Meet the Faces Competing at ELFIT Reebok's Finals

The most talked about and anticipated fitness event in Egypt is nearing its end. Since its launch in 2013, ELFIT Reebok has been the number one Egyptian leading fitness competition, drawing out yearly crowds of fitness fiends to compete and just enjoy some sporty fun in the sun. Brought to you by In The Zone sports its overarching aim is to promote healthier lifestyles – which we could all use a bit more of.

ELFIT Reebok has been making waves as Cairo’s go-to fitness competition, redefining everything we know about sports and pushing yourself to the limit, and the competition surrounding it thus far has been nothing short of fierce with many teams taking their practicing habits and competition to the next level.

We went behind the scenes to speak to some of the competitors from all the different teams; they took us into their world of daily practice habits and routines, what sets them apart from the competition, what sets it apart and why people take competing at it very, very seriously.

Returning for its third season, the competition involves a series of drills that test athletes' strength, endurance, speed, agility and more. None of which we have but the healthy, athletic humans who join ELFIT have them in spades. With the preliminaries and semi-finals stages now complete, there’s one last hurrah this weekend where they determine who is the best of the best.

We spoke to some of the competitors to hear about their routine, how they practice, and where they think they rank amongst their competitors. First up was Issam Ali who was been in the competition every year for the past three years since it started, and despite being a seasoned and experienced partaker in the competition he still thinks that “the best player wins.” He believes however, that teamwork plays a crucial role; “it's according to the team players and their cooperation and how well they play that the winners will emerge.” The fitness expert added that, “I think our team, Cross Fit Machine, might have a little bit of attention because we’ve participated in this competition for several years and so we’ve become more well known.”

Another person competing is Omar Taalab part of the Samia Alouba trainers team. “We're all trainers and we started preparing very early for this year’s competition - right after the last one ended,” he explains, “We have a whole team for the event, and before we're done we create small-scale fitness games in our branch in October city to be able to choose the team that will participate. We came in second place in the last ELFIT competition, so we are trying to make it to the first place in the men's category this year, not in the mixed category.” Why did they stray away from the mixed team this time around? “We wanted to try out a new type of challenge and as you know the men’s category has a higher competition level and can be more difficult and challenging so we wanted to try it out.”

Victoria from Ukraine is another seasoned ELFIT participant currently competing on her third ELFIT. With her defiantly sure attitude she said she and her team have a good shot at winning in their category this year. Regardless of the competitors, their teams and backstories, they all seem to have a positive yet serious attitude in regards to their participation in the competition. Ashraf Gnaina from Fit Factory Team is participating in the men's category, “We exercise everyday with Captain Haytham Mahgoub and he gives use both a personal and a team program. It's one of the best events that takes place in Egypt and we always participate in it and get high rankings,” he tells us.

With the finals taking place this weekend in the midst of a giant festival that will appeal to anyone who enjoys a little activity in the sunshine, make sure you head over to Katameya Sporting Club (Petro sport) in New Cairo and see these top athletes fight it out for the first prize.

Keep up to date with everything ELFIT on their Facebook page here.