8A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2008
FITNESS
Program to improve weight training skills
BY MARY SORRICK
msorrick@kansan.com
A free weight training program for students and faculty will launch this month at the Student Recreation Fitness Center.
The program, scheduled to begin April 21, will teach the proper ways to use the recreation center's various weight lifting machines. Each 45-minute training session will include on an 12 selectorized weight machines, such as the chest press and leg press, which have weight stacks that affect larger muscle groups.
"We want to make sure new people are comfortable using the equipment and learning how to set the machine up to their body." Long said.
Amber Long, fitness coordinator at the recreation center, said the program would be catered to students who were new to exercise and were not quite sure how to use the selectorized machines.
Improper use of the weight machines could lead to injury, Long said, so one of the program's primary goals was to help explain each aspect of the equipment and make it seem less intimidating.
"There are so many pieces of equipment and so many people here," Long said. "This is an opportunity to help people become familiar and ease their misconceptions or anxieties."
The recreation center offers students the opportunity to meet with a trainer for personalized instruction on exercise equipment, but Long said this new program would provide a much more basic orientation to the weight room.
Becky Kudrna, trainer at the recreation center, said the times available for in-depth
program info
What: Free weight machine training
Where: The Student Recreation Fitness Center
When: Beginning April 21
Sign up for a time slot at the recreation center's cardiovascular resistance training desk
able for in-depth personal training had tended to be inconvenient for student schedules.
"You usually had to get here at 5:30 in the morning," she said. "I'm absolutely certain that kept people from doing it."
Kudrna said the new program would offer a variety of time slots for students to choose from.
Long said students who already used the selectorized machines could also benefit from personal training because trainers could point out any bad exercise habits a student may have developed.
Kimberly Westphall, Wichita junior and marketing program manager for the recreation center, said fixing those habits would help students get more out of each workout.
The program will run through the end of the semester and, depending on its success, could become a permanent feature at the recreation center, Westphall said.
The new training sessions are free for students and faculty. Time slots can be reserved by visiting the cardiovascular resistance training desk at the recreation center.
—Edited by Madeline Hyden
HEALTH
Clinic analyzes runners' technique, strategy
BY MARY SORRICK msorrick@kansan.com
A free annual clinic for runners looking to improve their stride will take place next week at Watkins Memorial Health Center.
their strength and flexibility as well as a video analysis of their running or walking form.
The clinic, scheduled for April 15 and 16, will provide runners with a 45-minute evaluation of
Students interested in working on their running technique and preventing injuries can attend a free clinic at Watkins Memorial Health Center on April 15-16. The clinic is part of the build up to the Kansas Relays, April 16-19.
running tips
Make sure your running shoes match your foot type
Run on both sides of the street or in both directions around the track to make sure leg muscles develop evenly
Start any new running program in moderation — don't run too fast or for too long
Student Health Services physical therapy department will conduct the clinic, which is scheduled to coincide with next week's 81st annual Kansas Relays, a four-day track and field event that brings more than 5,000 athletes from around the country to the University of Kansas.
From the Student Health Services physical therapy department
Stretch or do yoga to keep muscles flexible
Sandy Bowman, supervisor of the physical therapy department, said that despite the connection to the competitive track and field event, the clinic was designed for recreational runners and anyone starting a new running regimen.
The physical therapists who conduct the analyses will look at a range of issues including proper footwear, gait and the way each runner's foot hits the ground.
"If there are any faulty mechanics or movements that are unnecessary, we try to point them out and help with ideas on how to correct their running form," Bowman said.
Amber Long, fitness coordinator at the Student Recreation Fitness Center, said the clinic could also helped runners avoid common running injuries, such as shin
splints or joint overuse.
Those injuries often occur this time of year when the weather gets warmer and students try to tackle longer runs, Bowman said.
"Everyone tries to go out and be the super athlete that they were last summer," she said.
A video analysis of each runner's stride will also help trainers formulate strategies for students to avoid injury and improve their running efficiency.
Students looking for extra running training could also enroll
in a spinning class, yoga class or make an appointment with physical trainers at the recreation center to help incorporate a weight training routine that would focus specifically on the muscle groups most important to runners, Long said.
For more information about the runners' clinic, contact the physical therapy department at 785-864-9592.
Edited by Katherine Loeck
WORLD
Violence in Naples mar elections
BY MATTHEW ROSENBERG
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KATMANDU, Nepal — An outburst of bloodshed that killed eight people cast a shadow on an election Thursday meant to cement Nepal's peace deal with communist insurgents, stoking fears of more violence on voting day.
The voting for a new assembly is intended to usher in sweeping changes for this long-troubled Himalayan country, and will likely mean the end of a centuries-old royal dynasty.
But with one candidate gunned down, a protester shot dead by police and six former rebels slain in a clash with police, it was clear
that fashioning a lasting peace in this largely impoverished, often ill-governed and frequently violent country won't be easy.
"For the peace process to be successful, the election needs to be credible," said Yubaraj Ghimire, editor of the newsweekly Samay. This week's violence "raises a lot of questions about how credible the election will be."
The demonstrator was killed Wednesday after police fired on a mob smashing shops and vandalizing buses to protest the slaying a day earlier of a candidate in the mountainous Surkhet district, the area's police chief, Ram Kumar Khanal, said. Police did not have any suspects in the candidate's slaying, he said.
A curfew was imposed in the remote district, and authorities said they would delay voting in the area by at least a week while the election would go ahead elsewhere.
Dozens of parties, from centrist democrats to former Maoist rebels to old-school royalists, were competing for seats in a new Constituent Assembly, which will govern Nepal and rewrite its constitution.
The vote is the first in the two years since King Gyanendra was forced to end his royal dictatorship and the Maoist movement gave up its decade-long fight for a communist state that left about 13,000 people dead.
For the 27 million people of
Nepal, wedged between Asian giants India and China, the vote brings a promise of peace and an economic revival in this grindingly poor land that often more resembles a medieval fiefdom than a modern state.
But after weeks of near-daily clashes between supporters of rival parties and a handful of small bombings — including two in Katmandu on Wednesday that caused no injuries — the mood on election eve was one of ambivalent optimism.
"We have no choice to be hopeful," said Biraj Shrestha, a 43-year-old who runs an electronics shop in Katmandu. "We've seen so much fighting. Maybe now it will stop."
ENTERTAINMENT Tony Braxton cancels shows after ailment
LAS VEGAS — Four more Toni Braxton shows have been canceled as she recuperates following her hospitalization with chest pain.
"We're going to go ahead and cancel her shows tonight and for the rest of the week", Flamingo Las Vegas hotel-casino and Harrah's Entertainment Inc. spokeswoman Deanna Pettit said Wednesday."We expect she'll return to the stage next Tuesday"
Pettit says the 40-year-old Grammy winner is recovering at home following her release Tuesday afternoon after precautionary tests at a Las Vegas area hospital.
The exact cause of Braxton's chest pain has not been made public. Braxton has been treated in the past for pericarditis, a viral inflammation of the heart.
Pettit says the Flamingo Showroom is offering refunds for the canceled shows.
Braxton is a six-time Grammy winner for songs including "Un-break My Heart." Her Las Vegas act, "Toni Braxton: Revealed," is in the midst of a two-year run at the Flamingo.
Associated Press