Rangatahi container gym opens on Marine Parade, Napier

New mobile container gym Domynis opens to public on Marine Parade, Napier, as owner Levi Armstrong looks to improve fitness accessibility for rangatahi. Photo / Warren Buckland

A new mobile container gym has opened to the public on Napier's Marine Parade, with the aim of making fitness accessible for all rangatahi, regardless of their background.

The Domynis – New Zealand's first beach-based fitness pod – is free for those under the age of 18.

Set up by local fitness guru Levi Armstrong and his Wellington-based cousin Whare Timu, the new container gym is equipped with Olympic level bars and weight racks, skipping ropes and boxing equipment.

Armstrong, the former owner of Patu Gym, said he was forced to close his previous business venture in 2018 after an increase in lease prices.

As a result, Armstrong and his clients took to the streets of Maraenui, Napier, to continue their exercise, before a lightbulb moment.

The fitness entrepreneur said the idea of a container gym was birthed after a Christmas Day discussion with his architect cousin, Timu.

"We see cost as a barrier for hard-to-reach whānau," he said.

"We see a real need to make exercise, health and fitness accessible for all people, regardless of ethnicity and communities.

"With Covid, a lot of businesses shut down and sometimes you have to think outside the square."

Levi Armstrong says the new container gym is equipped with Olympic level bars and weight racks, skipping ropes and boxing equipment. Photo / Warren Buckland

Armstrong said more than 100 people visited the gym in the opening two days.

"To have it on Marine Parade is awesome," he said.

"There's a lot of foot traffic who say 'I've never seen anything like this before'. People are used to seeing these things as coffee carts, but not gyms."

Domynis is named after one of Armstrong's close friends, Dominique Lamberg-Jones, who passed away after a battle with cancer in November 2019.

"Dominique was athletic and sporty and only in her 30s. The main goal is to get young people involved in exercise in her memory," he added.

Adults are currently able to use the gym at a cost of $10 per week, while personal trainers can also book in to use the facilities and equipment with clients for free.

But Armstrong says he plans to move the gym to Maraenui and offer the space free for all locals in the future.

"The uniqueness of the pod's design is that it allows people to come together, move together, with a focus on the mental, physical and social wellbeing of whanau," he said.

"This container gym or urban marae concept is unique because it can be slotted into the community depending on need and can then be moved to another location when its service is no longer required."

Alongside the launch of Domynis, Armstrong hopes his wellbeing tool - Meke Meter – will work alongside the new gym to help the region's overall health.

"The bigger picture with this project is to use the Meke Meter to understand the community and how they're thinking mentally, physically and socially," he said.

"We talk about exercise all the time, but we're in a time where mental wellbeing needs to be at the top of everyone's health."

Napier City Council, LWC Confederation and BGI also helped support the build.