Blogs & News

Halloween Extravaganza

Join us Monday, October 31st.

Join us from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM on Monday, October 31st at the YMCA for our Halloween Extravaganza. We'll have a costume contest, face painting, games, candy and more! We'll also have Steel City Cafe onsite to feed your lil ghosts n'witches Halloween night!

Admission is FREE.

October Seminar

Join us Friday, October 14th at 12 pm in the Community Room.

Presented by: Kelly J. Martinez, Senior Membership Experience Director of YMCA

This next step in supporting overall wellness and fitness is Emotional Fitness. Emotional wellness involves the ability to express and regulate varied emotions and moods. This includes being able to manage stress, finding joy, being mindful in the moment, and believing in your wholeheartedness and worthiness. The importance of this component of overall Wellness is to be able to exemplify and receive a wide range of emotions, and to respond to these emotions in healthy ways.

We look forward to you attending this continued journey through the 5 dimensions of wellbeing. You do not need to have attended previous parts of the 5 dimensions of this well-being seminar to enjoy the benefits of this interactive experience.

Y Staff Spotlight

Cheri Ward: Active Older Adult Specialist

I was born and raised in Colorado Springs in 1969. I graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley in 1991 with a BA in Recreation Administration. The last semester of my schooling was completing an internship at the Downtown YMCA in Colorado Springs. It was my first exposure to the YMCA and its mission, “to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy spirit, mind, and body for all.” I was hooked.

A teaching position for my husband, John Ward, brought us to Pueblo in 1992. The first place I sought employment was the Pueblo YMCA and I have never looked back. I was hired on September 14th, 1992 and I remember my first assignment was to observe the upcoming weekend activities at the Corporate Cup. I suppose one could say I am celebrating both 30 years of my YMCA employment and participation in the Y’s Corporate Cup this year! I was initially hired in the membership department and my former experiences in the old Y building on Albany Ave included Membership Director, Scholarship Administrator, Front Desk Supervisor, Building Supervisors Supervisor, Member Nursery Supervisor, and Birthday Party Coordinator. I was also part of a three-woman team that hosted monthly fabulous Family Nights.

Eventually, I was certified as a Group Exercise Instructor and my calling was to lead our Active Older Adult program. The Y’s partnership with SilverSneakers in 2006 took our Active Older Adult program to the next level and paved the way to my current position, Active Older Adult Specialist. I love my job! It actually feels more like being a member than a job since I spend my days enjoying all activities alongside our members, who are also my friends. Exercise classes, journal club, book club, potlucks, and more are all part of my daily commitment to facilitating fun and delivering the Y’s mission.

My passion is people and I have been blessed to meet the most amazing people, both members, and staff throughout my 30-year tenure. I love working for the YMCA which has such a rich history locally, nationally, and internationally. The Pueblo community has been a special place for my husband and me to raise our son, Evan, and our twin daughters, Holly and Heather. Our YMCA programs including Pre-school, Before and After School Daycare, and Camp Jackson helped shape the caring and responsible young adults they are today. I feel really blessed to be a part of this Y family as I proclaim “cheers to thirty years” and look forward to more.

Mark your calendar for Friday, September 9th at Noon in the Community Room

Presented by Kelly J Martinez, Senior Membership Experience Director at YMCA

This is the third installment of a five-part series that will be dedicated to and explore the different
facets that make up "intellectual health". Intellectual Wellness involves the ability to expand and
use knowledge – cornified fitness as it is called. This includes learning new things, clarity of
thoughts, being alert, using expressive language that allows you to make your needs known and
to be understood, and concentration that allows you to focus on those things that matter most to
you. We will take a deeper dive into how physical fitness stimulates cognitive function and in return
informs and supports all 5 dimensions of wellbeing.

We look forward to you joining us on our continued journey through the 5 dimensions of wellbeing.

You do not need to have attended previous parts of the 5 dimensions of wellbeing seminar in
prior months to enjoy the benefits of this interactive and exciting series.

Every Child Deserves a Healthy Start

By: Jennifer Richardson YMCA Wellness and Financial Assistant Coordinator

September is Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, and while the dangers of childhood obesity are well-chronicled, many families need support changing their habits. That’s why the YMCA is an organization dedicated to improving health. Helping families understand the dangers of childhood obesity and the ways to reverse the course through improved eating habits and increased physical activities. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of obesity for 2- to 19-year-olds from 2017 to 2020 was 19.7 % and affected 14.7 million children and adolescents.

