When Linda Mendez reports to work each day, she has the satisfaction of knowing that she is making a difference in people’s lives by helping them become healthier and live longer. Mendez, the Portage Township YMCA Fitness Coordinator, has 30 years as a fitness instructor under her belt. During that time, she has helped others realize the importance of maintaining a high level of fitness.
“It’s to help keep yourself healthy,” she said. “It’s the best way to stay healthy without going to the old resource of medications and doctors.”
Mendez’s duties as YMCA Fitness Coordinator include scheduling employees to train clients and members of the YMCA, teaching classes and giving personal training. Eight months after the birth of her son, she was asked to fill-in for her sister as the instructor of a fitness class. Little did she know that would lead to a career that has spanned three decades.
Mendez said that in her early days as an instructor she was very timid and shy. Over time she has learned how to take criticism and that not everybody likes everything.
“Everybody has different opinions, so it’s good to listen and learn from mistakes or experiences from the past,” she said.
For Mendez, physical fitness has always been a family affair. Her sister was a bodybuilder, both her children worked out and her husband is a diabetic, which creates an even greater emphasis on his health. Mendez’s 86 year old mother still works out at the YMCA.
Mendez’s recommendation for someone who is not physically active is to start off slow.
“Walking is an excellent fitness activity,” she said. “It doesn’t take much to walk; you can walk outside or you can join a facility, like the Y, so in the winter you have our indoor walking track. That’s a good way to start and then look into some other type of program as far as classes or getting with a trainer, which would help you reach more of your goals.”
Mendez has trained people with a wide range of fitness and skill levels. She has women in her steps classes that have been with her for more than 20 years. They have moved with her from one facility to another during that time.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Mendez does her best to motivate and help a group of high school students each summer. Some students that elect to take Larry Tharp’s summer physical education class are unwilling participants in Mendez’s biweekly interval workouts, which she described as “boot camp in the gym.”
“It’s hard to work with them,” she said. “Some of them don’t like to listen, but when I can do as many pushups as they can, I think they need to get themselves going just a little bit, because being a couch potato is not healthy for them.”
Not surprisingly, Mendez spends much of her free time staying active as a biker and boater. She also spends a lot of time with her grandchildren.
Mendez, a Portage resident, said that her favorite part about the YMCA is the people that she interacts with.
“I enjoy being around the members here since I’ve been in the YMCA so long,” she said. “I just love being around and helping them. I want them to get the most out of it that they can and stay healthy.”
The YMCA provides Portage residents with a resource that will help them improve or maintain their health. Mendez encourages everyone to take advantage of that resource and live a healthier life.
“The role of the YMCA is to make the community healthier and to get the community involved. Change of lifestyle is sometimes hard, but if we can get all those people to realize that changing their lifestyle is so much better in the long run, they’ll live longer.”