BPOMAS, Yarona FM join forces for this year’s Fat Boy Challenge

After holding two successful annual fitness programmes respectively, Botswana Public Officers Medical Aid Scheme (BPOMAS) and Yarona FM have joined forces for a P1,2 million 90 day country wide fitness fat loss challenge. The two have just launched the ‘North vs South Fat Boy Challenge’ commencing on March 2nd and wrapping up on May 23, 2015.
The challenge will take place in seven towns simultaneously and participants will get to endure a 10 week training programme that will culminate in the crowning of the biggest loser.
“BPOMAS offers services for people to access health care and promoting physical fitness is something that has been closest to our heart as evidenced by the fruitful relations we have had with our partners across the health care sector,” said Sales and Marketing Manager, Scelo Hlope.
He said since back in the 90s people have generally been more concerned about HIV/AIDS and ignored the threat posed by non-communicable diseases.
Yarona FM Station Manager David Moepeng said they started the Fat Boy challenge eight years ago as an initiative to promote healthy lifestyle. “We serve a young audience that needs to be inspired, encouraged and guided,” he said. “We are more than just a radio station.”
Moepeng said initially their programme comprised only celebrities because they believed it would have a bigger impact on their mostly youthful audience.
“Last year (2014) we engaged the corporate sector and this time around we are glad to be joined by BPOMAS to become our technical sponsor, ”Moepeng said.
China Mokaila of Ultimate Fitness, also partners in the challenge, emphasised that the challenge is not about weight loss but rather fat loss. “The challenge will focus on losing fat as a team and it will include muscular endurance and cardiovascular exercise. We are going to be conducting monthly assessments to check if the participants are on the right track and at the end the biggest loser shall be rewarded.”
He said through the initiative they hope to turn everyday life into a fitness programme. Prior to the Fat Boy Challenge collaboration BPOMAS had their own annual North vs South aerobics concept pioneered in 2010 in both Gaborone and Francistown simultaneously. The main feature of the event comprised a six hour aerobics marathon that was characterised by different cardiovascular routines integrated into a seamless programme. The first event attracted 500 participants for both venues. The second challenge was held in 2011 at Ditshupo Hall in Gaborone and Tati River Lodge in Francistown and attracted more than 800 participants.
Although the initial two events focused solely on aerobics in 2013 the event grew and became more of a comprehensive health challenge which promoted healthy lifestyle. Some of the developments included spinning stations, weight training, and exhibitions by various health conscious stakeholders. The year also saw a shift in location as Francistown gave way for Palapye.
Yarona FM also had its own fitness initiative, Fat Boy Challenge, which was launched in 2006 as a corporate social responsibility undertaking. Although the programme initially comprised only celebrities it had since grown to include the corporate sector and select members of the public in an effort to achieve greater results. “In 2015 we look to introduce a brand new format that is more enduring in its execution and offers greater health benefits for all participants even beyond the 90 day period itself,” reads a statement from BPOMAS. “We have agreed a partnership with Yarona FM to bring the two events together and execute a much bigger and better undertaking.” BPOMAS says in the end the idea is to undertake an execution that encompasses healthy living in totality and achieves tangible results for all taking part while being accommodative to those not physically part of the programme. “We expect that the execution stemming from this new partnership will generate a genuine interest for participation across markets, enable sharing of knowledge and experiences, and change participants’ lifestyles for the better.”