The daring and creative Sheikh

“Sheikh Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al Thani, a member of the Qatar royal family, one can define him as a creative and talented individual who juggles a hectic lifestyle. He talks to Rabi’ah. M about reaching Mount Everest, his secrets for staying fit and why sports are an important part of our life”

 

Words: Rabi’ah. M

For Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al Thani, a member of the Qatar royal family staying fit and healthy is a key priority. Career wise, he is a successful entrepreneur, a youth motivational speaker; a Goodwill Ambassador of Reach Out To Asia (ROTA); a private non-profit organization, based in Doha, Qatar that raises funds to uplift Asia and parts of the Middle East, a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) and a member of the Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP).

The young Sheikh is best known for his successful mountaineering ventures where he embarked on his “Seven highest mountains Challenge” back in 2009. As he explains: “I climbed the highest Summit on each of the seven continents during a period of eight years. I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa twice, Mont Blanc followed by the others.” He was inspired to get into sports and fitness back in 2009 , as he describes the trip to Nepal: “After a hiking and photography trip with friends to Nepal Base Camp in 2009, I was struck by the beauty and splendor of the surrounding glorious mountain peaks, each with its own shape, characteristics and majesty, so I was inspired by the majesty of the mountains and I decided that I wanted to pursue my dream to scale the highest summits of the Seven continents of the world and I accomplished this dream. I follow a strict protein and complex carbohydrates diet 3 months before each climb and the diet is accompanied by daily heavy weight lifting and aerobic exercises.”

His secret for a healthy lifestyle basically consists of staying active at all times, having small portions of protein meals, for muscle building, eating slowly and drinking plenty of high quality water. Considering his hectic lifestyle where he balances being an entrepreneur and carrying out different business commitments, it is essential to maintain a sense of balance, Sheikh Mohamed manages to do this through time management and allocating time for work, business family, travel and socializing.

Whilst mountaineering has been synonymous with Sheikh Mohamed for being his passion, however he likes to engage in different sporting activities for remaining fit and unleashing stress, as he points: “I do them to unleash the stress, for fitness, preparedness for my mountaineering trips and for health reasons, as with high intensity exercising and sports, the levels of dopamine raise only after a few minutes of exercising. This will make you happier, more focused and alert and the more you train, the more dopamine will be released.

 

Perhaps one of the most dangerous sport he has ever experienced is climbing the Mount Everest as he recalls: “Climbing Mount Everest death zone where the levels of oxygen are very low and there isn’t enough oxygen for humans to breathe. This is usually above 8,000 meters (26,247 feet). Most of the +200 climbers who have passed away on Mount Everest lost their lives in the death zone.”

An avid supporter of staying active, Sheikh Mohamed strongly encourages one to practice the sport they are most passionate about which one can carry out regularly, he describes the importance of doing so: “Physical activity is very important for the brain to function well, for health, shape, stamina and for succeeding at work, family and life.”

So has he participated in marathons? He explains he has been running in several events to enjoy running with a group of friends. He has also skied “the last degree” to the South Pole. As for fitness and health tips he would like to share with our readers, he goes on to explain: “Food is the fuel of the body. In order to reach your fitness goals, you must have plenty of nutrition through fresh foods preferably locally produced, follow a balanced diet of complex carbohydrates, complete proteins, polyunsaturated fats including oily fish, a good source of vitamins A and D, and rich in omega-3 fatty acids and drinking plenty of high quality water such as Voss, bottled at an artesian source in Southern Norway producing a naturally pure water or Fiji Natural artesian water from the Fiji Islands.”

If you wish to see more of his adventures, follow his blog: http://moealthani.com/

Written By Rabi’ah, AllandAbout.com