LIVESTRONG at the O'Fallon YMCA Celebrates One Year of Success

On the eve of its one-year anniversary, LIVESTRONG at the has been deemed a success thus far. One of only two YMCA sites in the St. Louis area to host the program, each 12-week session boasts an average of 15 participants combined in the daytime and evening sessions. St. Charles YMCA also hosts the program. 

The goal of the program is simple: Help cancer survivors build muscle strength, increase endurance, improve functional ability and reduce the side effects of treatment, said Kristi Bradley, personal trainer and LIVESTRONG at the Y coordinator.

LIVESTRONG defines a cancer survivor as a person diagnosed with cancer, meaning they become a survivor the minute they are diagnosed.

LIVESTRONG at the Y accepts any cancer survivors with a release from their physician. After that, the participant goes through an intake interview, where Bradley assesses where they are in their cancer treatment and what fitness goals they have. She also takes into account the types of medications a survivor is taking or what side effects the medications may cause.

“Everyone participates at their own level,” she said, adding that during cancer treatment, many survivors struggle to get out of bed, much less exercise.

Many participants have not been part of a fitness program, plus they have different exercise needs than the general population may have, she said. Bradley takes them on a journey, teaching them not just how to use weight equipment and cardio machines, but how to build a program that they can sustain for the long term.

Bradley has been a personal trainer for over four years and has completed additional training provided by LIVESTRONG. She understands the special fitness needs of a cancer survivor.

The LIVESTRONG program encourages family members to accompany the survivors and take part in the free, 12-week membership. Bradley said that many participants in the program go on to join the Y after their 12-week free membership is finished.

“That is important. One of the goals of the program is to keep them (the survivors) exercising for the long term,” she said.

Participants in the program commit to attending two classes a week for 12 weeks, but are free to come in and use the facilities any time on their own during that time. The class members can choose the evening sessions, usually meeting on Mondays and Wednesdays or the daytime sessions which meet on Tuesdays and Fridays.

She also emphasized that the participants who are most successful do come into the YMCA on their own to work out during the 12-week time frame, not just during the classes.

Diana Kannady, membership director for the O’Fallon YMCA, said that the free 12-week memberships are paid for through the program. Through constant fundraising, each Y is able to provide money for a service area, and the O’Fallon YMCA is no different.

“This is one of the many ways that the money people donate touches and impacts lives,” she said.

Bradley emphasized that the program also relies on volunteers. She noted that while the LIVESTRONG program was not a support group in the traditional sense, past program attendees come back to offer support and assistance to new members.

“John (Ingerslew) and Vince (Evans) are committed volunteers,” she said.

Ingerslew and Evans come to the first night of each new 12-week session to share and give examples of how the LIVESTRONG program helped them. She said one or the other also attend a large percentage of the classes during the 12-week session. They provide encouragement and hope for attendees in ways that a non-survivor could not.

Bradley said doctors at the Siteman Cancer Center on the campus of Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital refer many of the participants to the LIVESTRONG program. She hopes that word of this program spreads, adding that several more St. Louis area YMCAs will be adding LIVESTRONG programs this year.

“Sometimes we also get referrals from the St. Charles YMCA, depending on their enrollment numbers,” she said.

For information on the LIVESTRONG at the Y program, contact Kristi Bradley at 636-379-0092 or kbradley@ymcastlouis.org . She said there are one or two spots available for the evening classes beginning July 11 and several more openings for the daytime classes scheduled to begin Aug. 9.