Tv star Ben Shepherd crowned new Fortis Champion at Harrow Lodge leisure centre.

Television legend Ben Shepherd has been crowned the New Fortis Champion following the grand finals of the highly popular national workout challenge held on 25^th November at Harrow Lodge Leisure Centre operated by Everyone Active.

After hundreds of participants battled it out at Everyone Active centres across the country, Harpenden’s golden couple, Becky Skeggs, 30 and Tom Kenneford, 31 ultimately took first prize in the UK’s most inclusive workout tournament. 

Ben Shephard attended the event, which saw 16 teams battle it out at Harrow Lodge Leisure Centre, with prizes going to the top three teams. The first-place winners received £500 cash, an Everyone Active annual membership and a luxury spa day and overnight stay for two.

The contest, which runs every year, is free to enter and open to everyone and challenges teams to sweat, squat and lunge through a HIIT class like no other. Devised following the popularity of FORTIS, powered by Speedflex classes, which have been running at the centre since 2021, the inclusive class, which is favoured by football legends Alan Shearer and Dion Dublin, is a 30-minute workout, that promises to deliver ‘HIIT without the Hurt’.  The workout is based around a unique personalised resistance concept, allowing every participant to train at their own level, no matter their fitness ability.

The championship consists of teams of two, competing against others from across the country, completing a series of high-octane, low-impact challenges. Contestants make their way up the leaderboard by collecting points awarded for time spent exercising in each individual’s personal heart rate zone. In this way, effort and tactics become far more important than fitness levels, making the FORTIS Championships a challenge that anyone can win!

New champion Ben said:

“I’m so impressed by the level of energy and commitment participants have brought to the FORTIS Championships for the second year! The atmosphere at the finals was electric – everyone was giving it their all, encouraging each other and most of all – having a brilliant time. 

We set out to make the FORTIS Championships the most inclusive workout tournament around and it certainly proved to be just that! We had people in their 70s with hip replacements competing against 20-year-old HIIT newbies – because it’s a personalised workout system that relies on tactics and teamwork.

We can’t wait to host the tournament again next year and see how many more people from all ages and stages get involved.”

The contest will run again in 2024 at select Everyone Active centres across the South East including Spelthorne, Harrow Lodge, Westgate, Harpenden, Basildon, Fareham, Hemel Hempstead and Watford Woodside.

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