As they warm up, the exercise class move their hands and hips in unison to a “kapa rima”, a Cook Islands action song. Then, after tackling resistance exercises simulating the movements used to prepare coconut cream, there’s a heart-pumping session of “uru pā’u” – adance accompanied by Cook Island drums – before a warm-down.
For the participants, their heart rates starting to lower, the class was clearly a physical exercise, but for Dr Troy Ruhe, it was also an academic one.
The class was based on an exercise model called Niu Movement that the University of Otagohealthresearcherdevelopedaspartof his PhD exploring what makes an effective and culturally appropriate physical activity programme for Pacific people.
And as part of his doctorate, he also put what
