Participants had eight minutes to do as many rounds as possible, with each round comprising twenty push‑ups, twenty squats, twenty sit‑ups, twenty walking planks, and twenty burpees. The exercises were marginally tougher for thecategory. They chose a time slot to compete for a spot on the leaderboard, pitting themselves against friends, family and fellow gym enthusiasts.Pressya Ndongala, 35, is a freelance pastry chef in Cape Town and managed three rounds and ten repeats in eight minutes.
Arne van Heerden, 24, a final‑year medical student at the University of the Free State, managed two rounds and eighty repeats. He would have been happy to “just walk away with the Vitality T‑shirt”. “I got back into gym after the COVID‑19 pandemic and earlier this year started taking it more seriously. I do it for fun and it’s a terrific way to clear the head and get those natural endorphins flowing. My ideal weekend is gym and 18 holes of golf,” he said.
She managed three rounds and two repeats to win, an improvement of the two rounds and thirty‑eight repeats in her qualifying first round. Former high school National Motocross champion, Justin Mittens, 27, a financial accountant from Parkmore, Johannesburg managed three full rounds to win his Planet Fitness gym male category. He paced himself, training to complete each round in the same time.“Some guys would be out the box, flat out and give up after one round, but I put my timer in front of me and focussed on that,” he shared.
The winners each walked away with: a Vitality Travel package worth R20 000, Huawei tech hampers worth R7 000, Virgin Active and Planet Fitness gym memberships and gear to value of R6 000, a Team Vitality membership for a year worth R1 000, and a Totalsports voucher worth R1 000.