I'm Ann-Marie, the Community Strength and Balance Coordinator here at Sport Northland where I support and help grow access to community group strength and balance classes across Northland.

Approx six months ago I was approached by a lovely lady, Rebecca Davidson who was interested to learn more about delivering an exercise class in Dargaville. After Christmas we arranged to catch up and had a chat about our ACC Strength and Balance Programme.

I provided Rebecca with a briefing around community led delivery and how I could assist her with becoming certified as an approved strength and balance provider if she wished. As a novice exercise instructor, Rebecca was keen to learn more and feel confident with her delivery.

A few months later, Rebecca attended New Instructor Development Workshop that I hosted at McKay Stadium Whangarei. This workshop was designed to give potential instructors clarification of ACC’s Technical Advisory Group criteria and exercise programmes suitable for improving strength and balance. Rebecca commented back saying, the workshop was very well presented, and she learnt a lot. Definitely 10/10! I would recommend it.

From there, Rebecca investigated different venues and secured a regular spot on a Tuesday morning at the Anglican Church. Her first classes went off well. When I caught up with Rebecca here’s what she had to say, “the Strength & Balance class is going well. I have a core group of lovely ladies that are showing commitment and already report seeing results in feeling stronger and more confident. The majority are 65+ years old but a couple of the younger ones are either new to exercise or recovering from injury and are looking to strengthen slowly. The ladies have given me loads of tips including music they would like in the background and even a stretch sequence to a spoken word”.

“The class structure has found a comfortable rhythm starting with a 5-minute warm up cardio (marching and rowing actions), then about 10 mins on lower body strength, 5 mins transition to standing, 10 mins standing strength, 10 mins balance, 5 mins stretch, 5 mins upper body, 3 mins moving to spoken word using stretch sequence, 3 min low impact dance”.

After a few weeks, Rebecca was asked if she could facilitate a second class, which she agreed to trying. However, this required a different venue, and she was able to secure the Catholic Church Hall on a Thursday morning. I visited Rebecca here on her first session where I certified her as an approved Strength and Balance provider. This means she has met all the evidence-based criteria agreed by the Technical Advisory Group and is delivering safe and effective classes for older people.

I really enjoyed Rebecca’s session. It was fun, encouraging and motivating. If you feel this sounds like you, I recommend you go along and give it a go. You can reach Rebecca on 021969626 for more information.

Article written by Ann-Marie Lambly, Community Strength and Balance Coordinator