It’s fun to get fit at the YMCA: Teri Neesmith helps cancer patients get ‘Fit to Fight.’

By Chelsea Retherford | Living 50 Plus

Teri Neesmith started her career with the YMCA of the Shoals almost 20 years ago as a fitness instructor. Since that time, she’s donned many other hats and taken on several roles to aid others on their health journeys at the “Y.”

Neesmith’s own journey starts back in 2000, when she and her husband, Michael, moved to Florence from Tacoma, Washington.

“He was in the Navy, and he was getting ready to leave Washington and asked if I’d like to go,” she recalled. “We moved to Rhode Island for three years, and TVA had come up there and offered him a job. So, that brought us down here.”

As a young stay-at-home mom to their only daughter, Allison, Neesmith said she was looking for ways to get to know her neighbors and get involved in her new community. Eventually, one of her husband’s co-workers invited her to workout at the former TVA LiveWell employee fitness center in Sheffield.

Neesmith admits the gym had never really been her scene before, but she was willing to try it out for the sake of making new friends.

“I never, never went to the gym,” she said with a laugh. “I mean, I may have dabbled here and there, you know, taking a kickboxing class or something like that, but no, you know, that wasn’t for me.”

Still, she found she enjoyed the LiveWell program, and a fitness instructor there noticed she might have a natural talent for leading workout sessions.

The instructor encouraged Neesmith to fill out a form and take a test to earn certification.

“That was in 2001, and I’ve been in fitness ever since,” Neesmith said.

She started out teaching classes at the LiveWell facility until it eventually closed for lack of funding. For a few years, Neesmith said she “gym hopped” and taught at other facilities until she found her way to the “Y.”

“I’ve been in this building since 2006, and it’s been my home,” she said. “I’ve seen this building go through a lot of changes. We’ve gone through a big transformation since COVID, and we’ve built more space. You know, we built a $3 million expansion.”

Neesmith has seen more than physical changes take place at the “Y.”

Starting out there as a group exercise program instructor, her first experience was in leading the Muscle Works classes. She still teaches the Muscle Works class every Monday and Tuesday — as well as the Body & Balance class on Tuesdays and Thursdays — but she’s also stepped in for other programs that were developed since she joined the staff.

“We have a great program called Fit to Fight. It’s for cancer patients, current to five years,” Neesmith explained. “So, I took a cancer specialist test through CETI (Cancer Exercise Training Institute). I’m the coordinator for that program now, and I’ve been doing that for four years.”

In that role, Neesmith works with cancer patients of varying ages to find a fitness regimen right for them, she said.

About two years prior to her stepping into her role as the program coordinator for cancer patients, Neesmith had also become a personal trainer. Of all the hats she wears at the “Y,” she said those two are probably her favorites.

“I like to help people,” she said. “You probably hear that a lot, but I think that’s really why I enjoy doing it. I find it very rewarding, because I see some people, especially those in our Fit to Fight program, who are in a dark place. They come in, and most of them say, I want to lose weight, and I’m like, OK, that’s our goal for 12 weeks.”

Beyond losing weight, she’s seen many of her older clients gain back their independence; she’s seen cancer patients gain strength and muscle mass; and she’s seen almost all her clients gain confidence.

“I love to hear all their success stories,” Neesmith said. “I’ve had someone come in who could barely walk a mile when they started coming here, and then that same person has called me from Colorado to tell me about their hiking trip. I’ve heard, ‘Guess, what? I’m at the Grand Canyon, and I just climbed this big hill.’ It just makes my heart happy.”

Neesmith counts herself among all the people she’s helped live a healthier life. She said the work she’s done as a fitness instructor over the past two decades has also made her lifestyle possible.

“My husband and I are out in the woods a lot, and we live on the river. We love to play in the water,” she said. “I don’t think I could climb the hills or walk the trails if I didn’t work out. With all the water sports we do, you know, that requires strength, and I wouldn’t be able to do those things I love without having that strength training.”

For clients who, like Neesmith, are in their 50s, or even beyond, she encourages them to check out the gyms and different offerings at the “Y” even if they’ve never made fitness a priority before in their lives.

“My tip is just to get here,” she said. “Get here, and we’ll get you where you need to be. That’s what we’re here for. I’ve seen a lot of people come, and I’ve seen a lot of people go — of all ages. Don’t worry about your skill level, just get here. It’s a great environment.”