of the sport is what keeps her going, Baatiya told Okaz/Saudi Gazette.

She said her start in the sport was the result of passion and challenge. “I went to Dubai and America to take courses and attend workshops there. I traveled for a month or two just to learn the sports, and I followed up with online training classes too.”

Baatiya said as she got more involved with the sport, her long work hours began hindering her training and development in the sports so she recently resigned from her prestigious position of an investment manager to devote herself fully to sports.

Baatiya explains that CrossFit workouts incorporate elements from high-intensity interval training, Olympic weightlifting, plyometrics, powerlifting, gymnastics, and other exercises.

Having repeated successes in several races — such as her third place in a five-kilometer race, and second place in another race at KAEC — Baatiya pushed herself to further work on her dream to highlight the culture of CrossFit locally.

“I am most pleased to see the positive impact on my friends after taking up CrossFit as they pay more attention to their health and nutrition,” said Baatiya, who aspires to open her own training center in the future.

“I finally started posting videos about the sport, which prompted many girls to communicate with me and show their desire to practice the regimen in her gym.”

Baatiya attributed the scarcity of women’s gyms in the Kingdom to the lack of sufficient female cadres. She welcomed the recent decisions that facilitate licensing of women’s sports clubs and faculties of physical education in universities.

She hoped that sport would become a way of life for all Saudis, as it is a free option to become positive thereby treating depression and psychological issues.