Rotorua women in sixties, seventies and eighties use gymnastics to manage falls-risk

Hats, gloves and flamboyant jewellery aren't normally part of a sports uniform, but that's exactly what the Red Hot Lava women's group wore to Mid Island Gym Sports this week.

The international Red Hat Society promotes fun and friendship with ageing and the Rotorua branch members wore their red and purple fancy dress to the gymnastic session on Monday, where they practised balancing and getting up safely after falls.

Red Hot Lava has 28 members in Rotorua.

Red Hot Lava members give gym a go. Photo / Samantha Olley

They normally do trips to scenic locations, historic places, restaurants and cafes, and events such as the World of Wearable Arts Festival but member Robyn Donaldson, known to the group as Lady Dragon, proposed the gymnastics idea close to home.

She was one of MIGS' founders, and coached centre manager Lynette Farkash when she was younger.

Farkash was a bronze medallist at the Commonwealth Games at Edmonton in Canada in 1978.

"It [gymnastics] is just what I know" Donaldson said. "I have coached all my life."

She took her fellow Red Hot Lava members, aged from their sixties to eighties, through stretches, a warm-up, posture and balance exercises, and then using the gym trampolines and beams.

"For a lot of them, if they fell it would be a traumatic shock so we are teaching them how to get up, not to panic, so it is not so scary."

Chris Macann (Lady Genibug) thought the beam would be in the too-hard basket.

"I cannot do a lot because I broke my ankle a few years ago, but I ended up doing the beam three or four times, even the big one."

Lady Leadfoot, Barb Sundgren, said the session wasn't just about safety.

"The group believes in growing old disgracefully, being able to laugh at ourselves, letting the little girl come out."