Team Franciscan Center: Massage Designed for You!

Kristin Pitstick
Spa Manager

Summer is in full swing and that means heat, heat, HEAT! It’s important to stay hydrated and wear appropriate clothing. Too hot outside? The Franciscan Center is a great place to meet your friends and socialize (and maybe grab a workout too!). In this month’s issue, I’d like to highlight an article about massage and seniors from the Massage Therapy Journal (MTJ) of the American Massage Therapy Association. If you wish to read the article in full, you may find it here: http://www.amtamassage.org/articles/3/MTJ/detail/2318


“Several studies have investigated whether massage therapy can relieve some of the symptoms of two common conditions associated with aging: osteoarthritis and Alzheimer’s disease.

Massage has a great deal to offer in ameliorating the aches and pains associated with aging. Along with exercise and NSAIDs, massage can reduce symptoms of common OA. For people living with Alzheimer’s disease, massage is a low-risk and relatively low-cost intervention that can be easily taught to caregivers. Particularly with the concern over the long-term side effects associated with many of the medications used to manage behavior in patients with Alzheimer's disease, massage is a promising intervention that may reduce caregiver stress as well.”

It’s important to note that while you receive a lot of benefits from being on the table, you can still receive benefits from sitting in a chair with hand/foot massage. Massage does not have to be full body for you to see improvements!

Team Franciscan Center: Summer is Here!

Dr. Jack Harless
Manager of The Franciscan Center

Summer is Here! It’s heating up around the Miami Valley and as the temperature continues to soar upward, we must make sure that we are taking every available precaution before going out in the heat.


As I write this it is 104 degrees . It’s nearly too hot to do anything outside., and exercising in this kind of weather can be dangerous.

If you don’t want to miss out on your already established exercise routine, because of the heat, the air conditioning in TFC is just right, always safe, and actually refreshing on these dog days of summer.

The pool is perfect for this season. Come in, take a dip, move your body to one of our vital life infused water classes like Aqua Zumba, or Plyometrics. We have over 15 different water classes for your enjoyment.

The aerobics studio is actually the coolest room on campus! Spinning is one of our newest classes in the aerobics studio and one of the most exciting classes at TFC.

Spinning is an up-tempo, high-energy cycling class that really gets the heart pumping. It’s definitely in the Summer is Here! It’s heating up around the Miami Valley and as the temperature continues to soar upward, we must make sure that we are taking every available precaution before going out in the heat. Spinning is an up-tempo, high-energy cycling class that really gets the heart pumping. It’s definitely in the exercise-in-disguise” category. 45 minutes of fun and function goes by in a flash!

What all of these “stealth-health” classes do for us is allow us to achieve a level of consistency and sustainability that conventional exercise won’t.

In short, the internal motivation required to go have fun is much less than gearing up to do a “have-to” or “should-do”.

So put the fun back into function and energize your summer without burning yourself up or out on monotonous workouts.

Team Franciscan Center: Strength Equipment

The Franciscan Center offers a wide range of strength equipment to help you achieve your fitness goals. Machines include a leg curl, leg extension, biceps curl, chest press, shoulder press, pull-down, peck deck, reverse fly, assisted dip machine/assisted pull-up machine, and dumbbell’s ranging from three to thirty-five pounds. The Franciscan Center has Precor’s S-Line strength equipment. This line of Precor is designed for users of all levels. It offers streamlined operation and guides users through each station. It delivers a smooth, fluid motion that feels natural to the user. Seats are easy to adjust and comfortable to the feel. The pin loaded weight stacks are quick to change and are easy to make strength gains on from the five and ten pound increments. Orientations are offered to new members and personal training is available!

Fitness Supervisor

Jon Dolph

Team Events: The Station House Team!

A healthy  breakfast of fruit, yogurt, and pancakes made the 5k breakfast a great hit!

 Over 250 pancakes sold!

Team Events: 5k Breakfast!

Jim's team created a magnificent breakfast buffet from The Station House Restaurant!

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research Update!

Dr. Jack Harless, Manager of The Franciscan Center

We currently have 13 members. This week we looked at exciting preliminary research at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Toxicology Unit at the University of Leicester. The researchers have identified a major pathway leading to brain cell death in mice with neurodegenerative disease. The team was able to block the pathway, preventing brain cell death and increasing survival in the mice. This may lead to more discoveries and practical applications for those with PD and Alzheimers in the future.

Team Franciscan Center: Congratulations Kristin!

Kristin, Spa Manager and Exercise Physiologist, completed the 2012 Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati!

