F45 Australia: Sydney father claims he is the rightful winner of fitness challenge

An aspiring MMA fighter has claimed he is the rightful winner of an F45 fitness competition that offered a free holiday to Fiji – because it changed his life. 

Sydney father Ben Meakin completely transformed his lifestyle during the competition, waking at dawn to go for a run and completing four training sessions every day for a month. 

However, he’s now been left wondering if the challenge was judged solely on weight loss alone, rather than the change to his overall health, after a contestant who shed more kilos than him took out the title.

Mr Meakin started every day with a smoothie comprising of protein powder, beetroot and coconut water and spent hours meal-prepping. 

Ben Meakin (pictured) has challenged the gym to reveal whether the challenge was based on solely on weight loss or overall health after completely transforming his lifestyle 

He said from day one he had been determined to win the fitness challenge and insisted he isn’t a sore loser and simply wanted a fair go. 

‘As of day one I was already food prepped for the week,’ he told A Current Affair.

‘I told everyone I was going to win the challenge and from day one I set out to win it and I spent every waking hour food prepping, training, going to bed at 8.30 at night, getting up at 3.30 in the morning.

‘By the end I was eating, sleeping, breathing the competition.’

The man who won the holiday to Fiji lost 15 kilograms – six more than Mr Meakin – who still lost nearly nine kilograms during the challenge (pictured, Mr Meakin’s before and after shots)

F45 offered the winner of the month-long fitness challenge a trip to Fiji (pictured)

The aspiring MMA fighter paid F45 $60 a week for four weeks as well as an additional $140 for body scans used to determine the competition’s winner.

The man who won the holiday to Fiji lost 15kg – six more than Mr Meakin – who still lost nearly 9kg during the challenge. 

Mr Meakin said his dedication to the challenge meant he had missed out on spending time with his young son, which had been one of his major motivators. 

He said being a primary school teacher and paying bills and a mortgage meant it was hard to take his family overseas. 

Mr Meakin (right) said his dedication to the challenge meant he had missed out on spending time with his young son, who had been one of his major motivators

‘I took time out of my little boy’s life, my partner’s life … I paid my money to be in that competition and I wanted a fair shot,’ he said. 

Mr Meakin has since moved to a gym that claims it judges participants only using body scans – which use formulas to measure the amount of bone, muscle and fat. 

In a statement, F45 said its challenge is a ‘community-focused health transformation program designed to create life-changing results’.

Each franchisee is responsible for conducting and delivering the program and outlining the terms, conditions and criteria for the challenge.

Parent company F45 Training Incorporated has been made aware of Mr Meakin’s issue and is reviewing the situation. 

In a statement F45 Training Incorporated said they had been made aware and were reviewing the situation (pictured, people work-out in an F45 gym)