Johno Meintjes is used to pushing the limits. The fitness legend does it every day in front of a camera, in HIIT workouts for his rapidly expanding JEFF community. But on the 30th of January, Johno will attempt the impossible, by completing a month’s worth of exercise in one day. Well, 25 hours to be exact.
JEFF’s Big 25-Hour Workout, in partnership with Vitality, adidas and Big Concerts and proudly supported by 947, Kfm 94.5 and 702, is an event for these times. A unique, socially distanced exercise and entertainment extravaganza to inspire others to focus on their health and fitness, while raising funds for South Africa’s frontline healthcare workers battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
And it’s not just for Johno. Everyone is encouraged to register for free and commit to joining the workout, whether for 30 minutes or the full 25 hours and make a small, optional donation to the Gift of the Givers Foundation.
Johno will be accompanied by celebrities, sporting legends and some of top talent including GoldFish and Mathew Gold. The event will be livestreamed to Facebook and YouTube so anyone can join from anywhere, joining some of South Africa’s favourite personalities like Graeme Smith, Siv Ngesi, Jean De Villiers and Dale Steyn.
Quite how he’s going to manage this feat, Johno isn’t sure. But ask him why he’s doing it, and you suddenly have an answer to both questions:
“We all know the effects of this pandemic. The uncertainty, anxiety and misery that it’s brought. And all we can do is control the controllables. These include regular exercise, eating well and a healthy mindset.”
“Nothing contributes to our sense of well-being like daily fitness. It’s just hard to get it right. I’m no athlete, but if I can do it for 25 hours straight, there’s no reason everyone at home can’t squeeze in half an hour”.
As official media partner, Primedia Broadcasting will be driving awareness and participation. “2020 definitely made us all appreciate the importance of physical health as well as a healthy mental outlook. As a company we’ve migrated some of our biggest events online, so we can attest to the power of online community engagement. This event is a fun way for our audiences to get fit and stay positive,” says Trish Taylor, Chief Broadcasting Officer, Primedia Broadcasting.
As for the whole show, well that’s a big part of what JEFF is all about. They combine amazing support, community and entertainment to make daily fitness both fun and effective. It’s about giving people more reasons and more opportunities to look after themselves.
Discovery Vitality officially partnered with JEFF in December last year allowing Vitality members to be eligible for a 25% discount on a JEFF Life subscription and earn Vitality points when completing workouts on their web app. For the Big 25-Hour Workout, any Vitality member will be able to earn 300 Vitality points for participating in physical workouts of at least 30 minutes in the event.
As an added incentive to get ready, JEFF has opened up all of their live daily classes together with their JEFF Together community, free to everyone for the whole of January. This means free, live daily workouts, weekly challenges and of course the epic 25-hour spectacle.
With more than 55,000 people from 43 countries around the world getting their daily health and fitness on, JEFF is clearly doing something right.
For more information go to Jeff.fitness and visit the JEFF Together Facebook group.
