 "Photo: Sam Attal / The Advocate")
As a 79-year-old with pre-diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure, most people of his age and condition at this time would often find themselves “unable to get around,” he said.
Yet, despite the circumstance, Fred Furuta has more heart to exercise toward maintaining a healthier lifestyle than one would expect.
Available for students of all ages and physical endurances, the aerobics courses on campus direct attention to workouts focusing on building the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, stimulating bodies to generate amounts of energy and fitness for students like Furuta.
“Every time you exercise, you give yourself an opportunity to be in the world the next day,” physical education professor Robert Creer said. “(Students are) not exercising for today, but taking care of the body for tomorrow.”
Offered in many forms, such as figure control, physical conditioning, step aerobics and cardio-kickboxing, the aerobics courses coordinate different activities leading to health improvement.
Creer, an instructor for PE 140, 156 and 157, teaches his Figure Control and Physical Conditioning classes by mentally and physically exercising the body, he said.
The courses include stretching and muscle toning, leading to increased flexibility.
Though requiring the same workouts, the classes are based on individual benchmarks allowing students to determine how and when their bodies can adapt to the physical training, Creer said.
“Every student brings a different kind of baggage,” Creer said. “They establish control over a period (of time).”
Furuta said he has been taking classes taught by Creer for 26 years.
“The main thing is to do it on a consistent basis,” Furuta said. “It takes a long time to build up stamina.”
Taught in GA-20, the instruction consists of 20 minutes of stretching followed by a series of crunches and other exercises.
Students, both young and old, can undergo 3,000 crunches on average in one class period, Creer said.
The aerobics courses not only affect the way students feel physically, but also mentally.
Student Daniela Jacques, 20, said that taking the courses has shifted her views on stress and instead focus on pursuing a “positive and healthy living.”
Before enrolling in the class with Creer, Jacques said she paid little attention to her physique.
After joining in May of 2009, however, she not only became motivated to continue exercising to lose weight, but also to become healthier, she said.
“Once you get used to it, it’s not enough,” she said. “You build endurance little by little.”
During his class, Creer stresses the importance of repetition and maintaining focus while exercising.
Katherine Cannon, 66, has been taking aerobics classes at the college for more than 10 years because they “encourage you to push yourself,” she said.
“I don’t want to live a long time being sick every day,” Cannon said. “As you age, your body is going to change how healthy you are. Your clock is up to you.”
Physical education professor emeritus Tom Kinnard also teaches the same classes as Creer, but at a less intense pace, as his students are commonly senior citizens, he said.
“Both areas meet the needs of the different type of people wanting to improve their health,” Kinnard said.
Besides teaching aerobics on the floor, the college also offers a more active approach to acquiring cardiovascular and respiratory fitness in Step Aerobics and Cardio-kickboxing.
Shelley Figone, physical education professor, teaches PE 116 and 267 and encourages students to keep their heart rates up by playing a variety of different music in GA-10.
Step Aerobics, PE-116, instructs students to step on and off a platform in a pattern following the beat of music.
Playing a selection of old school, hip-hop, disco and pop music, Figone makes sure to prevent students from feeling “bored,” she said.
Students enjoy the intricate dance patterns that coordinate with the upbeat music, Figone said.
“I try to make (the choreography) intricate (so that students) don’t have time to think (they are) tired because they’re so involved in getting the dance pattern,” she said.
Student Elizabeth Gonzalez, 20, said she feels taking the Step Aerobics course is a great learning experience that “makes exercising fun.”
The kickboxing course, also including music, consists of a series of kicks, jabs, punches and slides all worked in a specific order to stimulate the heart, Figone said.
“(Kickboxing) just keeps the body and organs pumping the right way,” Cardio-kickboxing student Racheal Hawthorne said.
Kinnard said, “The goal of each one of these (courses) is to condition the cardiovascular system, which is the most important fitness that we have.”
PE 116, 140, 156, 157 and 267 will be offered for students to take during the summer session.
Contact Asia Camagong at acamagong.advocate@gmail.com.
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