Okay, heat lovers. We are still here — savouring those traffic-free mornings, air conditioning turned all the way up, fully committed to the Dubai summer. It is that season when renewing your gym membership feels mildly delusional, and the building gym only makes sense at 6 am — because anyone who was training outdoors has long since retreated inside for the next few months.

So how exactly are we supposed to squeeze in our daily steps when there is a queue three deep for the treadmill — and walking outside feels like a fever dream?

Don't throw anything at me. I mean it. Put the pillow down.

I am still going to say: outside. After sunset, obviously.

And since I needed proof this isn't completely insane, I called Karen Beyrouty — artist, content creator and founder of walking community Club After Six. These are the routes she keeps coming back to even during Dubai's heat — with a little extra motivation thrown in for good measure.

A quick personal note before moving to the main part.

For a long time, I struggled to catch the treadmill free at our building gym. Eventually, I gave up and bought one for our apartment instead: 500 AED for the treadmill, 400 AED for a height-adjustable desk, a few books to get the setup just right — and suddenly I could walk while working and work while walking. Problem solved. Honestly, it remains one of the best little life hacks I have invested in.

Because of that, I never seriously considered outdoor walks during a Dubai summer. Then I spoke to Karen and decided to give one a try.

I survived. I was immediately rewarded by my WHOOP for a "good late walk" and, more importantly, enjoyed it.

So if outdoor walking still sounds like a step too far even after reading this article, I can wholeheartedly recommend the treadmill setup — it is absolutely worth every dirham you could spend. But if you have been looking for a gentle nudge to give an evening walk a chance, consider this it. It worked for me, and it might just work for you too.

Okay, so what do we have in Karen's case?

Given:

6–7 walks a week, with around 10,000 steps per walk — roughly 7–8 kilometres or about 1 hour and 20 minutes each time.

No power walking, no racing against the clock and no attempts to turn it into a workout. Quite the opposite, in fact, as Karen often heads out in a pair of slippers rather than running shoes (not as a recommendation, but simply to illustrate how she approaches these walks). For her, they are less about exercise and more about creating a moment of calm: part movement, part meditation.

Duration:

Six months. To be fair, she has been walking for much longer than that, but six months was the easiest period to track and compare.

Results:

The famous 10,000-step target actually started as a marketing campaign. Ahead of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, a Japanese company launched a pedometer called the "10,000-Step Meter", and the number stuck.

The good news? Research later showed that the idea itself was sound. Scientists now believe there is nothing magical about 10,000 specifically — for many adults, the biggest benefits appear somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 daily steps.

And yes, those benefits are real. Regular walking supports cardiovascular health, improves sleep, increases daily calorie expenditure and can help with weight management. Some experts even prefer it to running for that purpose: while running burns more calories per minute, walking is easier to sustain and tends to create fewer post-workout cravings.

A good walking route isn't simply a place where you can walk. By that logic, the tiny park next to your building qualifies too. So here we are looking for somewhere you can actually chip away at those 10,000 steps without doing endless laps, preferably with a decent coffee waiting at the end.

Here are Karen Beyrouty's favourites:

1. Business Bay Canal

If Karen had to pick just one route, this would be it. Most people know the canal. Far fewer have actually experienced it after dark.

During the day it is busy and too hot. At night, something shifts. The water picks up the city lights, the crowds thin out and the whole place becomes — rather unexpectedly — quite peaceful. Almost civilised, really.

And then there is the bonus that, during a Dubai summer, frankly trumps almost everything else: the humidity is surprisingly bearable.

Coffee and snack stops:

2. Meydan (Sobha Hartland Area)

If Business Bay is city energy with its collar still on, Meydan is its considerably more relaxed cousin who moved to the countryside and never looked back.

Karen specifically recommends the area around Sobha Hartland — tree-lined streets, smaller cafés, residential walkways, and a noticeable absence of anyone in a particular hurry. On a good evening, it barely feels like Dubai at all.

Coffee and snack stops:

3. Jumeirah: Canal to Beach

This is the route where the scenery does the entertaining. You start at the canal around Orto, work your way through residential streets, and before you have hit thirty minutes on the clock the sea is already in front of you. By the time you reach Kite Beach, it genuinely feels like you have walked through three different cities.

For anyone who gets bored walking the same stretch on repeat, this one is hard to beat.

Coffee stop:

4. The area around 3Fils

Most people know 3Fils for the food. Considerably fewer seem to have noticed the rather lovely walking route sitting right outside the door.

The restaurant sits beside a small harbour lined with boats, and from there you can continue along the waterfront into one of Dubai's quieter coastal stretches — the kind that makes you briefly forget you are in one of the busiest cities on earth.

Snack stop:

5. Dubai Mall

It may not sound particularly glamorous, but when you are genuinely trying to hit 10,000 steps in the middle of a Dubai summer, the Mall starts looking more appealing than you would expect.

Coffee and snack stops:

The big update: Club After Six has gone on its summer break as of the June 10 — and there is a fair reason for it. The heat, as we have established, isn't universally manageable.

Worth noting: this year, the break came a month later than usual. In 2025, the club wrapped up at the end of May — so making it through June already feels like a small victory.

And it isn't going quiet entirely. Karen is putting together social content throughout the summer to keep the community moving — just enough to help everyone stay active and connected until September, when the walks are expected to resume.

So keep an eye on Club After Six for upcoming activities.