Nimble at 93

It wasn’t that long ago that Arnold Stockdale ended each exercise class by standing on his head.

An unsupported headstand is an impressive display of core strength and balance — especially for a man in his tenth decade of life.

How could that be possible?

Well, for 55 minutes, three days a week, Arnold bends his body this way and that, twisting and turning and stretching and holding, breathing in, breathing out, smoothly transitioning from one pose to another and then remaining completely still. Quiet. Calm.

The group fitness studio at Clubfit Baywave gym in Mount Maunganui is full of people on this wintry Monday morning and Arnold is in the centre of the room, moving with the fluency and muscle memory of someone who has been doing this a long time. The bright blue shirt he’s wearing displays a (homemade) message professing his love for “BB” — BodyBalance.

This yoga, tai chi and Pilates inspired workout programme by Les Mills is one of at least a dozen different group fitness classes that are offered at the gym every week.

“What’s good about it, is it keeps your joints moving, and it’s very important for old people to have balance — this a perfect place to improve your balance,” Arnold says.

The 93 year old has been attending BodyBalance classes at Clubfit Baywave for the past 16 years. He’s hooked.

“I really enjoy it and it’s a pleasure to come, so you always want to be here. You could come much more often because the classes are almost every day but three times a week is not too bad.”

Arnold says the instructors are “just wonderful” and “so keen”, and he enjoys chatting to his classmates around him. “You get that feeling of camaraderie,” he says.

Cathy Burnett has been one of Arnold’s instructors from the very beginning.

“He’s an inspiration. He’s just like a rock for us, he really is,” she says.

“He’s been doing it for such a long time and it’s one of those things — if you do this programme long term, the benefits are huge and Arnold’s a walking example of that.”

Cathy says her classes attract a wide range of people, from teenagers all the way up. Arnold is always there and he is “goals” — someone for the young ones, and not so young ones, to aspire to.

“Everyone knows him now, because people come to this programme year after year after year, they just keep coming... so it’s quite a community here and it’s very inclusive.”

Another instructor, Toni Laurie, says Arnold brings in fruit from his trees at home — bananas, persimmons, apples.

“He’s a real sweetie,” she says.

“I think Clubfit is an amazing place to be. It’s just really friendly and people connect. The range of ages here and the inspiration here is just honestly mind blowing.”

That sentiment is shared by Jasmine Nel. The 26 year old has been a member of Clubfit Baywave for the past four years and goes to the gym six days a week, mostly in the early morning, for group fitness classes and independent workouts.

“The diversity is what makes the gym,” she says. “In the mornings there’s a complete mix of groups, at midday you kind of get the older group and a bit of the younger ones that are kind of just waking up, and then the evening is, again, a total mix and that’s when you see the majority of people come in here.”

Jasmine says working out in that environment “grounds you”.

“You see people out there that are older than you and they perform way better, and then you see people that are younger and that are coming in and trying their very best.”

She says “the culture of the gym” is what keeps her coming back.

“Especially the morning crew, from the staff members to the people that come here, it’s extremely accommodating, people care about you, they want to see you do good in life and in the gym, they encourage that kind of performance too.”

Arnold’s partner Heather Ward says Clubfit Baywave is “a great gym, I think, for encouragement”.

The 87 year old has been attending BodyBalance classes even longer than Arnold.

“You do everything to music, it’s almost like dancing,” she says.

“It’s social too and it’s non-competitive, so people are very supportive. Even if you can’t do things, you don’t feel you have to do them, and they stress that all the time.”

Heather has invited along her teenage granddaughter, who’s visiting from Auckland, to try BodyBalance for the first time. She grabs a mat and sits down next to her gran, quickly and easily fitting into the class.

As for Arnold, the headstands might have stopped but he is still bending his body this way and that, three days a week, inspiring his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and anyone who is lucky enough to find themselves in a three-legged downward-facing dog next to him.

“I hope to do it for a few more years yet,” Arnold says.

That’s good news for Clubfit Baywave, because every club needs a nimble nonagenarian.

Every club needs an Arnold.