At some point or another, Alex residents embark on their fitness journeys. Starting isn’t always easy and at times it’s helpful to learn the experiences of others.
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From the perspective of local fitness brand entrepreneur Sylvester Sangweni (41), the gym bug bit him 11 years ago when a television programme referenced the importance of fitness – changing the course of his life forever.
“I started gym in 2014 and I never stopped,” said Sangweni. “Since then, I’ve been working out to prevent bad health in the future. I found the gym to be a great way of maintaining great health.”
Asked what kept him motivated, Sangweni said it was the results he started noticing four months into working out and the physical transformation he had realised five-years-later. Unfortunately, Covid-19 meant that people could no longer gather in public spaces but Sangweni powered through those dark times by doing what he could do.
“I was quite small before I started working out. By 2019, I had already built up my weight, and that’s when my body started developing the shape I wanted for myself. During Covid, my workout consisted of mainly 300 daily pushups, split between a hundred in the morning, afternoon and evening. I did that until gyms re-opened, and that’s when I returned to the game.”
Sangweni expressed the importance of discipline and being motivated to keep going, as the rewards outweighed the pain at the end of the day.
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“It takes years sometimes to start seeing changes in your body. Starting requires patience and commitment. Sometimes, people come for a day or two and then give up. Gym requires the understanding that your perfect body won’t develop in a day.”
Sangweni helps get beginners started on their fitness journeys at Reflex Fitness Gym on Vincent Tshabalala Road.
Joanne Sethojane is one of the newest members who has stayed the course.
“Coming to the gym is a part of my training. I just want to be fit, and healthy, and to tone my body,” said Sethojane. “This is a resolution. It’s been three or four weeks now.”
Sethojane praised the uBuntu she has come to associate with the gym and its patrons, expressing her gratitude that she found someone like Sangweni who loves helping beginners get started.
“At most gyms, you’d have to pay for a trainer but I am being helped to get started through kindness here. I see this being a part of my life for the rest of it.”
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