NextStepNZ Mount Maunganui, at 14B Hocking Street in Tauranga, is the flagship of New Zealand's first fully accessible exercise and neuro recovery centres — a small network that also includes Whakatane and Hamilton. Built for everyone regardless of ability, age, or starting point, it serves people recovering from injury, managing health conditions, or simply ready to feel stronger.
The centre is a pioneer in neurological rehabilitation. It is the only facility in the country offering activity-based therapy, locomotor training, and advanced neuromuscular electrical stimulation, delivered through evidence-based programs founded on promoting neuroplasticity through repetitive, task-specific movement. The team collaborates with global experts such as Dr. Susan Harkema and supports clients ranging from people with spinal cord injuries to stroke survivors and individuals with cerebral palsy.
Beyond neuro recovery, the gym itself is genuinely state of the art: a large cardio zone with Matrix touch-screen technology and heart-rate monitoring, Nautilus strength equipment, a big CrossFit rack, seniors fitness gear, and fully accessible equipment from makers like Reck Motomed and NuStep. Members can add physiotherapy, massage therapy, paediatric DMI Therapy, personal training, small group classes, online training, and time in the Recovery Lounge with Normatec, Compex, and Hyperice tools.
What members mention most is the community — a supportive space where small steps lead to big wins, and where progress, however modest, is genuinely celebrated.
On Hocking Street in Mount Maunganui sits the centre where NextStepNZ's story began. The flagship of New Zealand's first fully accessible exercise and neuro recovery centres, the Tauranga gym was built on a simple conviction: a gym should work for everyone, whatever their ability, age, or starting point. Whether you're recovering from an injury, managing a health condition, or simply ready to feel stronger, the team's promise is the same — to help you take your next step.
Walk in and you'll find a fully functioning exercise centre rather than a converted fitness studio. The large cardio zone runs on Matrix touch-screen technology with built-in heart-rate monitoring, while the strength room holds a wide range of Nautilus equipment and a big CrossFit rack for Olympic lifting and strength work.
For older members, there's dedicated seniors fitness support: numerous cardio options for almost any ailment, strength machines designed to move smoothly without jarring the body, and balance and falls equipment to build confidence on your feet.
Accessibility is the thread running through it all. NextStepNZ stocks fully accessible equipment you won't find elsewhere — leading machines from manufacturers like Reck Motomed and NuStep — so wheelchair users can get a genuine, full workout from their chair or a seated position.
What truly sets this centre apart is its neurological recovery work. NextStepNZ is the only facility in New Zealand offering activity-based therapy, locomotor training, and advanced neuromuscular electrical stimulation — cutting-edge, evidence-based programs built around one principle: promoting neuroplasticity through repetitive, task-specific movement.
The team collaborates with global experts such as Dr. Susan Harkema to keep methods aligned with the latest science. Clients range from people with spinal cord injuries to stroke survivors and individuals with cerebral palsy, all working toward the same goals: functional movement, independence, and better quality of life in a supportive, innovative environment.
It's an approach members clearly respond to. "NextStepNZ gave me hope when I thought I'd never walk again," wrote Casey, a Mount Maunganui member. "The team believed in me, and now I'm taking steps I never imagined."
NextStepNZ treats wellness as bigger than exercise. Alongside the gym, the Mount Maunganui centre acts as a hub of integrated services — physiotherapy, massage therapy, and paediatric DMI Therapy delivered by experienced trainers, with pop-up clinics carrying neurological rehabilitation to cities around the country.
The staff credentials are genuinely rare: the wider NextStep team includes two of only three Medical Exercise Specialists in New Zealand, and a resident physiotherapist can build a rehab routine for you straight after surgery. Technology plays its part too, with gadgets used to measure and quantify the results you're achieving. Personal training sessions are led by some of the country's most advanced and experienced exercise physiologists.
Recovery gets its own space as well. The Recovery Lounge is open to anyone who needs it — not just athletes but factory workers on their feet all day — with equipment from well-known brands like Normatec, Compex, and Hyperice. You relax in a lazy boy chair and watch Netflix while the technology does its work.
Not everyone can make it through the door, so NextStepNZ offers online training with personalised rehab and programming wherever you are. On-site, small group classes suit a range of abilities, and every member works from a personalised plan crafted by exercise physiologists and medical exercise specialists — from Activity Based Therapy to general strength work.
The atmosphere is the detail members mention most. All three NextStepNZ locations — Mount Maunganui, Whakatane, and Hamilton — are described as communities of care and empowerment, places where "small steps lead to big wins," progress is celebrated, and limits are gently challenged.
If you're curious whether it's the right fit, the team encourages a conversation first: whether you have a question, want to book a session, or just need advice, you can call 07 572 0771 or email info@nextstepnz.com. For anyone in the Bay of Plenty recovering, rebuilding, or simply ready to feel stronger, the journey — as they put it — begins here.