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Choose from Trotter, Aerobics, Pacemaster, Marathon and Battle Creek .. . SOUTHFIELD lit 26630 Southfield Rd. Between 10 1/2 & 11 Mile Rd. (313) 557-6550 /tours: Mon-Fri 10-8, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 12-5 EXERCISE & FITNESS 48 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1991 LIVONIA 13250 Newburgh Rd. COD 1 /2 Block off 1-96 (313) 462-2697 Hours: Mon-Fri 9-6 EXERCISE & FITNESS • SAUNA & STEAM E nvision this: Ten very senior citizens, six' women, four men, ranging in age from 86 to 96. Six have heart disease. Seven suffer from arthritis and four have high blood pressure. All look frail. Can you picture them in a gymnastic setting, lifting weights? These senior citizens were volunteers in a pilot project at the Hebrew Rehabilita- tion Center for the Aged in Boston, where people of ad- vanced age and necessarily sedentary lifestyles took part in an experiment to see if weight-lifting would enhance their muscle strength and their health generally. The project was so suc- cessful that the federal government has provided a $2.9 million grant to expand it. True, one of the four men, a youthful 86, dropped out halfway through the eight- week program on medical advice after complaining of strain at the site of hernia surgery. But two other participants threw away their canes, and the stamina and mobility of all vastly improved. The research was con- ducted between June and October 1988. The results were reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Dr. Maria Fiatarone, a geriatrics ex- pert at Tufts College and the Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fiatarone and six co- researchers directed the pioneering study, and she declared the regimen of high-intensity weight train- ing showed that im- provements in muscle strength and mobility are not restricted to young athletes. She added that the results "challenge the expectation of decline in muscle strength associated with aging." She also suggested that the in- creased strength might serve to prevent falls, the most prevalent cause of in- jury in older persons. A spokesperson for the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged explain- ed why the Geriatric Branch of the National Institute on Aging chose the Jewish facility in Boston for its first test of the project. She quoted Dr. Evan Hadley, the branch chief, who declared that the center had "a proven record of excellence in long-term care and research efforts." The expanded program is also being conducted at the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center, where 100 par- ticipants have enrolled, as well as at seven other treat- ment centers. According to the rehabili- tation center's publication Centerpiece, the federal grant will finance a three- year expansion of the pro- ject, which bears the title, "Frailty and Injuries: Coop- erative Studies of Interven- tion Techniques." The expanded program "involves an innovative mix of exercise, nursing, preven- tion and rehabilitation tech- niques." The rehabilitation center's spokesperson said none of the nine residents who com- pleted the pilot project would participate in the expanded test. But because they enjoyed the exercise and the camaraderie, they are conti- nuing the program in a weekly "Circle of Fitness" plan that enables them to maintain their improved levels of fitness. Centerpiece reported that the Circle of Fitness "reflects the residents' un- broken determination to < maintain the physical and emotional benefits they gained by lifting leg weights, riding stationary bicycles and climbing stairs." In the experiment, the nine elderly Jews performed leg exercises for their thighs on weight-lifting devices three times a week. They did three sets of eight repeti- tions with each leg. Weights were increased as the study progressed. The absolute weight lifted increased from about 16 pounds to about 43 pounds in the right leg and from about 15 pounds to about 41 pounds in the left leg. The average gain in strength by the end of the project was 174 percent for both men and women. They also boosted their muscle mass by an average 9 per- cent. The Boston Herald, repor- ting on the study results, declared that five of the nine who were tested for walking speed were able to move an average of 50 percent faster.