SPORTS Healthy Mind, Healthy Body Sylvia Zukin teaches fitness with a smile MIKE ROSENBAUM Sports Writer Bob McKeown W hen Sylvia Zukin teaches health and fitness classes, she not only teaches move- ment, she teaches positive thinking. She demonstrates by example that fitness is not only measured in inches or pounds, but in attitude. She preaches — and practices — that good physical health depends on good men- tal health. "Those are the things I try to teach," she explains. "Yourself. How to deal with your attitude and mak- ing yourself happy. And the only way you can be happy with yourself is when you feel good in yourself!' Until last week Zukin, 65, was director of the women's health club at the Maple/Drake Jewish Community Center. While she no longer works at the Jewish Center full-time, she re- mains as a consultant and teaches classes three days a week. Zukin was the women's health club director for 27 years. With a background in dance and physical education, she built the club's pro- gram from seven health and fitness classes a week to the current level of nearly 100. Some of the classes are based on new medical research, others are started as a result of the needs of the Center's members. "Anything that anybody ever said they have a problem with or they want, I gave them," explains Zukin. "Whether I did it myself or I taught a teacher to do it, every class has been started because I brought it in here. I'm very proud of that!" As with most other aspects of health and fitness, says Zukin, the dif- ferences between what men and women want from fitness programs are mostly psychological. "It's the psyche," she says. "It's the way we approach, the way socie- ty approaches the man and the woman. I feel that every woman can do just about anything a man can do as far as exercising, and every man can do almost everything a woman can do, as far as exercising — if they're trained right and if their mind is open and ready." The same applies to age. "There is very little difference between a 16-year-old's and a 70-year-old's exer- cise. If you watch some of the people Sylvia Zukin leads an exercise class that we have trained here, you'll find that there is practically no difference, providing they stay with that train- ing . . . It depends how you approach life, and how you keep your training, what your values are. Most of us are so busy that we can't take time to do what's good for us. That's what it takes, setting your priorities. Because you are the most important thing in your life. You are the person, the per- son you have to deal with every day, every minute. The disappointments, the heartaches, the good things. So you have to be ready for these things. And the way you prepare yourself is to be physically fit. Physically (fit) doesn't mean that you have to be a total macho man. It means that you have to be emotionally fit, mentally fit as well as physically!' While Zukin spends less time at the Center now, she says, "I don't think I'll ever give up teaching!' She will teach a body awareness class at the Center "and I will be doing con- sulting and advising on future pro- gramming, how to bring more pro- grams into the community!' She will also be available for con- sulting work outside of the Center. Zukin considers body awareness training very important. The class in- volves a total understanding of how everyday movements affect the body and its fitness. It includes, "how to sit, how to stand, how to walk," she says. "That's what I want to make people aware of. It's not only how much you work out, it's how you collapse your lungs when you're sitting, the habitual patterns. That we have a tendency to pick up a phone and hold it by the shoulder, and we wonder why our back goes out of whack, or our Mike Hartman Makes His JLA Debut MIKE ROSENBAUM Sports Writer M ike Hartman got the call he was waiting for last month, and it could not have hap- pened at a better time. The West Bloomfield resident, who played in 17 National Hockey League games with the Buffalo Sabres last season, began this year with Buffalo's Rochester, New York, farm team in the American Hockey League. But on Feb. 21, the Sabres recalled Hartman to the NHL. He played his first NHL game in Joe Louis Arena on March 1, as the Red Wings blanked the Sabres, 4-0. Hartman started the season slow- ly, then tallied 11 goals in 20 games before his recall. He totalled 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points and set a team record of 283 penalty minutes in 57 AHL contests. "I started playing better, getting confidence," said Hartman last week, "and that's what brought me up!" Hartman played in four games for the Sabres before they visited Detroit. He scored no points, and tallied none against the Wings, but he felt he was playing the physical style of game which the Sabres want him to play. He started the Detroit game on right wing and had a first-period fight with Jim Nill, after colliding with the Detroit winger in a corner. Hartman has been playing on a line which includes veteran left wing Clark Gillies. Gillies is a strong, physical player. Hartman, though not as big as Gillies, plays a similar style. "Playing with Clark Gillies is great. It's a big help out there!" said Hartman. Many of Hartman's friends at- tended the game. "I heard a lot of peo- ple yelling my name" during pre- game warm-ups, he said. His father, John, a Red Wing's photographer, was there. "The most disappointing thing about the whole situation!' he added, "is that my mother (Cheri) couldn't make it!" Cheri Hartman was out of town on vacation, but has seen her son play in other NHL buildings. "She's been real supportive," said Mike. Hartman does not know how long he will remain with Buffalo. The Sabres have been plagued with in- juries, which is one reason he was recalled. But his physical style of play could be valuable for the Sabres in next month's playoffs. Playoff hockey is generally more physical and defense-oriented than regular season play. Buffalo was the Nifils worst team last season, but the Sabres have im- proved this year and will likely finish a strong third in their division.