Exercising independence

Photos by Kevin Fitzsimons Ohio State exercise science major Jon Lian leads residents at Friendship Village through a morning aerobics class.

OSU professor designs program to help seniors maintain mobility

By Randy Gammage, onCAMPUS staff

Residents of Friendship Village of Columbus in their 80s and 90s are discovering that the mythical fountain of youth may be flowing just down the hall in their own fitness center.

While that may be a stretch, seniors are finding that regular resistance training and aerobic workouts keep them healthier and, consequently, help them maintain their independence.

Friendship Village of Columbus (FVC) and Westminster-Thurber Retirement Community (WTC) have partnered with Steven T. Devor, assistant professor of sport and exercise science, to create a comprehensive Health, Physical Activity and Exercise Program for their independent living residents. The programs aim to slow the loss of muscle mass; increase functional capacity; improve the ability of residents to perform daily living activities; and decrease the incidence of falls.

Keeps them ticking

Mary Ann Caum, 85, an exercise program participant for three years, works out nearly every day.

"I'm trying to maintain my balance so I won't fall and break my hip," Caum said. "And I find that if I don't exercise I get so stiff."

Guertha Gillett, 90, a FVC resident for seven years, said that without exercise she feels tired and lazy. After retiring at age 78, she turned to line dancing and weight training, and now uses the fitness center several times a week.

"It's the only thing that's kept me going, because I have arthritis from place to place to place," Gillett said.

Waneita Dipner performs some resistance training during the class.

Ohio State alumnus Donald J. Henry, 92, started exercising regularly three years ago.

"I didn't want my health to go downhill, either mentally or physically, so I decided to get active," Henry said.

The fitness program has helped him shed 25 pounds, and enabled him to climb the stairs with ease to his second-floor apartment at FVC where he and his wife live.

Caum, Gillett and Henry had just completed a 60-minute chair aerobics session at FVC, under the guidance of Jon Lian, an Ohio State undergraduate student advised by Devor. Lian joined a group of eight in a seated position and led them through a series of aerobics movements that included toe taps, marching in place and shoulder raises. A CD containing 1960s hits such as "Blue Moon," "Duke of Earl" and "Pretty Woman" remixed with a perky dance beat played in the background.

Fifteen minutes later, exercisers armed themselves with brightly colored stretch bands about four feet long and simulated bench presses, military presses, shoulder shrugs and other weight training movements. The session later concluded with a series of balance and stretching exercises.

Firm foundation

In addition to chair aerobics, held three times a week, the structured exercise program offers low impact aerobics and resistance training. Lian said fitness level assessments conducted every six months show that participants either maintain or increase strength. For example, one 79-year-old man increased his bench press from 87 to 93 pounds, seated rows from 132 to 140 pounds, and lat pulls from 135 to 148 pounds -- all while recovering from knee replacement surgery.

The program at FVC has been running smoothly for nearly four years, with assessments and exercise prescriptions being completed for approximately 180 residents to date. At WTC the program has been in place for two years and is serving more than 100 residents.

In essence, Devor has designed, implemented and runs a complete and comprehensive fitness center that focuses on careful evaluation of individual physical function. Before given access to the facilities at FVC or WTC, a resident's medical history and a medical release form is obtained from their personal physician.

Residents are monitored when using the fitness center by Ohio State doctoral students that work in Devor's laboratory, to ensure they are using proper form and have the machines adjusted correctly. Devor said individual progress in the program is monitored and adjustments made in the prescription as necessary to ensure appropriate results.

Student interaction

Those involved are proving it's never too old to get in shape.

"Skeletal muscle mass doesn't know whether it's in a 36-year-old man or an 84-year-old," Devor said. "It's the same tissue and responds in nearly the same way to resistance training."

Devor has incorporated the programs into his teaching responsibilities at Ohio State as well. He is responsible for the instruction on Physical Activity and Educational Services 490.13, a practicum course where undergraduate majors in exercise science learn the components of a general fitness evaluation. He has all of the students perform their practicum hours at either FVC or WTC.

