Maun — The second edition of the Maun Aerobics Festival attracted a lot of interest as participants from South Africa, Lesotho, eSwatini and fanatics across the country came in large numbers to embrace the event and enjoy the tourism hub.
Hosted by the Maun-based Tatiana Trevia Fitness Club at the Life Centre over the weekend, the spectacular event brought new and exciting avenues of entertainment to the tourism destination as participants were treated to a boat cruise, short run races, boot camp and an all white dinner at the Botswana Open University.
In an interview, the chief organiser and the host, Lado Tshenolo said the event had grown in leaps and bounds as it attracted close to 300 participants and many sponsors as compared to last year where they failed to secure sponsors.
This year, he said, they extended the invitation to the neighbouring countries given the numerous health benefits of the activity and acknowledged that participants from three countries of Lesotho, eSwatini and South Africa embraced the event.
"This year's attendance is an indication that the event grows bigger every year as many people appreciate that the importance of aerobics is to change lives through health and fitness.
I appreciate that this time no one wanted to be left behind as all wanted to appreciate the beauty and excitement of the aerobics festival as well as enjoy the tourism hub," he added.
Tshenolo noted that the aerobics festival was not meant for fun and socialisation only but the activity had a broad range of health benefits indicating that exercise was also essential and effective in helping one to activate their immune system.
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Regular exercise, he said, had the potential to bring about good mental health and emotional wellbeing.
Aerobics exercise reduces the risk of many health conditions ranging from heart diseases to dementia and non-communicable diseases. The activity also brought people together and had an opportunity to network, and share ideas on how they could improve their livelihoods.
He encouraged community members to join aerobics clubs saying the exercise was generally safe for all categories being the youth and the elderly.
However, Tshenolo expressed concern that men and the youth were still dragging their feet to take part in aerobics saying women dominate local clubs.
He said some men associate the sport with women as they claimed that the aerobics classes and dance routines were not worthy of their time.
Men, he said, preferred soccer and toning classes but revealed that, that kind of fitness training was good for them as one trained from toe to head.
"This is a safe exercise because it is not a contact sport and I encourage men and young people to join clubs as they are missing out on a form of physical activity that could transform their lives," he added.
Going forward, Tshenolo plans to take the sport to the Maun community as he intends to engage the four local authorities first and sell the concept to them before he could reach out to schools and the business community.
BOPA
