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He's created workout classes for some of South Africa's biggest gyms. Maybe you've done one of them without even knowing that the rush of endorphins you experienced was all thanks to fitness instructor Ceri Hannan.
Ceri, who’s been in the industry for 36 years, is not only passionate about staying fit and strong, he believes it’s important to have fun while getting your heart rate up.
“I've been very blessed over the last 30-odd years to travel around the world and present at various fitness conventions and events,” Ceri (52) tells YOU. “It’s all I've ever done really.”
His passion for group fitness has taken him across the globe, teaching his dance aerobic class in New York, Reykjavik, Moscow and Mumbai. Next month he’ll be hosting the warm-up at Monte Casino for Saturday Night Fitness – South Africa’s biggest workout party, hosted by YOU magazine.
“It’s all really tightly choreographed and includes music from the Lion King, an old school 90s club track, some Michael Jackson and even Riverdance,” explains Ceri, adding that you don’t need to stress about being the best dancer.
“Last year’s event was great and I’m happy to be back, it’s really going to be fun!”
Originally from the UK, Ceri’s lived in South Africa for 12 years since being invited to come here and create classes for some of the biggest gyms in the country.
“My introduction to fitness first came through being a football-obsessed teenager,” he says. “I ended up being released by the club I was playing for and eventually started working at a fitness club."
After training on the soccer field, he decided to take his first aerobic class, expecting that it would be a piece of cake.
“I was a 16-year-old wannabe footballer who couldn't finish an aerobic class, but I was hooked,” he says.
“I taught my very first class in 1987 in leg warmers and bare feet and then I worked for various brands after that,” says Ceri, who is now head of product at Planet Fitness in Cape Town.
His love for aerobics saw him presenting at many fitness conventions. One of them was the International Fitness Showcase, one of the top 10 fitness conventions in the world which takes place annually in the UK and has around 7000 delegates.
“I was the British Aerobics Champion and I travelled around the world jumping around in lycra doing the splits and push-ups,” he jokes. “Eventually I spent my time consulting and coming up proprietary programs for gyms and then selling it to them”.
From there he worked his way up the ranks and landed a gig as the national fitness manager of Fitness First, a chain of 150 gyms in the UK.
Today, the international fitness expert works to help brands understand what’s hot and what’s not for the local market and creates classes for them.
“What I love most about what I do is being able to create a space for people to feel like they belong to a community,” says Ceri.
The warm-up he’ll be hosting at SNF in Johannesburg next month is set to do just that as he “takes people on a bit of a musical journey”.
“Music is that secret sauce, that power that connects and moves people together and there's nothing like looking somebody in the eye and just feeling their energy in the crowd."
- Be realistic and specific about your goals: is it weight loss, training for a marathon, gaining more muscle in your arms or getting a bigger booty? That will help you set out a path to achieving it.
- Do something you enjoy: don’t join a high intensity interval training session if you enjoy dancing - join a Zumba class instead. And if you don't have the time, while you're cooking your pasta and you've got 15 minutes to spare, go and dance around your kitchen.
- Join a community: one way of holding yourself accountable is by joining a group of like-minded people. A running club, dancing club, lifting club - being part of a group will help to motivate you to keep going.
- Get your steps up!
