Augie In Action! Augie In Action! - Ihrsa

| News & Know How | News
Exercise innovation
Exergaming’s Newest Player
Foundation’s grant supports development of interactive workouts
Getting fit isn’t all fun and games—
or is it? Electronic gaming—long
a favorite pastime of couch potatoes,
and often blamed for contributing
to the obesity epidemic—has recently
emerged as a new, interactive, heartpumping
fitness activity. Now, a major
$8.25-million grant may further spur
the development of this growing
phenomenon.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,
a philanthropic group committed to
improving America’s health, is convinced
that gaming holds promise for
enhancing fitness and, as a result, has
funded a new national program, Health
Games Research. Its goal: “to support
research to enhance the quality and
effectiveness of interactive games that
34 Club Business International | MARCH 2008 | www.ihrsa.org
are used to improve health.” The research
center will be sited at the University of
California, in Santa Barbara, and overseen
by communication researcher
Debra Lieberman, Ph.D.
The $8.25-million grant will also
support the Games for Health Project,
an ongoing effort to bring together
game creators and health experts.
“This will only help speed up the
process of taking our industry from
a niche market to the main stream,”
Mike Hansen, the CEO and president of
iTech Fitness, an IHRSA-member firm
that specializes in interactive fitness,
exergaming, and entertainment services,
told CBI. “It will help spur innovation,
resulting in product improvements and
new product developments.” —|
Fitness Trends: Elderly Living Longer
> Senior citizens are living longer, healthier lives, thanks in large part to their commitment
to physical fitness. Between 1995 and 2004, life expectancy for Americans has increased by
two years, to 77.8, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Meanwhile,
data from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) reveals that, between 1982 and 2005, the
disability rates for Americans 65 and older dropped from 26.5% to 19%. The improvements
can be attributed, in part, to greater public awareness about the importance of exercise
and sensible eating, Dr. Neil Resnick, the chief of geriatrics at the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
© 2006 Tyrone Turner
>
Short Takes |
Rhodes Racks Up
Another Record
Personal trainer Neil Rhodes
knows more than his fair share
about endurance. You may
remember reading about him in
the November, 2006, edition of
CBI, after he successfully broke
two world records on his Concept2
rower in the North Pole at temperatures
of minus 21 degrees
centigrade, or minus 6 degrees
Fahrenheit. (Concept2 is an
IHRSA associate member.)
Well, the extreme athlete has
been at it again, racking up more
unusual claims to sporting fame.
Most recently, he completed the
GORE-TEX TransAlpine Run, a
150-mile run across the Alps, as
well as the GORE-TEX TransRockies
Run, a 110-mile stage trail run
through the Colorado Rockies.
“The GORE-TEX TransAlpine
and TransRockies races were epic.
To add to the beautiful scenery and
challenging terrain, we had challenging
weather for both races,”
Neil Rhodes
the 50-year-old Somerset, England,
resident told CBI. “I made
history as the only Englishman to
have completed TransAlps and
TransRockies, back to back. So, for
at least a year, I hold that title.”
To date, Rhodes holds four
world records, including the highest
climb in an hour on a VersaClimber
while carrying a 40-pound pack on
his back, and the highest climb in
30 minutes on a VersaClimber.
(VersaClimber is also an IHRSA
associate member.) —|