Team Franciscan Center: 5k Update!

On Saturday June 9th St. Leonard will once again be hosting our annual 5k walk/run. This is the perfect opportunity to bring Vital Life Social Walking to the next level!

Grab a friend and sign up together. You can run or walk, but having someone with you will make it much more enjoyable. Having fun while exercising not only increases the likelihood for consistency but people who have fun while exercising, particularly when doing so with friends, tend to score higher on self-rated health related assessments. This is important for many reasons, not the least of which is those who rate themselves poorly on self-rated health assessments have been found to score low on other clinical outcomes and increased mortality!

This will be a tremendous event. We will have breakfast (included in the registration) a free t-shirt, water bottle, and a draw-string bag. Sign up today and experience fun and function in action!

~Dr. Jack Harless

Team Franciscan Center: Argentine Tango!

Dr. Jack Harless
Wellness Center Manager


In a recent study involving Argentine Tango and individuals with Parkinson’s Disease, some interesting conclusions were arrived at. The authors concluded that “the major purpose of this work was to compare a tango dance class, considered a novel movement intervention, with a standard community exercise class. The results illustrate improvements in all measures of falls, gait and balance confidence in those with PD in the tango group as compared with those with PD in the exercise group. Furthermore, the novel aspect of tango and the built-in non-exercise concept of dance made the exercise more pleasurable and as such, promoted adherence to the program.” 1.

I want to highlight a couple of points that have particular importance to The Franciscan Center and our Vital Life program. The researchers noted that when individuals affected by PD were introduced to a novel from of movement/exercise, and that the movement did not feel like exercise to the participants, they continued with the exercise over a longer period of time than the individuals who were doing a “standard” exercise class.

The lesson there for all of us is go out and try something new. Make new friends, learn new movements. Not only is the socialization fun, but there is growing evidence that learning new movements and being exposed to new environments helps the nervous system “re-wire” itself. At the very least, the evidence suggests that all of us, not just those with PD, are more functional and alive. In Vital Life terms, they were expressing more fun and function and less frailty and failure.

Our very reason for being at the Franciscan Center was summed up in this article involving people afflicted with PD, but it’s a valuable lesson or all of us. Try something new, meet new people, achieve a new level of fun and function at The Franciscan Center!

1. Hackney ME, Kantorovich S, Earhart GM. A study on the effects of Argentine tango as a form of partnered dance for those with Parkinson disease and the healthy elderly. Amer J Dance Ther 2007;29 (2):109–27

Team Franciscan Center: Going Away Party!

Kelsey is advancing to another department and The Franciscan Center wanted to wish her well and to remind her that she will always be a part of the team!

Team Fitness Gurus No. 25: Resistance Training

Resistance training has been found to improve balance, strength, and cognitive function. In addition, research finds that over the course of resistance training executive control is improved in the brain, and students reports less depression and anxiety. From recent research, improved self-esteem and quality of sleep are also benefits of resistance training. There are three types of resistance training: Isotonic resistance or lengthening of muscles as when using kettle bells or free weights Isometric resistance or moving against immovable resistance that does not lengthen the muscle or involve the joint such as when lifting your own body weight or when doing some types of crunches Isokinetic resistance or movement that allows a person to workout using a constant weight or resistance such as when using some gym machinery. Variety is important in your training to reduce boredom and to avoid overuse of muscles and joints. Since the brain thrives on variety this might be a great exercise group to add to your workouts. It is recommended that you discuss your goals and special fitness needs with a physician or personal trainer before you begin.

