Trailblazers adapt to early aerobics

It is 5am on a chilly morning with clear skies but the sun has not yet risen.

About 250 pupils from across the length and breath of the Eastern Cape have gathered for aerobic sessions at the Green Fountain Resort about 7km outside Port Alfred.

This is the way the young trailblazers normally start their day at the ongoing Trailblazers National Youth Camp.

The majority of the participants are between 16 and 18 years of age and without doubt the majority are not used to being out of bed so early.

It is especially difficult for a group which has been sleeping in tents at a farm resort with cold nights and early morning temperatures usually in the region of 5°C.

But it must be done, for being a trailblazer is not for the faint-hearted.

Among the chief reasons the aerobics sessions are necessary is to promote a healthy lifestyle and instill in each trailblazer a desire to keep the enthusiasm on high once they return to their respective communities.

This is in line with the objectives of the ambitious government's National Development Plan and the mandate of the department of sport, recreation, arts and culture to encourage and promote an active and healthy citizenry in South Africa by 2030.

For many trailblazers, it seemed the camp organisers were taking it too far by waking them up so early each morning, especially last Sunday.

But they have now accepted the drill as a necessary skill for their own benefit and also for the benefit of their respective communities.

Not only will this venture help the trailblazers with physical well-being and a fresh mind before they start their day, but it also teaches them discipline and responsibility, doing basically something they are not used to doing every day.

For Sihle Mgobo, a trailblazer from Buffalo City Metro, in East London, the expression, – “a healthy mind is in a healthy body,” has always been just that, just a saying he never considered worth putting into action.

“These sessions have been very helpful to me because I have since observed that one’s body and mind has a greater chance of staying fresh throughout the day if physical exercise is done nice and early which I did not know before I came here,” Mgobo said.

“At first it was difficult but I have adapted. In actual fact it has given me an idea that this I should maintain when I get back home.”

Ndiyabonga Petshe agrees, saying his biggest lesson in this has been that it is easier to do it with a group because prior to the camp he had been doing physical training all by himself back home in King William’s Town with little consistency.

To this end, he aims to lobby his friends in King William’s Town to join him when he returns home.

And doing it is the early hours, he says, is critical in that it helps one to start one’s day in high spirits – a necessity for a pupil.

According to Brendan Hector who is among the instructors entrusted with conducting the aerobics sessions, the chilly weather is perfect.

“It is ideal and crucial to do it in weather like this because one’s muscles are tight and good to get the blood flowing.”