Lyle Levesque: Living YSTRONG since 2002           

      If you’re among those members who hit the doors of the Downtown Y at 5:30 am, you’ve probably seen Lyle Levesque. It’s not necessarily his polished head or friendly grin that makes him stand out. Usually, it’s the hard core, intense workouts that leave him gasping for breath that draw the attention of other members – enough so that he admits that other members frequently ask if he’s OK.

      “Just last week I finished a workout and was on my hands and knees and could hardly catch my breath,” he says. “This guy comes over and says, ‘Are you all right, man?’” Yeah, Lyle is all right. On the brink of his 50^th birthday, he embraces his short, intense, anaerobic workouts today just as he did competitive cycling in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. So don’t let his laid back, agreeable demeanor fool you – when it comes to physical feats, Lyle can get pretty serious.

      With a father in the Marine Corps, Lyle was born in Hawaii, but his family moved to Gainesville when he was an infant. Lyle grew up there, and his mother still calls Jacksonville home. He moved to Gainesville to attend the University of Florida, where he earned a bachelor’s of science in physical education. He explains that, at the time, there was no degree designated as “exercise science,” but his curriculum mirrored that degree path, including physics, chemistry and anatomy, along with all the associated lab work. His first job was working in outpatient cardiac rehab at Alachua General Hospital. He continued his education in health care by earning his nursing degree in 1991.

      Despite his professional success, he admits that the years in Gainesville were rocky. Being in school and away from home and family were tough. His father suffered a heart attack and illness during those years, and some “terrible personal relationships” didn’t help, either.

      It was during his years in Gainesville that Lyle got involved in competitive cycling. His interest in cycling had begun while he still lived in Jacksonville, but after moving, he found a mentor who pulled Lyle into the sport. He was soon addicted, riding 350 or more miles during an average week, and 500+ during a heavy week of training. At the time, he says his weight fluctuated between 136-144, and it was hard for him to keep his weight on.

      “Riding was like therapy for me,” he explains. “I don’t know what would have happened to me if I hadn’t had those hours on my bike. When my dad has his heart attack, being away from home – I just didn’t want to be in Gainesville.”

      After 13 years in Gainesville, Lyle got his chance for a new start when an old colleague hunted him down for a new career opportunity in a cath lab in the Atlanta hospital where she was working. The hospital was looking for nurses with an exercise science background, and Lyle jumped at the chance. The move was significant on a personal level, too, because he met his wife, Wendy, in that job. As many members know, Wendy has nurtured many of our KidZone children during her seven years working for the Downtown Branch, and has more recently joined the desk staff as well. “I knew probably within a week of meeting her that this was somebody I wanted to spend more time with,” he says. That’s putting it mildly, considering the couple is about to celebrate 17 years of marriage.

      Even though he hadn’t enjoyed being in Gainesville, Lyle did want to get back to Florida eventually. When Wendy’s parents decided to retire to Pensacola, he had his chance. The Levesques moved to the area in 1995. After a stint at the West Florida cath lab and five years of a consulting job that required too much travel for his liking, Lyle was hired at Sacred Heart Health System in 2001.

      He’s now the ER Educator for Sacred Heart, which means he is responsible for orienting new staff, ensuring all staff credentials are current, validating competency and providing ongoing training. Considering the ER’s staff numbers 180, he stays pretty busy. “I would say my job satisfaction on any given day is a 9 out of 10. I really feel like the work that I do here has a lot of value.” Considering the average daily ER traffic at Sacred Heart is 250-260 people – “Our one-day record is 324,” Lyle tells me – his department will see more than a million people over the next decade.

      When he isn’t keeping the ER running smoothly, Lyle is often spending time with family – Wendy and his two kids, Alyx, 14, and Max, 11 – or is involved with some church, school or volunteer project. Plus he’s become much more diligent in the past few years about his personal workouts, which have evolved to meet his changing interests and needs.

      While cycling was a huge part of his life during the Gainesville years, he says the thought of riding today creates a real dilemma for him. “From where I came from, riding all those miles and competing at that level – spending just a half hour on my bike seems useless. In my mind, if I’m not on the bike for six hours, it just doesn’t feel like I’m doing anything.”

      So today, Lyle usually challenges himself with early morning workouts from Cross-fit –a strength and conditioning program designed to produce broad results through constantly changing high intensity sets that challenge all aspects of fitness. He became interested in the program a couple years ago after talking with a friend who was planning to open his own Cross-fit gym.

      What appeals to Lyle the most about Cross-fit is its efficiency. “I can get a really good workout in under half an hour, and I’m seeing results that I haven’t seen since my ‘20s. It’s good for my mind too, because I’m competing against myself, not against a 20-year-old on a bicycle.” The principles of the program allow the user to build lots of different large muscle group exercises with a variety of aerobic activity – cycling, rowing, running, swimming – that Lyle says keeps him from getting bored.

      That ability to escape boredom is one of the aspects of the Downtown Y that Lyle appreciates. “At Downtown, you have a lot of variety – cardio equipment, the pool, classes, weights, outdoors – so whatever you want to do, you can stay fresh and change it. And you have people there who can help you get started.”

      On Lyle’s horizon now: training for a workout called the “Filthy 50,” comprised of 10 exercises performed with 50 repetitions each. So heads up, all you early morning members – this December, if you see Lyle wiped out, sweating and gasping for breath, don’t worry about him. He’s just celebrating his 50^th birthday.