Photo by Karim Shamsi-Basha.
Livestrong Coordinator Renae McCullough helps Ginger Zingara with a machine at the Greystone YMCA.
Warm morning light comes through the windows and lands on Ginger Zingara’s hands. She holds a light dumbbell at shoulder height, elbow bent, muscles tight. Around her, the machines tick and clack, weight stacks settling, a sneaker squeaking on the floor. Her eyes are shining with determination, refusing to give way. She lifts.
On Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the Greystone YMCA, a small group works its way through a circuit that looks like any other class: resistance bands, light weights, a stretch sequence, some time on the cardio equipment.
The difference is who is in the room. Every person in it has had cancer, and the class is Livestrong at the YMCA, a free 12-week program for adult cancer survivors.
Photos by Karim Shamsi-Basha.
Group Exercise Director Renae McCullough, right, and Rod Dedrich with the Livestrong class at the Greystone YMCA.
“This program is about helping people in their recovery from cancer,” said Renae McCullough, group exercise director and Livestrong coordinator at the Greystone YMCA. “This program provides a safe place for cancer survivors, with accessible tools and healthy living goals.”
Livestrong is free, and participants do not have to be YMCA members to join. Those who are not members receive a complimentary membership for the duration of the 12 weeks, which gives them access to the branch’s pool, equipment and classes outside their scheduled sessions. Any adult 18 or older who is living with or beyond cancer treatment is eligible, and participants complete a health intake form and provide medical clearance from their doctor before starting.
Nationally, Livestrong at the YMCA has served over 75,000 participants since 2007.
It was developed with researchers at Yale University and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who found participants saw measurable gains in physical activity, fitness and quality of life, as well as a drop in cancer-related fatigue. The YMCA of the USA supports the program at branches across the country.
Cancer treatment contributes to loss of conditioning and fatigue, and the American College of Sports Medicine recommends that cancer survivors engage in moderate aerobic exercise at least three times a week for 30 minutes, plus resistance training twice a week.
Photos by Karim Shamsi-Basha.
This Livestrong group meets at the Greystone YMCA twice a week.
One more finding shapes the room itself: supervised programs consistently outperform unsupervised ones. Part of that is technique and safety. Part of it is that showing up somewhere at a set hour, where people expect you, is a different proposition than intending to exercise. Much of what looks like ordinary gym programming at Greystone is, in effect, a clinical prescription filled in a group exercise room.
Classes at Greystone are deliberately small and cap at 12 participants, with an instructor and one to two assistants. McCullough said the size is the point.
“Twelve is the max, and that’s individualized enough for personal connections,” McCullough said. “That way, everyone in the class receives the attention and care they deserve.”
The mix of activity depends on the person. Participants might do yoga, stretching or Pilates. They might lift weights, work on cardio, or use resistance bands or the branch’s eGym equipment. Each participant completes a fitness and quality-of-life assessment at the start and end of the 12 weeks, and members of a class often advance into the Y’s regular group exercise offerings when they finish.
The first Greystone group was 10 women, all of them breast cancer survivors. Ginger Zingara was one of the participants who came back for a second round.
“I liked it so much I did it again,” Zingara said. “You get to meet other survivors and form a bond, and all the exercises are customized to your abilities. It makes you feel so much better afterward.”
Photos by Karim Shamsi-Basha.
Members of the Livestrong class work out on various machines.
That customization comes up repeatedly among participants. Sheila Pownall said the instructors pay attention.
“They listen to you and adjust the program to fit exactly what you can do,” Pownall said. “I needed to start exercising, and this program gave me a place to be accountable. Also, you feel supported in a big way.”
McCullough said the response has been strong enough that several participants, out of treatment and ready to keep going, have told her that two days a week was not enough.
“Their bodies have been through a lot,” McCullough said. “They’re thankful for the program, and they see the difference it makes in their overall health day in and day out.”
For the Y, none of it is incidental.
“We want people to know this is a community initiative,” said Rod Dedrich, a Livestrong instructor at the Greystone Y. “We’re a mission-centered organization, and we want to help you feel better.”
Livestrong has since expanded beyond Greystone to the Hoover, Mountain Brook, Shades Valley and Trussville branches, McCullough said, with the goal of eventually offering it at every branch in the association.
It sits alongside the Y’s other evidence-based health programming, much of which also runs at Greystone. Defeat PD, a Parkinson’s-specific exercise class led by PWR! Moves certified instructors, meets at the branch Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12:30-1:30 p.m. A Parkinson’s support group for patients and care partners meets at Greystone the second Tuesday of each month from 1-2:30 p.m. Both, like Livestrong, are offered at no cost.
Photos by Karim Shamsi-Basha.
Rod Dedrich demonstrates a workout for the Livestrong class.
The through-line, McCullough said, is meeting people where they are rather than asking them to arrive already fit.
That is also the most common misconception she runs into. Participants do not need a baseline level of fitness to start, and they are not expected to talk about their diagnosis unless they want to. Instructors are trained in cancer survivorship, post-rehabilitation exercise, and supportive cancer care, and are equipped to modify movements for fatigue, neuropathy, limited range of motion or lymphedema.
For survivors along the 280 corridor, the practical appeal is proximity. Greystone is a short drive for much of the area, and the program removes the two barriers that most often keep people out of a gym after treatment: cost, and the worry of walking into a room where nobody understands what your body has just been through.
Those interested in Livestrong at the Y can complete an interest form at ymcabham.org. Candidates are contacted with next steps, including intake paperwork that can be completed at home and a specialized trainer conducts a brief in-person assessment before the session begins.
More information on the national program is available at livestrong.org.
By the end of the hour at the Greystone YMCA, the light has moved off the window and onto the far wall. Zingara sets the dumbbell back on the rack, and the weight stacks go quiet one at a time as the room empties. She came back for a second round for the exercise, yes, but the bigger reason is the bond she formed with the ten other people in the room.
She will be here Thursday.