These are upsetting statistics to hear, and the potential trajectory of these lives is a harsh truth. Obesity-associated health risks are high blood pressure and high cholesterol which are risks for heart disease. Type 2 diabetes and breathing problems, such as asthma and sleep apnea. No obese adult wants to hear these associated health risks given to them and what it means to their lives, nor would it be for the parents of an obese child. Lifestyle changes are not easy or always convenient to our social calendars and habits. Families are challenged to make these changes. Many continue to strive to stay committed to changing one’s lifestyle and making real progress is a goal to set.

Pueblo YMCA is here to do our part to help improve health and potentially reduce the impact of childhood obesity through sports, swimming, fitness, and more. Check out our website and see all the activities to help you on your child’s journey to a healthy start.

YMCA Text Updates

You've asked and now we're delivering! Sign up to receive text notifications on what matters most to you. You can opt into any of the following notices. Please know that you may receive texts at any time of day, we promise we won't spam you. This is just another way for us to communicate any last-minute changes.

Send a text to 81010

Text one or more of the following codes to opt into the notices you'd like to receive.

Department - Code

Facility - @ymcanotice

Group Exercise - @pu3blo

Aquatics - @fce92k

Active Older Adults - @ymcaaoa

Mindful Wellness Seminar

Join us in the YMCA's community room on Friday, August 12th at 12pm for our Mindful Wellness Series. Our Senior Membership Experience Director, Kelly J. Martinez, will be leading this engaging seminar as he discusses the importance of Physical Fitness.

Physical fitness involves the ability to move and take action. This includes: movement and mobility, regular exercise, pain management, the ability to navigate your environment and surrounding terrain, and nutrition. We will discuss five components of physical health and wellbeing: body composition, flexibility (mobility), muscular strength, muscular endurance, and cardiorespiratory endurance.

Don't miss out! Join us every 2nd Friday of the month for a free, engaging seminar on healthy living.

Exercise Keeps You Happy

It’s true! Exercise gives you endorphins that stimulate a positive mood, reduce stress, reduce pain, discomfort, and more. Think about the last time you had a great workout. You probably were a bit exhausted, and sweaty and your muscles pushed to their limit at the end of the exercise. You might become aware of a “Relaxed” sensation that happened when you’ve finished exercising or shortly after. It’s that “feel good” feeling or also known as “runner’s high”.

What is causing that feeling, is endorphins at work. Endorphins are neurotransmitters that are released by the brain to alleviate pain and promote pleasure. Some say exercise-related endorphins are kin to the pleasure you get from savoring a piece of chocolate. Of course, chocolate comes with calories and exercise has a longer-lasting effect. The level of endorphins in the human body varies from person to person. An example is a person who has an exercise routine established; they have been receiving a regular dose of endorphin and the benefits of a well-being sensation. Whereas a person starting a new exercise may have a low endorphin level and will gradually feel the benefits the more they exercise. Looking at lower levels of endorphins may put you at an increased risk of health issues such as aches, pain, depression, and mood swings. The effect of low-level endorphins in people continues to be reviewed. When you increase your heart rate, it increases the release of endorphins.

At the Y we provide a wide range of opportunities throughout the building. Get a good workout in the strength and conditioning gym, steel works gym, gymnasium, pools, group exercise programs, and social activities. Come increase your “happy” endorphins as well as your overall well-being.

Exercise Helps

As we age changes continue to occur in all aspects of our life. There is no greater freedom than to move as you’d like, to go where you please, and to participate in the daily tasks and activities that make you feel alive. Exercise makes it possible for you to live an independent life without having to feel limited due to physical capabilities. Exercise helps keep our joints moving smother, muscle strength, durability, and flexibility are gained and maintained. There is that saying that everyone has heard, “If you do not use it, you will lose it." Harvard Medical School states that muscle mass decreases approximately 3-5% per decade after the age of 30. It takes work, dedication, and a plan, but it is never too late to rebuild muscle and maintain it. Let the YMCA be a part of your routine. Join one of the Y’s great group exercise classes and see the benefits.

YMCA News