Fit4Life

Pacific Heartbeat first met John, a New Zealand-born Tongan, when he attended the Certificate in Pacific Nutrition (CPN) course in October 2011.  John is a personal trainer who specialises in group fitness and he was attending the course to improve his nutrition knowledge and presentation skills.

John started ‘Fit4Life’, a Counties Manukau DHB-funded fitness programme, in June 2011 with 75 participants. Word quickly spread out about how fantastic the eight week programme was and 185 participants registered for the third block.

John’s fitness sessions are not for the faint-hearted, with shuttles, boxing and press-ups all part of the rotating fitness stations. Encouragement from team members is often what keeps the participants going.

Viena Nuuausala has lost 13 kilos since starting the programme.

“I’ve noticed a massive improvement in my health and wellbeing. I am more active with my children and we all can’t wait till summer time when we can do more outdoor activities,” says Viena.

John believes part of the programmes success is due to the spirit of his team membersl; Fiona Mann, Poto Lemalu, Dave Paea and Mike Tautalanoa.

“As a team we encourage, we educate, we care and we love what we do,” says John.

The skills and information John has learnt from the CPN course are used after each Saturday morning training sessions when he shares information on healthy nutrition, covering a different topic each week.