Trinity's Exercise Physiology, located at the Minot Family YMCA, offers personal training and personalized exercise programs. Now, the department is branching out to include small group training.
"The dynamics of having a group is a lot more fun, and they can motivate each other. They are having so much fun sometimes that they work harder without even realizing it," said Russell Gust, exercise physiologist for Trinty Health.
"They are all starting to see some benefit, and we've been having the group since October. You could call it our pilot group, to see how it goes, and so far it's worked out pretty well," he added.
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Katina Tengesdal/MDN
A group of women participate in regular exercise as a part of the Trinity Exercise Physiology department at the Minot Family YMCA, and are the first to work together in a group. Left to right are: Russell Gust, exercise physiologist; Rachel Rutten, Kathy Sartwell, Susan Brekke-Wentz, and Barb Kohlman.
The group began when Gust asked Susan Brekke-Wentz, one of his personal training clients, if she would like to recruit friends to exercise with. The benefits of the group would include not only a reduced cost from one-on-one training, but also the comraderie of friends.
"I got a trainer because I know I wouldn't do weights on my own, and I think that at my age, it's important to do everything. I brought in my friends, and now we come twice a week. It's a lot more fun, we laugh, and we just have a good time," Brekke-Wentz said.
"I was tired of exercising alone, too. I think with the group, we're more apt to come. And Russell has been great, there are a few of us with limitations with our knees, but he puts in exercises that everyone can do," said Rachel Rutten, a member of the exercise group.
The motivation has helped the entire group, and has even had one member who has improved by leaps and bounds. Before Kathy Sartwell joined the group, she had been immobile for awhile because of injury. She began using lighter weights than the rest of the group, but has since caught up.
The group, which meets twice a week for an hour, does a variety of activities. They have been working on strength training, cardio exercise, and core and flexibility training.
"What we do varies with each workout. I try to vary it as much as possible to keep them interested, and keep it exciting and new. If you do the same thing every day, you eventually get bored of it and you won't continue," Gust said.