Faces of Broomfield and Westminster
The Can Do Man
By Dorothy Mayer
Photos by Sharon LaTraille
It's a fact that everyone can do something to improve their quality of life. According to Jay Willey, "It's not what you can't do but what you can do to make your life better." He focuses on the possible and finds that very often people can do more than they thought possible.
Jay has been helping people get in shape long before the current fitness craze began. He's been at it for 45 years and counting. He began by getting in shape himself as a young man. "It's always been a second profession, " he said, "sometimes on weekends, sometimes in the evenings, but whatever else I was doing, I was always doing something physical too. I began training in graduate school in '62 and '63 and always kept it up." Now, in his sixties, he is in very good shape.
Currently employed as a Certified Fitness Trainer at Paul Derda Recreation Center and Broomfield Community Center, Jay has a masters of education in adaptive exercise. He also holds certification from the International Sports Science Association (lSSA) and the American Council on Exercise Fitness (ACE), which are fitness certification organizations. .
Jay's typical workday might consist of individual fitness classes, rehab appointments with people who have various challenges, Nordic walking classes, group weight training classes, and Silver Sneakers fitness assessments.
"I also do some classes at the climbing wall and I do some building supervision when the kids are out of school. For example, I recently worked from 11 p.m. until 3:30 a.m. for an 'after Prom' that was held at Paul Derda."
For seniors who aren't aware of it, Silver Sneakers provides a free membership to athletic centers for senior members of Kaiser Permanente, Secure Horizons, Humana, AARP and other organizations around the country.
"Any given day can be very different," Jay says. "It can include anything from Silver Sneakers classes to 11-year-old children's classes. Some days can range from 5:30 in the morning till 8 at night and some days I have only a few appointments. I mostly work at Paul Derda with only a few appointments at BCC."
What he most enjoys about his work, he says, is helping people to realize their potential.
His experience has proved that when people have the opportunity to improve their quality of life, especially in a physical sense, amazing things can happen. He believes that everybody is capable of doing something. "We just have to find out what it is."
People have made incredible progress on his watch, either in terms of overcoming a challenge, seeing improvement in their lifestyle, or just attaining weight loss. "Progress is not always measured in huge steps. I have had the opportunity to watch not only individuals who have achieved truly gigantic steps but also those who've made advances that may seem minor, but to the individual are giant leaps."
Jay says one of the joys of this profession is that he can observe people feeling better about themselves when they find they can do something they never dreamed they could.
One his personal goals is to always look at every person and every situation differently. He takes into account every person's history, their ability and their time constraints. "You not only have to cater to the person's needs but to the time they have available."
He decides how to adapt the routine to the person's needs. For example, two people may be doing an identical exercise but the observer couldn't tell that one is exercising to improve his golf game, while the other is working on strengthening his shoulder. "And that's exciting to me, because we can take the same exercises and make them work for very different outcomes."
Is there humor in physical fitness training? Of course: "People are funny. For instance, one of our exercises for seniors is simply having them get up and sit down repeatedly. The grandchildren might ask, 'Why is grandma doing that? Is something wrong with her?' It's a good exercise, but if you don't know why she's doing it, it can look pretty funny."
Humor is an underlying attribute with all of us, he says. A sense of humor is a real asset when a person is learning how to use a machine or do an exercise routine. You have to give yourself a break and realize the world won't end if you don't perform an exercise perfectly the first time.
What about people who are a little self conscious about starting an exercise program? Perhaps they've been sedentary for quite a while and are feeling insecure about what might happen when they begin.
"We all are hesitant in this area," Jay says, "The thing to remember is that it's a one-step-at-a-time process. We have to put people at ease and sometimes it's as small a thing as finding the right time to come into the weight room."
"If they're really self-conscious about it we'll figure out a time when there are the fewest number of people there. We try to consider people's feelings and help them realize it's not a big deal. When some people think of physical activities, they think of pro athletes, like what they see on TV. They forget physical benefits can come from something as simple as walking, climbing stairs, or riding a bike. So we try to get people to feel comfortable with small steps and then we can always add more."
Some of the weight room beginners say it's Jay's soft-spoken and easygoing manner that helps calm any anxiety they may have in learning to work out on the machines or follow a routine.
Certain people may actually work with only two machines in the whole weight room, and a couple weeks later another machine is added. Then there are others who are asked to do twenty different routines the first day. It depends on the individual.
"One rule I adhere to in helping others is that whether it's the most advanced exercise, or a very simple activity, I never ask anyone to do anything that I haven't tried myself."
His own experience with some personal physical challenges has enabled Jay to have a deeper understanding of people with some unique disabilities and has given him the confidence to be able to help them attain their goals.
"And that's why I stress that we don't worry about what you can't do. It's what you can do that's important."
And, for a long time, Jay's been helping a lot of grateful people do what they can do and do it to the best of their ability.
Note:
Jay can be contacted through thePaul Derda Recreation Center at 303-460-6901.