{"id":199794,"date":"2025-10-09T07:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T07:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/199794\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T07:16:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T07:16:09","slug":"on-the-up-hastings-couple-nane-araia-and-wiremu-manaena-are-changing-a-community-by-running-free-fitness-classes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/199794\/","title":{"rendered":"On The Up: Hastings couple Nane Araia and Wiremu Manaena are changing a community by running free fitness classes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cJust to even pass, honestly. I couldn\u2019t even have cared if it was 51%. That 1% would have meant everything to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

After completing EIT in 2024, Araia and Manaena brought their passion for health and fitness back to their community with a new pod in Camberley.<\/p>\n

The pod initiative provides free community exercise classes from a portable shipping container and was set up in 2020 by cousins Levi Armstrong and Whare Timu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Araia and Manaena, establishing a pod just metres from where she grew up is deeply personal.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me and my partner, giving back to a community that we love and we grew up in means everything to us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes it more special to give back to people that we grew up around, and we get to come back and play where we were 5 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NaneNane Araia leading an afternoon fitness class at the Camberley Fitness Pod at Kirkpatrick Park. Photo \/ Jack Riddell<\/p>\n

Each weekday, Araia and Manaena are at the pod at Kirkpatrick at 9.10am and 5pm to train whoever shows up for half an hour or so, totally for free.<\/p>\n

When Hawke\u2019s Bay Today arrived for the afternoon workout, about 35 people had gathered in their workout gear to train with the couple.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s quite small, we\u2019re normally up in the 40s,\u201d Araia said.<\/p>\n

But she still wants more.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive me 100 people each session, I want to be challenged,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s not just for Camberley residents, we\u2019ve called it Hawke\u2019s Bay and wider. We have people come from Havelock North, Maraenui, Flaxmere, Mahora, and Raureka.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they show up for me, I\u2019ll show up for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the class, the group is split up into clusters and Araia shouts out instruction and encouragement, while Manaena helps people with injuries or disabilities get their exercise in.<\/p>\n

\"ShanaeaShanaea Sanders at the Camberley Fitness Pod in Kirkpatrick Park. Photo \/ Jack Riddell<\/p>\n

Among those working out is full-time mum of five Shanaea Sanders, who recently relocated to Hastings from Gisborne.<\/p>\n

Since working out with Araia, Sanders said her life has improved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m waking up with a better mindset, I don\u2019t bring myself down when I\u2019m looking in the mirror \u2013 I\u2019m actually proud of what I\u2019m looking like because I know it\u2019s a work in progress and Nane always makes sure that she\u2019s real about every single thing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, being around home, being happier, and my kids can see it on me. It\u2019s a really positive impact on my life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually helped my mental health push boundaries, like if you know what I mean, and think where I can implement this into other people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke\u2019s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in Britain, Germany, and New Zealand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cJust to even pass, honestly. I couldn\u2019t even have cared if it was 51%. That 1% would have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[617,124950,36577,64,63,7504,124955,13094,124953,5214,22618,554,538,17846,69417,1644,65604,29253,137,101265,22625,124952,124949,2652,2434,75342,320,8045,124954,124951,3605,91369],"class_list":["post-199794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-and","tag-araia","tag-are","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-by","tag-camberley","tag-changing","tag-classes","tag-community","tag-couple","tag-exercise","tag-fitness","tag-free","tag-friendly","tag-good","tag-hastings","tag-head","tag-health","tag-infectious","tag-looking","tag-manaena","tag-nane","tag-on","tag-running","tag-suburb","tag-the","tag-up","tag-vibes","tag-wiremu","tag-with","tag-youre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}