{"id":10258,"date":"2026-03-19T20:31:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T20:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/?p=10258"},"modified":"2026-03-27T21:02:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T21:02:26","slug":"strength-beyond-the-gym","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/news\/strength-beyond-the-gym\/","title":{"rendered":"Strength Beyond the Gym"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When the NAU Health Sciences Department launched its free employee workout class as part of the Employee Assistance and Wellness program, the goal was simple: support the wellbeing of faculty and staff while giving NAU students hands-on experience leading real clients. Led by Health Sciences faculty member Frank Micale, and supported by student instructors, the twice-weekly class has grown into a community of nearly 30 regular participants. What many may not realize is that beyond improving strength, balance, and endurance, the class has also quietly changed lives, including that of Anne Doyle, a member of the NAU community who is generously sharing her story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Anne joined\u00a0the\u00a0employee fitness\u00a0program\u00a0in February\u00a0of\u00a02024 and was paired with student instructor Tina\u00a0McGee,\u00a0who was completing\u00a0her\u00a0bachelor\u2019s degree in Fitness Wellness. From the start, Anne embraced the process. She\u00a0saw\u00a0real gains and, as she puts it, started to feel \u201caddicted to exercise.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The camaraderie of the class energized her, and building muscle felt empowering. Tina remembers that energy clearly. \u201cWhen she first joined class, she brought such positive energy and consistency,\u201d Tina shares. \u201cSeeing her dedication to improving her strength and health was inspiring.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Then, in April, everything changed. What Anne first thought were allergies turned into severe breathing trouble. One morning, after noticing her fingertips had turned blue, she scheduled an urgent care appointment; reluctantly choosing an appointment time that meant missing her exercise class. She even stopped by beforehand to deliver cookies she had baked for the class, apologizing through tears. Later that day, after four liters of fluid were drained from her lung and imaging was completed, she received devastating news: stage four ovarian cancer. Chemotherapy began in May, followed by a full hysterectomy in August and more chemo in the fall. Yet even in the midst of her diagnosis, Anne reached out to Frank asking for guidance on how to keep exercising during treatment.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The months that followed were filled with infusions, surgeries, neuropathy, and muscle loss. Chemo affected her balance and strength, but Anne returned to class whenever she could throughout 2025. Student instructors adapted movements, modified balance work, and helped her gradually rebuild endurance and muscle. For Tina, the experience reshaped what she understood about her profession. \u201cWhen she shared her diagnosis, it truly put into perspective how powerful movement and community can be during life\u2019s hardest moments,\u201d she reflects. \u201cAs student instructors, we focus on exercise science and programming, but experiences like working with Anne remind us that what we\u2019re really building is resilience, confidence, and connections.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Anne is once again preparing to return to class after another surgery. She acknowledges that it can feel like starting over, but she does so with the same honesty and humor that inspired those around her.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Tina is currently back home in Alaska, she remains closely connected to the NAU community. She was recently accepted into NAU\u2019s Doctor of Physical Therapy Hybrid Program and will return to Flagstaff for clinical work in the fall. \u201cWorking with Anne was incredibly meaningful to me,\u201d Tina says. \u201cHer determination and her will to give her all no matter what is something I\u2019ll never forget. I know she will continue to crush any challenges that come her way.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What began as a free employee fitness class has become something much deeper, a living example of experiential learning, interprofessional connection, and the profound impact of movement. For Anne, it has been a source of strength and motivation through the most difficult chapter of her life. For Tina, it helped shape her future in physical therapy. And for our NAU community, it stands as a reminder that sometimes the most powerful outcomes of education happen far beyond the classroom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Contributed by Business Administration, Marketing undergraduate student, Katie Fahy<\/em>\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the NAU Health Sciences Department launched its free employee workout class as part of the Employee Assistance and Wellness program, the goal was simple: support the wellbeing of faculty and staff while giving NAU students hands-on experience leading real clients. Led by Health Sciences faculty member Frank Micale, and supported by student instructors, the twice-weekly class has grown into a community of nearly 30 regular participants. What many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2917,"featured_media":10274,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"10251,2370,8286,9198,9451,9372","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-of-health-and-human-services","category-health-sciences"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2917"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10258"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10303,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10258\/revisions\/10303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/college-health-human-services\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}