Fall 2010Department of Kinesiology

California State University, Chico Department Phone: (530) 898-6373 Fax: (530) 898-4932 http://www.csuchico.edu/kine

Inside This Issue:

FitU 1

Student Spotlight 2

Flatwater Canoeing 2

Outdoor Education River Cleanup 3

Chair’s Corner 3

Exercise Physiology Club 4

After two long years of preparation, a new, innova-tive exercise adherence and nutrition mentoring program called FitU has opened inside the halls of Yolo. The program is a joint venture between Ki-nesiology and Nutrition and Food Sciences faculty members, Linda Keeler, Sport and Exercise Psy-chology, and Dawn Clifford, Clinical Nutrition, who currently serve as co-directors of the program.

FitU offers a semester’s worth of exercise adher-ence and nutrition counseling sessions, in addition to pre-fi tness and post-fi tness testing, to current Chico State students. The program also acts as a service-learning opportunity for current seniors and graduate students in both departments who com-plete internships as FitU peer mentors. FitU offers an individualized, tailored approach, to behavior change, mentors to help each client fi gure out ways to change his or her lifestyle regarding exercise and nutrition for the long-term.

Exercise adherence mentors are initially trained in a newly developed course in Kinesiology titled Exer-cise Behavior and Adherence. Mentors learn how to help clients overcome barriers to physical activity, including those barriers that range from non-produc-tive motivational issues to time management.

FitU also includes a non-diet-based approach to nutrition counseling which focuses on tuning into intuitive eating skills and healthy attitudes towards food. FitU’s programming is unique in that it is the only college-based health program that combines exercise adherence counseling and a non-diet-based nutrition counseling.

The kickoff of FitU’s pilot program this past Sep-tember was enhanced by efforts from interns in the Marketing and Communication and Design depart-

ments, who served in public relations, promo-tions, and web site design roles. The pilot pro-gram was very successful, and plans to expand the program this spring are in the works.

Check out FitU’s website! www.csuchico.edu/fi tu

FitU at CSU, ChicoAfter two long years of preparation, a new, innova- ments, who served in public relations, promo-

California State University, Chico

Outdoor Education and Adapted Physical Activity teamed up to provide a canoeing program for adults with developmental disabilities. Jacquie Medina and Teri Todd designed and supervised the program while students from Outdoor Education, Adapted Physical Education, and Recreation Therapy volunteered to be paddling coaches. Ten individuals participated in the program held last spring and this fall at a small lake in Durham.

The focus of the program was to develop curriculum, modify equipment, and identify teaching strategies to en-able individuals with developmental disabilities to learn the basics of paddling. Participant learning included the parts of the canoe, how to enter and exit a canoe, and basic paddling strokes. Several modifi cations to canoes included dropping the seats, using tape to indicate foot and hand placement, and using creek chairs to increase stability of the paddler. Student paddling coaches developed their instructional skills, and all of the participants increased their paddling ability over the course of the program.

In addition to learning to canoe, participants enjoyed the natural setting and camaraderie with fellow paddlers. Many brought lawn chairs, food, and sometimes pets to the program, coming early and staying late while relax-ing under the willow tree.

Flatwater Canoeing for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

Martin Frigaard graduated from Chico State with a BS in Exercise Physiol-ogy in 2007. He is currently working on his masters degree in Kinesiology with a focus on Exercise Physiology. His master thesis topic is Associations Among Physical Activity, Screen-time, BMI, and Blood Pressure in Ad-olescents. He has a gift for statistics and has been instrumental in assisting with our graduate statistics class.

In the future he hopes to pursue a doc-torate in biostatistics. However, upon completion of his master’s degree, he plans to join the Peace Corps for several years and become trilingual (Spanish, English, French). He has

taught Epidemiology and team-taught Principles of Strength and Condition-ing while enrolled here. His most meaningful undergraduate experience was in KINE 315, Introduction to Adapted Physical Activity, where he had the opportunity to teach children with disabilities. One of his most rewarding graduate experiences was working with FitU (see page 1). In his free time, Martin enjoys skate board-ing and learning to unicycle. Another great joy in his life is spending time with his two younger brothers. Thank you, Martin, for the fi ne work you have been doing in our department as

a graduate student this year.

Spotlight on a Student: Martin Frigaard

Chair’s Corner Hello Alumni and Friends of the Kinesiology Department,

I would like to introduce myself; I am the new chair of Kinesiology, Rebecca Lytle. My background is in Adapted Physical Activity, and I have run the Adapted Program in the Kinesiology Department as a full-time faculty member for the past 11 years. It is my plea-sure to be serving as the current department chair for the term of 2009-2012.

