THE LATEST exercise techniques are being combined with prayer at a West Swindon church.

Ruth Barrett's Aerobic Praise class takes place at Toothill Church and promises to literally provide a workout for the body and soul.

She said: "I'm a trained fitness instructor and work primarily with post-natal women.

"I started doing this because it seemed a good opportunity to get people involved in exercise and a bit of praise at the same time.

"A lot of exercise classes are very large and very active and people can feel self conscious I wanted to start something very non-threatening.

"It's also an ideal opportunity to get non-church goers into the building."

Ruth, 40, uses upbeat modern Christian music and stands at the front of the church calling out exercise moves to members of the class.

She combines this with words of encouragement and inspiration on a Christian and spiritual theme.

Towards the end of the session she usually puts on relaxing music and finishes with a scripture reading.

She said: "I love music and I think this is a brilliant way to praise God. I think we should praise God with our bodies as well as our voices and our minds.

"I try to get people to focus on enjoying their bodies and using their bodies.

"I encourage people to introduce their own moves and sing if they want to.

"I want people to go out feeling relaxed and help them to put their troubles aside for a few minutes."

Members of the class range in age from a 66-year-old to eight-month-old Archie Best who attends with his mum, Sandy.

Mrs Best, 37, said: "I initially came to the post-natal sessions and I've been coming to this one for seven months.

"There's lots of exercises and stretching and I like the music.

"I enjoy the spiritual side of it as well.

"Praise and exercise are two things that are very important in my life this is a good way to do both at the same time."

Ray Clargo, 43, from West Swindon was the only man at Wednesday's class and attended with his partner Margaret Boyden, 52.

He said: "I'm not really a church-goer I came along to provide my partner with some support, we found out about it through a friend.

"This was my first time and I thought it was very good."

For more details about Aerobic Praise call 886394.