As Tareq Abu Youssef tries to work out in his gym on makeshift bodybuilding equipment in Al-Mawasi, Gaza Strip, sweat seeps down his face, each movement taking longer than it should.
The 23-year-old Palestinian deliberately keeps his training sessions minimal, a painful reduction from the intensive routines he once loved – but in a territory where nearly everyone is starving, maintaining muscle mass has become an act of survival and resistance.
Since March, Abu Youssef said, “I have dropped 14 kilograms, from 72 kg to 58 (159lb) since then,” referring to when Israel tightened its siege by imposing strict food restrictions and closing border crossings. Working out for bodybuilders like us is one of the few ways to maintain normalcy in Gaza, he says to Al Jazeera, “but if eating has become an abnormality.”
His story reflects a broader humanitarian catastrophe: Across Gaza’s 365 square kilometres, 2.1 million Palestinians face what aid agencies describe as deliberate, weaponised hunger.
Nearly everyone in northern Gaza is experiencing “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Doctors Without Borders, known by its moniker “MSF,” has documented severe acute malnutrition cases in the Strip, describing the situation as “man-made” and purposefully imposed. The World Food Programme warns that without immediate intervention, famine will spread across all of Gaza, while millions of tonnes of aid are parked at Israel-locked border crossings.
Distribution of food and other essential items remains nearly impossible despite Israeli’s stringently restricted crossings and ongoing military operations.
Abu Youssef feels the devastating muscle loss that accounts for the physical decline of an entire population as he takes extended rest breaks between machines, which are now five times longer than before the famine started in Gaza.
“Starvation has completely affected my ability to practice my favourite sport of bodybuilding”, Abu Youssef says in a tent gym in al-Mawasi, located in Gaza’s overcrowded southern “safe zone”. “I now go for one day, sometimes two, once a week to train.” It lasted five to six days prior to the war. I’ve also reduced my training time to less than half an hour, which is less than half the required time”.
Abu Youssef now only manages 40 kg (90lb), which is devastating for any athlete given that such physical decline is becoming the norm across an entire society. He once benchpressed 90-100 kg (200-220lb).
A gym among the refugees
The temporary housing facility inside a tent in al-Mawasi, where about one million Palestinians who have fled from their homes are living in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions. Coach Adly al-Assar has used equipment from his destroyed gym in Khan Younis to construct an unlikely sanctuary amid sprawling refugee camps.
Al-Assar, a 55-year-old international powerlifting champion who won six gold medals at Arab championships in 2020-2021, managed to rescue just 10 pieces of equipment from the more than 30 destroyed when Israeli forces bombed his original facility. The tent gym, which is spread out over two uneven levels of ground, surrounded by refugee tents and sparse trees, is only 60 square meters (650 square feet).
According to al-Assar, “everything changed” during this imposed famine, with his own body weight dropping from 78 kg to 67 kg. “Athletes lost 10-15 kilograms and lost their ability to lift weights. My shoulder muscle was 40 centimeters old, but it’s now less than 35, and all other muscles have lost the same amount.
His gym used to house over 200 athletes of all ages every day before the current crisis. Now, barely 10 percent can manage to train, and only once or twice weekly.
Ali al-Azraq, 20, who had fled central Gaza during the early days of the war, is one of those regular visitors to his dorm. His weight dropped from 79 kg to 68 kg, almost entirely muscle-loss. His bench press capacity dropped from 100kg to just 30kg, back lifts from 150kg to 60kg, and shoulder work from 45kg to barely 15kg.
According to al-Azraq, “the majority of the loss occurred during the current starvation period, which started months ago and increased in the last month.” I actually only rarely consume a small serving of bread, rice, or pasta to keep me alive. But we completely lack all essential nutrients and important proteins – meat, chicken, healthy oils, eggs, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and others”.
Before moving to the United States, the unemployed young man hoped to compete in official Palestinian arm-wrestling competitions. He instead states that the current starvation is “the hardest thing we’re experiencing as Gazans,” but athletes like us are particularly impacted because we need a lot of specific, not typical food.
Trauma-based training
The tent gym, however, is more than just physical training for these athletes; it is psychological survival. Khaled Al-Bahabsa, 29, who returned to training two months ago after being injured in Israeli shelling on April 19, still carries shrapnel in his chest and body.
Sports provide psychological and physical support. Even though we were alive, we were closer to the dead, according to al-Bahabsa. “But when I returned to practice my]gym] training, I felt closer to the living than the dead, and the nightmares of genocide and hunger retreated a little”.
He was taken aback when the tents and trees surrounded the gym. I believed I had a passion for the war that made me give up. Bodybuilding isn’t just a sport – for me and many of its players, enthusiasts, and lovers – it’s life”.
More than 62, 000 people have died in the past 22 months of relentless bombardment by the Israeli military, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health, destroyed significant portions of the besieged territory, and forced the vast majority of its population to flee. In a world where food is almost indisputable, those who are still alive try to survive in dire humanitarian conditions.
Al-Assar has adapted his training methods for famine conditions, strictly instructing athletes to minimise workouts and avoid overexertion. Instead of the customary 30 seconds and one minute between sets, rest periods now extend to five minutes. No more than half of the weightlifting during pre-famine training sessions is allowed during 30-minute sessions.
“The recommendations are strict to shorten training duration and increase rest periods”, al-Assar warns. If the circumstances continue in this manner, training may stop completely. “We’re living a deadly starvation crisis.
On a daily basis, athletes experience complications including collapse, fainting, and inability to move, the coach told Al Jazeera. We are truly starving and without food. No animal protein, healthy oils, or other essential nutrients are present in our diets. We get a tiny amount that wouldn’t satisfy a three-year-old of plant protein from lentils, while other foods are completely absent”.
However, the bodybuilders continue to exercise.
Athletes continued to show up even when Israeli air attacks targeted the gym just yards away. “I’m hungry all the time and calculate my one training day per week – how will I manage my food afterward”? According to Abu Youssef, a street vendor who once aspired to compete in a bodybuilding competition held in Gaza two weeks after the start of the conflict in October 2023.
Youssef, who had a competitive dream and was in full training for the championship, was ruined by the war’s “turning of the world upside down.” Now, the few loaves of bread he manages to buy from his weekly earnings barely fill him up.
He claims that despite that, I persevered and trained to regain my abilities, even though they were slow and limited, but the famine prevents all of these attempts.
Simply visiting the training facility, for al-Bahabsa, who has fled Rafah with his family, offers hope for general recovery rather than just physical fitness.
“We aspire to live like the rest of the world’s peoples. We oppose the Israeli occupation and the war, which kills and starves us, and we oppose both. He asserted that it is our right to exercise, compete in international competitions, advance to higher levels, and represent Palestine.
The tent gym, despite its limitations, serves as what al-Assar calls a challenge to “the reality of genocide, destruction, and displacement”.
He asserts that “the concept here goes beyond just training.” We’re looking for a secure, tranquil life that we can lead. Gaza and its people will continue their lives no matter the genocide against them. One aspect of life is sports.
Source: Aljazeera
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