RRC instructor lifts peers to healthier lifestyles
EVAN BERGEN, CONTRIBUTOR
Even after a full workout, Timms has the energy to travel across town to teach another class and still make it to a hockey windup in the evening. THE PROJECTOR/ Evan Bergen
Lesley Timms might be a 51-year-old mother of two, but that won’t stop her from being able to outrun many of the 20-year-olds she instructs.
Timms is a fitness class instructor for the Red River College Athletics and Recreation Services, where she has been leading classes for the past three years.
“Sometimes I’ll teach up to four classes a day,” said Timms, who takes part in the exercises she teaches, unlike a lot of instructors who simply instruct, she said.
“I find when I’m teaching a class it helps… They’ll see me working and challenging myself and say, ‘okay let’s do this,’” said Timms.
Originally from Manchester, England, Timms moved with her husband to Winnipeg in 1988 and worked in a bank. In the transition of moving to a new country and settling, she put on weight because of the change in lifestyle and diet.
Weights is just one of the many classes that Lesley Timms teaches. She also teaches spin, bar, and step classes. THE PROJECTOR/
Evan Bergen
“I remember one girl when I went back to England going, ‘oh my god, Lesley’s put on so much weight,’” said Timms. “That’s when I said ‘that’s it, got to change.’”
While working at a bank in Toronto, Lesley would spend her lunch hours at the gym and soon lost about 50 pounds.
“I used to go up Queens street [in Toronto] to workout at the gym,” said Timms. “So you guys are so lucky you have this on campus during lunch time.”
Timms’s satisfaction doesn’t just come from her own personal success. She said her greatest achievement is seeing people continually come back and see change.
One of those individuals is Bruce Kettner, a mechanical engineering instructor at RRC. Kettner has been attending Timms’s classes since he started teaching at the college three years ago.
“I lost 30 pounds in the first year and have been maintaining my weight since,” said Kettner, noting he has gained a few pounds recently from muscle.
But Timms’s fitness classes haven’t only made a difference in Kettner’s weight.
“Often I’ll come out of a fitness class and then teach and be very energetic,” said Kettner, 62.
“I don’t really like doing fitness, but Lesley puts on a very enjoyable class.”
Timms added that having fun is an important aspect to her class and is what keeps people coming back.
