Gary Brough

I visited Garry Brough at the Central YMCA .

C— How long have you been involved and what is your roll within the YMCA ?
G— I have been working here ten years and I coordinate The Positive Health Programme.

C— what is The Positive Health programme ?
G— I’m in charge of the day to day running of a programme that involves referrals from hospitals, such as Chelsea and Westminster, Saint Mary’s Royal Free, Mortimer Market Clinic, London King’s College Hospital., etc. I organize inductions into the gym. Assessments, one to one personal training, group exercise classes ( Pilates, Yoga ). I organize specific events (weekends away, news letters ) I train people living with HIV in the areas of medication, stigma, isolation, and side effects such as lipodistrophy and peripheral neuropathy and I facilitate in-house and external HIV awareness courses.

C— What did you do before starting to work with the YMCA ?
G— I worked in the film industry, I didn’t exercise apart from going out dancing every night, I drank and took recreational drugs. All that came to an end within the first year of my diagnosis age 23. After a few years of being ill with HIV I was referred by my HIV Doctor to a rehabilitation program of physiotherapy and exercise and simultaneously starting anti HIV treatment. I took on my new exercise routine not liking it much but I made an effort to continue and whilst there I was offered to try Pilates at the YMCA This worked for me and after a couple of years my Pilates instructor suggested I should took take up teaching, so I trained and this gave me a hint to continue working life, making some money and supporting myself. I started working as a volunteer and then retrained as a personal trainer.

C- What are the real benefits exercise offers those living with HIV ?
G- Strengthens the immune system, improves health and fitness leading to fewer infections and faster recovery from illness, better detoxification of the body, social aspects like getting you out of the house, increase appetite and energy levels, self esteem, mood, personal appearance and counter-acting side effects like Lipodistrophy.

C– how much is the HIV community directly involved with exercise?
G– Not enough, even in groups know for it’s “ body consciousness” the majority of individuals still don’t understand the benefits of exercise. This is something health care teams should encourage more.

C– What steps should a person follow to start a fitness programme ?
G– As this programme has been running for ten years now, there are limited resources at the moment. For this reason we are only taking referrals from a small number of hospitals. The best thing is to locate a gym in your area and/or ask your Doctor/ GP if there are any exercise referral programs operating in your area.

Carlos H Tello