Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA (1888PressRelease)
December 03, 2008 - AFAA, the world's largest fitness certification association, announced today it is working with a leading bone health institution in providing a new and better way to improve bone and joint health for millions of Americans.
As part of the initiative, the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA) will reach out to select locations including clubs and health institutions to promote bone and joint health. Osteoporosis affects nearly 44 million Americans, of whom more than half are at least 50 years of age, according to national statistics.
In collaboration with the renowned Swezey Institute of Santa Monica, AFAA also created a custom home-exercise DVD to complement the OsteoBall®—an inflatable vinyl ball for easy-to-do tension and resistance (isometric) exercises. The DVD is also AFAA's first home-exercise training video with closed-captioned subtitles for hearing-impaired individuals.
A landmark eight-week Swezey Institute study using the OsteoBall® revealed an increase in muscle strength in the following areas: head, neck, hands, elbow flexors, quads, elbow extensors and trunk. Each muscle exercise consisted of five-second maximum contraction against progressively increasing resistance of the ball. Muscle strength was measured using a hand-held dynamometer at week 0, week 4 and week 8. The findings were published in the Journal of Rheumatology.
The "OsteoBall Training for Bone Health" program includes an instructional DVD and OsteoBall®. To make a greater impact, the program is available for both consumer and personal trainers who have clients with bone and joint related conditions such as osteoporosis and/or osteoarthritis. To learn more, go directly to www.afaa.com.
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