THE eight participants in the Jamaica Observer/Gymkhana Fitness Challenge are one week and a day shy of their first “weigh-in”. In a matter of days they will know whether they have achieved their first set of goals or if they have to return to the drawing board and work twice as hard.

Just a reminder, the goals include weight loss targets, body fat targets, and strength targets as well as a few challengers getting to the point where they can run a 5K under a specified time. Sounds easy enough right? We will find out very soon just how many of the participants are up to par.

In the meantime, the challengers were kept busy in-between working on their goals, with as many as five bonus challenges last week. The challengers were given a variety of classes from which to choose, ranging from cycling and dancehall to yoga, to ensure that they amass maximum points. Outside of strength training and working with various machines, the bonus classes exposed the challengers to other areas of health and fitness such as breath control, simple meditation, and using of their bodies.

The challengers were also encouraged to talk to their trainers as sometimes they may be pushed to their limit and other times over that limit, but once communication lines are open, the trainers will know just how much the challengers can manage.

-ANIKA RICHARDS