Mavis Mannall is proving that age is just a number, as she continues to go to the gym at 94.
Mavis has been going to the gym for about 20 years and is a member of the Papanui Club Ignite Fitness Gym in Christchurch.
She said she has always been very active, being involved with basketball and swimming when she was younger.
“I have just always loved exercise, I have always kept fit throughout my life,” she said.
Mavis said she does not drive anymore. She only stopped two years ago but gets other people to pick her up to bring her to the gym.
“I pay them to pick me up, bring me to the gym and then go shopping, then buy them a cuppa as well and have a bit of socialising.”
“You walk through the door, and you feel like you’ve come home and it’s the people as well as the exercise. They are there to help if you need it.”
Ignite Fitness Gym manager Eddie Kerrigan said she has been a member of the gym since it opened in 2016 and “everyone just loves her”.
“Mavis is an amazing person. She just wants to do everything that everyone else is doing. She doesn’t want to take anything easy. She wants to do all the hard ones."
Kerrigan said that he makes sure to give her exercises that are watered down so she's able to do them safely.
“That’s the big thing. She does things that a lot of other people and a lot of younger members don’t. She pushes more weight. She’s just really focused and determined and quite inspirational.”
Mavis said she does not have a particular favourite exercise; she tries to do five minutes on each for about an hour to an hour and a half, but does have an exercise she loathes.
“The box. You put the weights in the box and then you push the box along the carpet. I do it about eight times. Nobody likes doing the box.”
Mavis said that the secret to longevity is to have a good sense of humour, be kind, learn to compromise - and lastly, to not mess with Mavis.
“My mummy used to say don’t tell me you can’t do it, just get on and do it. That’s how I was brought up. Don’t think about it, just do it.”
- By Briar Allen
