Gayle Lossman has been teaching seniors how to keep fit at the South Yuba Club in Nevada City for years, but in recent weeks, her Silver Sneakers class has taken on a stately feel.

After reading about the National President's Challenge in the USA Weekend magazine inserted into the March 29 edition of The Union, Lossman decided to fold it into the seniors program.

The payoff - which they've already earned although the challenge is not over until May 15 - is a bronze certificate from President George W. Bush.

"The Presidential Challenge is important because, day-to-day, we get into a rut," Lossman said. "The biggest problem for fitness is mental.

"No gym would be open if that wasn't the case," Lossman said. "Your average person who has a day or job is a grandparent or even a school child has a gradual erosion of getting up to do things.

The Presidential Challenge "Is to get all Americans active for one-half hour every day" for six weeks, Lossman said.

"I wanted them to promise at least one-half to one hour a week above and beyond the class," Lossman said. "They walked or did some other form of exercise, and they did it."

Each day Lossman made entries into the national President's Challenge Web site about her participants and what they did: Jogging, walking, aerobics, weight training, yoga. Because her class is entirely made up of seniors, Lossman entered them at the moderate level.

"One day, it popped up and said they had bronze certificates, and I handed them out in class," Lossman said.

One recipient was Simone Becker, 93, of Nevada City, who relishes the benefits the diverse exercise class gave her to earn the award.

"I move a lot better now," she said recently. "It has improved me a lot in just three months."

"I had a four-way bypass, and I'm carrying a pacemaker now," said certificate earner Joaquin Aguilar, 82, of Grass Valley. "I went to cardiac rehab at Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital and then came over here to build my body.

"I've been here about four months, and it helps tremendously," Aguilar said of the Silver Sneakers class. "We do a lot of balance work and then chair exercises that help your back and stomach muscles."

Balance was key for Gary Wood, 71, of Alta Sierra.

"I've lost a lot of weight, but my balance isn't as good as it should be," Wood said. "Now, I stand on one leg and trust the other to not fall. It's much better."

Bronze certificate winners Dave McKeen, 80, and his wife, Jean McKeen, 79, just got back from a trip to Asia.

"We could do 21 days in China, thanks to this class," Jean McKeen said.

"We led the pack" on the tour, Dave McKeen said. "We climbed the Great Wall of China and had to rush from place to place. There was a lot of walking.

"We couldn't have done it five or six years ago."



To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.

Tips to make you move

n Take stairs, not elevators.

n Stash the remote; get up to change channels.

n Park farther away from the office or store and walk more.

n Forget coffee breaks; take a walk break.

n Walk the dog.

n Ride your bike.

n Go to the park.

Source: The National President's Challenge