Pretoria: “I want to bring it home.” With those words IOL’s selection for the Toyota Fortuner Challenge, Donald Mampa, threw down the gauntlet.
The personal fitness trainer and lifestyle coach, out of Greenstone Park Virgin Active, was selected from thousands of applicants.
He says he’s motivated to succeed, because winning a Fortuner would be a welcome change from his Hyundai i10 and is part of his personal growth.
“Guys, you don’t know how excited I am to be taking part, this is huge for me.”
As a youngster, Mampa wanted to be a soccer player but when he became a teenager, he decided it was going to be difficult to break into the ranks.
“Sport has always been my thing but when I saw that soccer wasn’t going to work out, I went into IT, but even then I was spending most of my free time in the gym.
“I volunteered to do the personal trainer’s course part time and then later enrolled to study the PT course. If I couldn’t be a footballer, I decided that I would then groom athletes. It’s been going from strength to strength.”
The 33-year-old father says that compared to traditional sports, not enough attention is given to fitness.
“Take the police, for example, when they come out of college many of them don’t sustain the exercise programme and within weeks they’re unfit and overweight and don’t look the same.
“Police are supposed to be fit and healthy yet we’re not seeing that and sometimes they can’t even run for their lives.”
Mampa’s day starts at 6am, with his first client. At 3pm, he trains, collects his son from school and trains some more before his next appointments arrive at 6.30pm till about 8pm.
“I’ve also competed in the Toyota boot camps, so when I saw the opportunity to enter the Fortuner Challenge I just had to send in my entry, and am really pleased to be able to represent Independent Media.”
Mampa is active on Instagram and hopes competing and winning will increase his followers (you can follow him here).
“I’m not one of those guys who posts all sorts of personal stuff just to gain more followers. My platform is all about fitness and if I can gain more followers that’s an opportunity to spread the message.”
It doesn’t end there, says the man who reckons his biggest strength is consistency.
“I want to be one of the Heroes in the Fortuner Challenge, I want to be part of those that motivate people to live healthy and be fit.”
The Fortuner challenge includes various disciplines of which driving a Fortuner off-road is only one.
In the past there’s been raft building, orientation, cycling, running, archery, canoeing, puzzles and, of course, massive physical challenges.
“I received my form from the organisers asking to rate myself in various disciplines, so I’ve got a fair idea of what to expect. It gives me time to adjust my training regime accordingly, so that I know I’m 100% prepared and rest assured I’ll be giving 100% to make sure that I walk away with a Fortuner.”