“Find a comfortable position, close your eyes if you want to, and thank your body for letting you work out today.” I lie back and look up at the sky, pinking at the edges. These are the best words to hear, not only because we’re about to luxuriate in 90 seconds of peaceful meditation (possibly the only 90 seconds I might give myself today), but the hard part of the Sol Fitness class is done and the post-exercise endorphins have kicked in, lifting my mood and energy. Body and soul, I feel great.
Sol Fitness is a group fitness community, unique for making the most of Gizzy’s surroundings. Not married to a typical brick and mortar gym, the mobile classes are held in the great outdoors. Regular classes are held outside at St Mary’s and Wainui Beach schools, and pop-ups are held in local parks and reserves. Along with increased strength and cardio health, with Sol Fitness you get a bonus of vitamin D and birdsong in the summer, and moonlight and constellations in the winter. (The regular classes have indoor and covered spaces to keep people cool, sun-safe and dry when needed.) Some from the Wainui class occasionally whip across the road for a post-workout ocean dip, a unique option for this mobile fitness class.
You might have come across the friendly Sol Fitness founder and trainer, Jorge Buelna. Engineering brought him to Gisborne from his home in Mexico back in 2017. In the intervening years, he followed his personal fitness passions which often involved rallying friends to do fun and challenging workouts together, like a group run or cycle that ended at a coffee shop. He started bringing a small speaker for musical motivation to the free, weekly Friday Stairs and over time became the cheerful face of this year-round activity. Each summer and winter solstice for the last few years, he’s organised celebratory sunrise ocean dips, which have grown to over 100 attendees.
His welcoming and likeable personality alongside his passion for motivating others in their fitness goals led him to start his own fitness business, now fully established and pumping. A certified personal trainer, Jorge makes sure all feel welcome and that there’s something for everyone. Sol Fitness workouts vary each session but always include scaled options for all the exercises so that people of different fitness levels and ages have their best workout. People from 13 - 70+ work out with Sol Fitness and everyone is encouraged to choose the intensity that is best for them.
Four times a week, you can join a regular Sol Fitness group class. On Monday & Wednesday evenings, from 5:30pm at St Mary’s School and on Tuesday & Thursday mornings, from 6:00am at Wainui Beach School, Sol Fitness classes are 50-minute full-body workouts – a mix of cardio and body weight or weighted exercises. On Saturdays through to the end of March, get in quick for his small-group kettlebell sessions, held beachfront opposite Watson Park. Keep your eye out for the next of these seasonal pop-up classes.
Now that he’s established the regular classes and found a recipe for seasonal pop-up classes, next for Sol Fitness is branching out to workplace classes. He can pull his trailer of weights and fitness gear to a workplace for group classes of almost any size and for all fitness abilities. He structures his classes so up to 40 people can workout together. Sol Fitness workouts would be a meaningful and fun option for workplaces looking for team bonding or as part of a workplace wellness program.
The workout is done, the high-fives have gone around, and we’ve done our cool-down stretching. Now it’s time to get into that comfortable position, which for me is on my back, hands laced under my head. Jorge switches the music to a soothing, groovy ambient guitar tune. “Here’s 90 seconds just for you, in complete silence.” In the early autumn evening, I watch a few clouds float past in the colouring sky. The cicadas’ steady chirp from the trees around us harmonise with the happy sighs of the other people around me. It’s pretty special what Sol Fitness offers: a friendly community that motivates us to be fit and strong. And as we know, being connected to a community is something that keeps us well for the long haul of life.
Newcomers are always welcome at Sol Fitness. You can find everything you need to know at their website solfitness.co.nz and on instagram at @solfitnesss. If you’re a workplace, sing out to Jorge to learn about how to increase your staff’s wellness.
Photography by Jorge Buelna, Jordan Perry, and Matt Lang.