SHAPE program connects HPER, Navy

IU’s School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation has partnered with the U.S. Navy to provide specialized fitness programs for Navy active duty personnel who are 40 years or older.

Fitness specialists involved in the program, including some who are HPER graduates, have shown promising statistics for their work dealing with health improvements.

Participants during the initial two years of Senior Health Assessment Program Enterprise saw improvements in strength, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility and blood pressure. Body mass indexes for sailors dropped by .96 points, and their body age decreased by 2.9 years, according to an IU press release.

The men and women who participate in the initial two years of Senior Health Assessment Program Enterprise saw significant improvements in strength, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility and blood pressure. On average, body mass indexes for the sailors dropped by .96 points, and more importantly, their body age decreased by 2.9 years,” according to an IU press release.

The program changes the participants’ whole physique, Carol Kennedy-Armbruster, principal investigator of the service contract for IU, said in the release.

“That’s what this program is about for me,” she said. “It’s about enhancing their quality of life, giving them more energy.”

HPER hires fitness specialists for the Navy who will live on Navy sites at Pearl Harbor, San Diego and Norfolk, Va.

The program gives the specialists a chance to focus on helping the sailors and developing effective programs instead of selling their skills and knowledge.

“These kids are givers. They want to help people. They don’t want to go out and sell it,” Kennedy-Armbruster said in the release.

For more information, contact Kennedy-Armbruster at 812-855-6083 or cakenned@indiana.edu.

— Bailey Loosemore