Stop asking why. Start asking why not.

When someone says, “You have to do the famous Dubai flying dress experience,” my brain doesn’t think…That sounds lovely.

It thinks… How can I make it different?!

And that’s how I ended up deadlifting in a huge pink flying dress in the Dubai desert!

This one wasn’t planned.

I’d already lifted outside at –23°C in the Arctic and on volcanic rock in Lanzarote at +23°C. Dubai was around 45°C, so naturally I wondered whether I could lift in that too. Considering I DISLIKE hot weather and am a cold weather gal.

Tim at GymFit Out Dubai loved the idea and supplied an Olympic barbell and plates, even delivering them to my hotel. What a legend, thank you.

At 5am, hair and make-up done by a fabulous professional make up artist, we then headed into the desert. Then came the small matter of carrying the weights, photographic equipment and enormous dress about 200 metres across the sand.

I was sweating before we’d even started.

But standing on the base of that dune, barbell at my feet and metres of pink fabric flying behind me, I realised this little lifting experiment has become about something bigger.

Sometimes we spend far too long asking why?

I’ve become far more interested in asking… Why not?