This year’s Saturday Night Fitness was branded The Strong Edition, and the ladies went home stronger – not just physically, but also mentally. Every time Ceri and Lydia Hannan do their routine, they prep for days and weeks before by listening to the setlist in the car, while cooking, on the plane, wherever. This time, Ceri had a brainwave a week before. He printed large cue cards with positive affirmations, and as the night kicked off with the Rockstar Party Starter session, he had almost 2 000 women screaming: “I am enough!” “I am free!” “I am beautiful!” “I am wonderful!”
He also changed the setlist, choosing a Robbie Williams song to finish: “Love My Life”. A week before the event, he tested it on a small class. “One of the women approached me afterwards, tearful. She said she’d never experienced anything like it – and that’s when I knew: The Strong Edition is going to be something else.”
It’s no wonder that the ladies didn’t want to go home! The night was consumed with a positive energy like never before, say those who were there. “It’s not the 90s anymore, where skinny was the goal,” says Ceri, who’s worked in the industry for 38 years. “And it really came through.” He adds that this year, the flow was especially good: “We had yoga exactly at sunset, so there was this amazing vibe while the sun went down. And then we ended with Fitness Icon, so everyone went home on an amazing, proud high.”
In all, 1 980 women attended this year’s event at Montecasino on 16 August, doing six fitness classes in four hours by six different training teams: Ceri and Lydia Hannan, Monique Lopes, Nathi Thee Zulu Yogi, a kick class by Noma, a bums class with Chunky Phiri, as well as the dynamic dance group from Fitness Icon. All of this to the sound of beats by DJ Miss Bee, with 14 different brands such as the celebrated main sponsor, Stanley, with their stunning cups and other products spoiling the ladies at the event with prizes, tasters, and stalls. The goodie bags contained delightful surprises – Skin Functional, Deep Freeze, Zinplex, EquiSweet, Solal, Chela-Fer, MenaCal, Mitchum, Revlon Hair and Revlon Colour, Lift Fitness Apparel, as well as Knox Hydration, all added their gifts to the mix.
BENEFITS
While an event like this is much more difficult for instructors than it is to do a small class, Ceri says there are so many benefits for the participants. “I call it fitness tapas,” he jokes. “Instead of experiencing only running, you get a taster of strength, yoga, dance, and HIIT. And you don’t just go home with new friends, but also with a new experience of something you might fall in love with.
“It’s so much easier to try Saturday Night Fitness than it is to go into a physical fitness class where you feel like everyone is fit but you. At Saturday Night Fitness, everyone is welcome – whatever your size, your fitness, your goals. And we’re all there having fun together.”
On top of that, you get that incredible high from the crowd’s energy, the people around you, and those natural endorphins released by connection and exercise.
Ceri adds that if he had to do one class that wasn’t his own, he’d love to experience the final Fitness Icon session – “It’s fun, achievable, it makes you feel like you belong, and it’s uniquely South African. Those guys are gold.”
All we have to add is this: if you weren’t there, you can only imagine what it sounds like when almost 2 000 women believe in themselves, have fun, connect, and challenge themselves together to be stronger – there’s just one word that comes to mind, and it’s magical.
