Squats and jumps for 24 hours straight - burpee challenge under way

Fitness trainer Glen Steyn, 35, is on a mission to do as many burpees as possible over a period of 24 hours. This is to raise awareness and funds for the protection of wildlife.

Steyn began his challenge in Craighall, Johannesburg, on Friday morning. By 11.30am he had already done more than 800.

Asked why burpees, he responded: “Everyone hates burpees and they are horrible. I wanted to do something different, considering I’ve done quite a lot of sporting activities."

Steyn said he had previously participated in running and walking initiatives to help raise funds for the conservation of species, and views his acts as a contribution to the betterment of society.

“I’m from South Africa and I would like to contribute towards taking care and protecting our heritage, as in the wildlife, and it’s great to be able to use my military skills for a greater cause,” he told TimesLIVE.

While many disliked burpees, Steyn said he was a fanatic. His highest record, 2,000 burpees, was completed in a space of four hours.

Now he aims to do nothing less than 7,000 in 24 hours.

But this could pose health risks.

“What he’s doing is actually dangerous as he could end up in hospital,” said COO of Veterans of Wildlife, Andrew Crichton.

However, Steyn was confident he would survive the challenge after more than a month of preparation.

The organisation said it was working with volunteers and former service personnel including soldiers, who gave up their time and experience, to train anti-poaching rangers to combat poaching and wildlife crime in Africa.

“A lot of the rangers, game scouts and members of the wildlife crime prevention unit face a pretty daunting task. A lot of them don’t have as much training or not as much as they really need to tackle the challenge.”

Crichton said a lot of wildlife species in SA were under threat. These includes rhinos, elephants, lions, pangolins, tigers, cheaters, giraffes.

“They are all under threat. Poaching is an ongoing issue in SA. The amount of rhino poaching year-on-year has decreased between 2017-2019 but the country is still losing around about 1,000 rhinos a year, which is unsustainable,” he said.

The pair said poaching was a problem which needed to be addressed holistically.

Donations to the cause can be made online on their Facebook page and website. Donations will be used for logistical costs.