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METABOLISM page 65

CLASSICAL 105.1 FM

present. . .

5th Annual
Summer Concert Series

This Week
at the Trowbridge
enjoy the sounds of

Bob Durant & Band
Tuesday, July 16th

All concerts will begin at 2:00 pm

24111 Civic Center Drive Southfield, MI 48034

For more information please call The Conceirge at

THE DETR OIT JE WI SH NE WS

(810) 352-0208

Os

car

Investigators measured me-
tabolism in nine older men and
seven young men before, during
and after they consumed 1,000
calories more than their usual
daily intake for three weeks.
One variable that seemed to
be ignored, however, was muscle
mass — which determines the
number of calories required to
maintain weight. Seniors who
maintain or enhance their mus-
cle mass can counteract this calo-
rie conspiracy.
The key is to work out consis-
tently enough to separate your-
self from the average senior —
who does little in the way of mus-
cle maintenance and develop-
ment.
Because of this reduced activ-
ity, the average 70-year-old
male's body fat increases by 50
percent from his 20s, according
to research by NASA and the In-
stitute for Aerobics Research in
Dallas. No similar studies have
been released on women, whose
bodies require more body fat than
men.
Ideal body fat percentages are
10 to 15 for males and 15 to 20
for women. Essential body fat is
about 8 percent for females and
5 percent for males.
As for aerobic capacity, the av-
erage 70-year-old male loses
nearly 50 percent of what he had
at age 30. Again, however, the
loss is not inevitable, given a high
level of activity.
Consider this research from
the Johnson Space Center in
Houston: Among 1,500 NASA
workers studied, those who
stayed lean and active lost just 7
percent of their peak aerobic ca-
pacity by age 70.
SOLE SURVIVING
In-line skates are great for
freewheeling your way to car-
diovascular fitness. Try walking
in them, however, and you might
be better off on stilts — or mired
in quicksand.
What's more, they can do some
serious damage to surfaces of
various textures.
What to do, short of removing
them every time you cruise to a
stop?
Cynthia Schneider, a 47-year-
old Sun Valley, Idaho, fitness en-
thusiast, thinks she has an
answer: Tredz skate guards.

The soft, flexible rubber
guards she devised fit snugly
over the bottom of in-line skates
or Rollerblades, as the case may
be, enabling skaters to walk com-
fortably and safely on any sur-
face.
Tredz are small enough to fit
in your fanny pack. Look for
them soon at chain discount de-
partment stores, including Tar-
get and Kmart, as well as major
sporting goods.
Suggested retail price: $9.95.
GUT CHECK
If you want a taut torso, bet-
ter impose a curfew in your
kitchen.
Going to sleep with a full stom-
ach can sabotage your abdomi-
nal training, say researchers at
Northwestern University Med-
ical School. The culprit is a com-
bination of calories and the fact
that the muscles that stabilize
your stomach relax while you're
sleeping.
When your stomach is stuffed,
those relaxed muscles feel the
pinch, stretching the midsection
outward. Goodbye, muscle tone.
Hello, protruding profile.
For best results, avoid eating
before bedtime and train the ab-
dominals at least three times a
week — the better for sag con-
trol, say the researchers.
UPWARD BOUND
You can run in place forever
on treadmills. You can pedal to
nowhere on a stationary bike.
Now, the fitness industry wants
you to climb to new levels of fit-
ness while barely getting off the
ground.
Meet the Rock-n-Roll machine,
billed as the world's first auto-
mated climbing device. The ma-
chine is made of modular
fiberglass and polymer panels on
a steel framework. It adapts
treadmill technology to fitness
climbing.
Occupying 10 feet by 10 feet of
floor space, the machine's speed
and angle can be adjusted to pro-
vide a challenging workout.
The device, designed for
health-club type settings, is man-
ufactured by Entre Prises USA
of Bend, Ore., which was found-
ed a decade ago by a group of
American rock climbers as a
spinoff of Entre Prises France in
Europe. ❑

Ease The Joints:
Walk, Don't Run

JACK WILLIAMS SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

U

nless your feet greet the
ground with the impact of
a falling leaf — in which
case you may be part
gazelle and part Tarahumara In-
dian — high-mileage running
isn't likely to brighten the au-
tumn of your years.

And if your foot plant falls into
the falling-tree category, well,
you're doomed from the start --
no matter how efficient your
heart.
You want your pulse to pound
during cardiovascular exercise,
not your joints.

