Tell Us Your Story

This is Chip Gay's Exercise Is Medicine story.

Exercise physiologist helps people get the most out of training
Chip Gay would like ‘to have everyone in Mankato lifting weights’

"MANKATO — Chip Gay is an exercise physiologist at ISJ-Mayo Health System by day. By night, he’s an exercise physiologist with his neighbors in the Highland Park Neighborhood Association. “I really like what I do,” he says. As an exercise physiologist, Gay says his job is to “help people get the most out of exercise, and make sure they do it right. That makes exercising easier.” Two months ago at a neighborhood association meeting, Gay offered to hold strength-training sessions in the top floor of his garage for anyone interested. About a dozen showed up the first night. Most are still with the program, recruiting friends and relatives to come with them. During a recent session, participants ranged in age from 60 to 87. Evie Casey will be 88 in August. She came initially because she was having trouble rising from a chair. “Now I can not only get up with less trouble, but I can do so much more,” she says.Casey tries to bring her 86-year-old sister with her to the sessions because the weight training has helped her so much, she says. Mary Hansen is 85 and hates to miss a session. “This training is different than what we expected. It’s individualized, for all ages and abilities.” Hansen says she has found new strength in her hands and arms from the training. Grace Kier works out at a local gym regularly, but says the training she’s receiving with the weights has a most noticeable effect. “When I was making cookies, I used to have to stop stirring because I’d get so tired. Now, I can stir.” That’s the point, Gay says. “When you’re stronger, you can do more.” Gay fights misconceptions about exercise as part of his job and as part of his volunteer activities with his neighbors. “Exercise should never hurt.” Jim Johnson was a new participant in a recent Monday evening session in Gay’s workout loft. After instructing Johnson through eight exercises, he told Johnson, “You should always quit knowing you could have done more.” Hansen says Gay’s approach to exercise is different from what she expected. “We aren’t supposed to lift weights every day,” she says. “We’re supposed to take a day off in between. And we’re not supposed to hurt from it.” Feeling the effects of a workout is good, Gay says, but feeling pain is not. “Pain often means there is an injury.” Because of the interest and participation in his Monday evening classes, Gay applied for and received a grant from UCare that created a lending library of weights. People pay a $20 deposit and can check out weights to use at home. Hansen says that has been good for her, as she has worked up to heavier weights she uses in her home workouts before she purchases her own weights. As good as the exercise is for those involved, it may not be the driving factor that keeps people coming back. Cheryl Temple enjoys Nordic walking (with poles), biking and the weight training at Gay’s on Monday evenings. “We enjoy the social aspect. We get to meet new people, support each other, and see the progress we all are making.” And actually, Gay says, the social aspect may be the most important in keeping people coming back. “It’s easier to meet with people, exercise with them, and keep at it together than it is to exercise alone.” Gay says the program started as a pilot project. His ultimate goal, he says, “is to have everyone in Mankato lifting weights.” In reality, though, Gay invites other neighborhood associations to provide similar programs for strength training. He’s not sure how that can work, but wherever physical fitness professionals are in the community, he believes there is an opening for a similar program. With Minnesota State University, there might also be opportunities for students to become trainers for interested groups, Gay says. Although no plans are in place at the moment, he says by this fall, when people are through with summer vacations and outings, he hopes to have more strength training groups formed. The decal on the door to his exercise loft encapsulates Gay’s philosophy: “Exercise is My Medicine.”"

Tell Us Your Story

Jan Angilella shares how exercise changed her life.

"I know we're halfway through the month, but I still wanted to write. I turned 46 last week and I am in the best shape of my life! Although I've always been active and a workout fan, my system was askew. So, in September 2008, with the help of a trainer, who is also my nutrition guru, I lost the weight (45 pounds, 20 inches and counting), decreased the body fat percentage and have kept it off! Now I'm on the path to earning a personal trainer certification and I want to help others achieve what I did. For me, exercise IS medicine. By exercising correctly and eating right and staying with it, I started a new life. Everything got better: my confidence and improved self-esteem transcended to all parts of my life, such as the job, friendships, family. When you're in a good place within, you can take on anything. And that's where I am. Who's afraid of bathing suit shopping now? Not me! "