"This allows the student to learn the physiological testing skills required for the course," Devor said, "and also requires them to interact with elderly residents that they would normally not have contact with in their everyday life at OSU."

Applied research

By also treating the programs as outreach initiatives, Devor is able to take his research that focuses on the adaptations that occur to skeletal muscle during the aging process out of the lab and apply it where it benefits the community. But he is not merely advocating exercise for those in retirement. He said skeletal muscle mass actually starts to decline slightly at age 30, with the process accelerating considerably 20 years later.

"From age 50 on, it is absolutely crucial for people to do some type of aerobics and resistance training. After age 50, the decline is much more rapid and much more pronounced without regular exercise," Devor said.

He said muscle mass can be maintained by as little as 20 to 30 minutes of resistance training three times a week.

Devor said that the FVC and WTC exercise programs have provided research data that he hopes will encourage other retirement communities to provide space and equipment for a comprehensive exercise and physical activity program.

"The improvement to the daily lives and functional capacities of the FVC and WTC residents cannot be emphasized enough, and clearly the thoughtful and careful incorporation of a thorough exercise program enhances the quality of life for elders in retirement living," he said.

For further information, contact Devor at 688-8436 or devor.3@osu.edu.

News briefs

Recent news items in an abbreviated format.

Engineer named TMS Fellow

Robert H. Wagoner, the George R. Smith Chair in Engineering, has been chosen to receive the 2003 Fellow Award of The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS). This award is for "outstanding contributions to the practice of metallurgy or materials science and technology." The award ceremony will take place at the TMS Annual Awards Dinner on March 4 in San Diego. Wagoner joins Dean of Engineering Jim Williams as the two active Ohio State faculty members to be TMS Fellows. Emeritus faculty with this honor include Paul G. Shewmon, John P. Hirth and Robert A. Rapp.

Lou Harrison, composer, passes away

Lou Harrison, special guest composer for the Contemporary Music Festival 2003, died Feb. 2 while on his way to Ohio State for the festival, apparently after suffering a heart attack. Donald Harris, professor of music and a festival organizer, called the loss "a great tragedy for the entire world of music. Lou was as excited about the festival as we were. He told me how honored he felt to have so many of his compositions performed here." Harris said the festival will go on as planned "as a tribute to this legendary American musician." The Contemporary Music Festival 2003, in celebration of the life and music of Lou Harrison, is presented by the School of Music and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and includes concerts of Harrison's music on campus and downtown Feb. 6-9.

New VNR of telescope coating available online

In an airplane hangar in Columbus, Ohio State scientists are perfecting one of the University's contributions to the world's largest telescope —the large binocular telescope (LBT) being built on Mt. Graham, Arizona. The telescope features two 28-foot mirrors. Right now, the mirrors are coated with glass. Ohio State scientists are working on the method of applying a whisper-thin coating of aluminum to glass, turning them into reflective mirrors. The aluminization process devised by Ohio State scientists involves sealing the mirror with a similarly-sized lid or bell jar, creating a clean, high-vacuum environment for coating. Once the aluminization method is perfected in Columbus, the equipment will be shipped to the telescope site on Mt. Graham, where coating of the acutal mirrors will take place next year.

University Relations has created a Video News Release (VNR) about Ohio State and the World's Largest Telescope and is making it available to television stations across the state. The VNR also can be viewed at www.osu.edu/news_db/vnr/index.php. A news story about the project is at www.osu.edu/researchnews/archive/mirror.htm.

UNITS Channel 37 to broadcast NASA channel

Because of the Feb. 1 Columbia tragedy, UNITS will broadcast the NASA channel on cable channel 37 until further notice. UNITS, the University's telecommunications department, provides cable television service to the Columbus campus. Visit www.units.ohio-state.edu/ for more details.

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