It has been a busy year-and-a-half as a new chair. Last year was fraught with budget is-sues, personnel cuts, furloughs, and reorgani-zation of many processes and offi ces on cam-pus. However, with the coming of fall 2010 things are looking up and the budget seems to have stabilized. There is good news to share! We now have a new option in Outdoor Edu-cation, a revised degree program in Exercise Physiology, and recently the Physical Educa-tion Teacher Education option was approved by the California Teacher Credentialing Pro-gram under the new physical education stan-dards-a stellar performance by our faculty who were struggling to maintain quality instruction and programs with a 10% salary reduction and 10% time reduction. Kudos to each of them for their commitment to the program and students!

Included in this newsletter are some of the highlighted activities from the past year, the new FitU program, Outdoor Education’s River Clean-up, a Canoeing project for individuals with disabilities, and more… I hope you enjoy!

All our friends and alumni are always wel-come to come back and visit, participate, share in a class, or hang out with old friends and new. We look forward to seeing you.

Rebecca K. Lytle, Chairperson

In September, the students in KINE 460, Foundations of Out-door Education, donned gloves, buckets, and garbage bags as they waded through Big Chico Creek cleaning up litter and debris, west of One Mile Recreation Area. Students were led by Friends of Bidwell volunteer Susan Mason and immersed in the issues of impact and waste affecting the park and creek environment.

By the end, the students had collected 10 bags of garbage along with a road sign, sheet of metal, and mattress. The expe-rience offered the students an opportunity to apply the theories and philosophies of outdoor and environmental education and the role of service in their own community. Students were also introduced to the Friends of Bidwell Park program, the Butte Environmental Council, and the Bidwell Park Volunteer Pro-

gram.

KINE 460 River Cleanup: City of Chico Parks

(September 24, 2009)

Outdoor Education Students Participate in River Cleanup

Five students from the exercise physiology majors club were able to visit two separate corporate fi tness sites. Both sites are run by the biggest corporate fi tness company in the country, Health Fitness Corporation (HFC). Corporate fi tness has become a very important part of standard operations in large (and even small) compa-nies. What has been demonstrated over years of data gathering is that fi t and healthy employees are productive employees. Thus, even though it may cost a company several hundred thousand dollars to support a fi tness center and its employees, the facility can save a large company millions! Naturally, many companies are adding fi tness centers to their campuses, such as Lockheed, IBM, the Honda manufacturing plant in Ohio, Arkansas, University of Louisville, and Lucas Films. Since its inception, HFC has expanded from purely fi tness to include health and wellness. At various times throughout the year in each facility there may be cholesterol screen-ing, blood pressure screening and nutrition seminars on healthy eating (after all what do engineers know about healthy eating?).

The fi rst site the club members were able to visit was at Lockheed-Martin. Lockheed-Martin has long been interested in keeping their employees fi t and healthy, thus their fi tness facility not only includes the standard weight room and cardio equipment, but also has an expansive lighted fi eld where HFC employees organize soc-cer and softball games after work. Regardless of the sport, various divisions within Lockheed compete against one another for “bragging rights,” which helps build teamwork. Additionally, groups of triathletes or runners may train and compete as a group. The fi tness group at Lockheed and other locations can facilitate their em-ployees’ endeavors. The fastest group of runners in the city of Syracuse all worked at the Lockheed-Martin facility in Syracuse, NY, and consistently won the Chase Corporate Challenge 5K and 10K races.

The second site that the club members were able to visit was the brand-new fi tness facility at Net App. The visit to Net App was particularly special because the HFC site director there is Chico State alumna Kathy Anaya. Kathy said that Chico State prepared her well for her career. Net App was just rated “Best Company to Work For” by Forbes magazine, and upon entering the fi tness facility it was not hard to understand why they gained that recognition! The bamboo fl ooring is an effort by the company to use fast-growing, renewable material that also happens to be especially durable. There are a number of different specialized rooms at Net App, including Pilates and yoga rooms in addition to the standard basketball gym and weight room. Lastly, the visit to Net App was particularly special because the HFC site director at Net App is Chico State alumna, Kathy Anaya. Kathy said that Chico State prepared her well for her career.The club is looking forward to another visit soon. We would like to develop a possible “pipeline” to corporate fi tness and HFC as a career option for exercise physiology majors at Chico State!

Exercise Physiology Club Visits Two Corporate Fitness Sites