1/2/2011 by ERIN MATHEWS | Salina Journal Aaron Gay likes spending his day helping people feel better.

As a part-time personal trainer at the Salina Family YMCA, Gay helps people achieve fitness goals to get or stay in shape.

As a full-time nursing student at Kansas Wesleyan University, Gay has begun supervised care for patients. someday, he hopes to work professionally in the nursing field.

Gay works the front desk at the YMCA when he’s not busy working one-on-one with people wanting to improve their fitness level.

Gay said his personal training clients have ranged from teenaged athletes to geriatric men wanting to build up muscle mass. He said he’s helped clients with muscular coordination problems, balance issues and those mobility issues while recovering from surgery.

“We get pretty much everybody and anybody you could think of here at the Y,” he said. “Some are in very good shape. Some are in not-so-good shape. Some are in no shape at all — to be quite frank about it.”

Gay is certified as a trainer through the YMCA and is working to acquire his national certification.

As a personal trainer, Gay formulates individualized exercise programs for each client and provides motivation for the people who need it. A person’s starting point, age and what they are hoping to accomplish all factor into what kind of exercise plan will work for them, he said.

He said he spends a fair amount of time doing research to separate exercise fads from healthy habits.

“There’s lots of trial and error and trying new things,” he said. “I experiment and decide what works and apply those things to people’s specific needs.”

He said most clients can tell a difference in how they feel within a couple of weeks, but it depends on the person.

Gay specializes in weight training, but he also is well-versed in cardiovascular exercise and conditioning.

He developed his passion for training as a college football player during two seasons with Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, Calif., and then at Kansas Wesleyan. He also served as a student football coach at KWU and coached for St. John’s Military School in the 2009 season.

“I believe everyone should exercise in one way or another,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you start just as long as you start and continue.”

Becoming more physically fit helps a person with overall strength and flexibility, joint health, cardiovascular fitness and the body’s ability to use nutrients, he said.

But it is possible to overdo, he said. Just as there are people with eating disorders, there are people who binge and purge on exercise.

“That’s totally unhealthy,” he said. “As much as everybody wants to look good, ultimately we want you as healthy as can be.”

n Reporter Erin Mathews can be reached at 822-1415 or by e-mail at emathews@salina.com.

OCCUPATION: Personal trainer, Salina Family YMCA Fitness Center, 570 YMCA Drive

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