The White Falcon - 19.02.1993, Page 8

President’s Sports Council offers fitness challenge ^
(AFIS)—Three out of every four people system. The only requirement is that the training, swimming and running. The most^^^r
who begin an exercise program quit it within
the first year, according to the President’s
Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
The keys to a successful exercise program
include finding a sport that you like, varying
the routine to avoid boredom and setting
yourself a realistic goal, said Arnold Sch-
warzenegger, the council’s chairman.
In the military, physical fitness is manda-
tory. But it’s also fun, and you can get
recognition for your efforts through the
President’s Sports Award program. The
program, run by the council and the Amateur
Athletic Union, features more than 50 sports.
It’s easy to enroll in the program. Just
decide on the sport, pick up a copy of a
personal fitness log (at the gym), meet the re-
quirements and keep track of them in the log,
Schwarzenegger said. You should complete
requirements within four months, but excep-
tions can be made.
The awards program, open to anyone at
least 10 years old, is conducted on the honor
Presidential Sports Award Categories
Aerobic dance Rifle
Archery Roller skating
Backpacking Rope skipping
Badminton Rowing
Baseball Rugby
Basketball Running
Bicycling Sailing
Bowling Scuba-skin
Canoc-kayak Skeet-trap
Cross training Skiing—Alpine
Equitation Skiing—Nordic
Fencing Snowshoeing
Field hockey Soccer
Figure skating Softball
Football Sports fitness
Golf Squash
Gymnastics Swimming
Handball Table tennis
Horseshoe pitching Tae kwon do
Ice hockey Tennis
lea skating Triathlon
Jogging Volleyball
Judo Walking—endurance
Karate Walking—fitness
Lawn bowling Walking-race
Marathon Water exercise
Orienteering Water skiing
Pistol Weight training
Racquetball Wrestling
personal fitness logs for those between the
ages of 10 and 15 be signed by a coach,
instructor or parent
Generally, each sport’s requirements are
set up so individuals exercise three or four
times a week. Take running as an example.
To qualify for the award, participants must
run at least 200 miles. They must run at least
three miles during each outing, at an average
of nine minutes or less per mile. However, no
more than five miles may be credited toward
a day’s run. This isn’t meant to discourage
longer runs, Schwarzenegger explained, but
to help establish a steady, long-term exercise
program.
The sports award includes a certificate of
achievement from the U.S. president, a letter
from Schwarzenegger and a blazer patch
signifying the specific sport
There isn’t a limit on the number of awards
you can work toward or earn, said Sch-
warzenegger, as long as you meet the specific
requirement for each. For example, some
like baseball, basketball and hockey require
some games be official league play, while
others like judo and fencing, require a certain
number of hours with an instructor.
It’s possible to work on two or three at one
time, but one workout cannot be logged for
more than one sport. Additional time is al-
lowed to complete the logs as long as the
individual averages three or four workouts a
week.
“I have made a personal commitment
toward earning several presidential sports
awards, starting with some of my favorite
sports, weight training, running, tennis, skiing
and swimming,” said Schwarzenegger.
The program’s most popular sports in-
clude fitness walking, aerobic dance, weight
active age group is 35-44 years old, followed
by the 26-34 age group.
The base gym also offers their own per-
sonal runners training program where run-
ners can log their mileage and receive a T-
shirt or sweat shirt after a specified amount of
time and mileage.
For more information on these programs
call the gym at ext. 6491.
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