Sweating for the food bank

Well over 100 people of all ages, shapes and sizes braved the rain to workout for a good cause Saturday.

The mass workout was the first annual Sweat Fest, aimed at giving you a good workout while helping the hungry.

All that was need to participate was a donation for the Kelowna Food Bank.

The fitness food drive included a mass 12-minute outdoor HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workout, run by event organizers, best friends and workout partners Chelsea Harrison and Melanie Breitkreutz.

“During the workout, the rain completely cleared up so we could not ask for more than that,” says Breitkreutz.

“It was just so fun, it was surreal, it was awesome,” adds Harrison.

While the workout was quite challenging, all participants seemed to love the exercises and had flushed faces at the end.

“They are telling us they loved it, they thought it was fun, it was never boring and that it was a really good workout in just 12-minutes,” says Harrison.

Harrison and Breitkreutz, creators of HIIT It Kelowna, say they love HIIT because it's a short workout that requires no equipment and can be done anywhere. 

“That is what is so great about our workouts is that absolutely anyone can do them. Kids, adults, teenagers and even our moms and dads do it.”

While the duo was hoping to have over 250 participants to qualify as the Guinness World Records' largest HIIT workout, it didn't appear they had the numbers.

Breitkreutz and Harrison said they need to do a final count to know for sure.

The women say they definitely want to host the event again next year, and were thrilled with the amount of donations to the Kelowna Food Bank.

“Thank you Kelowna for supporting us, this is definitely the first year of many to come,” adds Breitkreutz. “I think it says a lot about our city and how much everyone cares about each other.

For more information on HIIT It Kelowna, check out their website here.