Marie leads the fitness battle

CLUB CALL is a Chronicle series highlighting the hard work done by a variety of community organisations in Oldham and surrounding areas. Here, BEATRIZ AYALA speaks to qualified aerobics instructor Marie Trainer about her exercise classes at St Thomas’s Church, Moorside.

AGE is no barrier to fitness according to the ladies who attend the weekly exercise classes at St Thomas’s Church, Moorside.

Fitness fans have been filling the church hall since the classes began 16 years ago.

Up to 40 members — aged up to 74 — get physical during sessions held three times a week which focus on toning and strengthening.

And they find that attending the low impact workouts helps keep them slim and supple.

Qualified aerobic instructor Marie Trainer knows first-hand the benefit of exercise.

The 56-year-old, from Haven Lane, Moorside, said: “I’ve always been active but I had a bad accident when I was 30 and nearly lost my arm.

“This meant that I could hardly do anything. “If I hadn’t exercised after that accident, I would have been in a lot of pain and would feel a lot more arthritic.

“A lot of my members who swear by my class say they would be more or less immobile if they did not exercise.”

Mrs Trainer holds sessions at the Glebe Lane church every Monday 1.30-2.30pm and Wednesday 10-11am, with a faster session held Thursday 10-11am.

Although aimed at the over 50s, Mrs Trainer is hoping to attract younger people and even start sessions for men.

She said: “I started the Thursday sessions hoping that younger people would come, such as mums who have dropped children off at nearby schools. And I’m thinking about starting a session for men — a lot of members have retired husbands who are not exercising.”

For more details call 0161 628 4509.