Team Franciscan Center: Feeding Our Brains with Movement

Dr. Jack Harless

Manager of The Franciscan Center

"Neuroscience has discovered that our brain's very design makes it sociable, inexorably drawn into an intimate brain-to-brain linkup whenever we engage with another person. That neural bridge lets us impact the brain—and so the body—of everyone we interact with, just as they do us." 1. I find the above quote fascinating and exciting for a variety of reasons. It has many implications for us as humans, but specifically, those of us involved with very physical components of the eight Vital Life ecologies can understand that the brain is also impacted equally by the body. Said differently, this is a two lane highway. Not only does what we think affect the body, but how we move, touch, and breath with our physical being, conversely affects the brain. There is no separation between the brain & body! In fact there really should be a term for this inseparable unity. Many have started to call it the bodymind. This has far reaching affects and when one considers that exercise physiologists now consider movement to be a daily requirement, much like daily nutritional requirements, exercise becomes not an option, but a mandate! Because we are not just physical beings, movement/exercise affects every aspect of our being. Researchers such as Candace Pert, PhD, have demonstrated that alteration to the body's basic patterns of movement, breath, & touch create pschyo-spiritual changes from the smallest chemical neuropeptide to whole body reductions of tension and stress that even extend to others around us! Very simply, the more we move, the better we are as humans. We have more energy, we tend to resist stagnation & decay in all of the eight ecosystems. When we move with others, as we were created to do, we extend the holistic benefits exponentially! If you have been feeling a little stagnant lately, try moving, breathing & stretching your body in a different way. When you get that feeling in the early afternoon, instead of reaching for the soda pop or extra cup of coffee, get up and take a 2 minute walk around the office. You're bodymind will thank you. Brain & Mind Fitness News Blog – Social Intelligence & the Frontal Lobes, Oct. 14, 2006, http://sharpbrains.wordpress.com/2006/10/14/new-directions-social-intelligence-and-the-frontal-lobes/

Vital Life Stories: Linda Larson

Vital Life Stories: Jeff & Joan Cutlip

Team Franciscan Center: Relaxation Massage!

Kristin Pitstick

Spa Manager

With 2012 in full swing, we at the Franciscan Center hope you are sticking to your resolutions. Having trouble? Here are a few good tips to help: set realistic goals, focus on one objective at a time, get a journal, share you goals with others, and reward yourself with a massage at the Day Spa! In this month’s issue, I will be talking about Relaxation massage.

As the name implies, Relaxation massage is a gentle massage where the primary goal is, you guessed it, relaxation. During a typical session, there is less emphasis placed on working out tense muscles and more on gentle gliding strokes to induce a peaceful state.

Although this is the least strenuous massage, there are still substantial benefits: improved blood circulation, stimulation of the lymphatic system, a calming effect on the nervous system, and an increased sense of well-being.

Let 2012 be the best year of your life -

Team Franciscan Center: Social Walking!

Dr. Jack Harless,

Manager of The Franciscan Center

What a winter we’ve had so far! Hopefully this warm weather will continue through February. When was the last time you can remember doing as many outdoor activities in January?

I know my family has taken more walks this past month than in any recent winter I can remember. Walking with friends and loved ones not only is good for you physically, but also helps tend to the emotional and spiritual aspects of our relationships.

Physiologists have long known that humans were not designed to be stationary. Unfortunately, our modern lifestyle makes it extremely easy to be sedentary, with disastrous consequences.

Our Vital Life Social Walking Program is one antidote to this sedentary menace! Find a friend or loved one to get active with. Not only does it pass the time, but it helps keep you motivated and consistent with your exercise program.

If you look around the St. Leonard campus you will find white walking tickets. Close by you will find mile estimation sheets which help you determine how much you are moving during the course of a month.

When you fill these sheets out and turn them in, this information gets entered into a computer database which allows you to plot your walking from St. Leonard to Disneyland in California and back. When you have completed that journey you then can move onto charting your way to Assisi, Italy and back

Our members and residents have found this to be a fun way to get motivated to walk, and more importantly, to stay motivated with their long-term exercise commitments. It also helps teach and implement a valuable lesson for life, which is goal setting. Exercise can be a very nebulous endeavor if you don't have specific goals. It can also be very hard to maintain over a long period of time if you aren't focused and secure in the reasons why you have chosen to set out on this exercise path.

Our Vital Life Social Walking Program helps you connect with your wellness goals in a real and tangible way. When you feel connected to your personal exercise goals your probability of achieving those goals rises exponentially! Further, the likelihood of you setting new and higher goals increases as well

So look around campus for the white Vital Life Social Walking tickets and begin your journey today!

Vital Life Stories!: Dr. Jack Harless

Fitness Room Facts from Jon Dolph—Fitness Supervisor

January’s equipment introduction is the Precor Treadmill

A superior, low-impact workout : With Precor’s patented Ground Effects Impact Control (GFX®), they have one-up other treadmills by striking the perfect balance between absorption and support, inducing a smooth, natural running motion that reduces joint stress and minimizes fatigue. Shock absorbers at the front of the deck offer extra cushioning that absorb impact based on your height and weight. At the same time, a solid surface at the rear of the deck makes it easy to push off, reducing fatigue while helping to prevent injury.

Heart Rate Monitoring: Maximize your workout results whether you walk or run with touch heart rate monitoring.

Smart-Rate: Easily stay in your fat burn, cardio or peak target heart rate zone with Smart-Rate.

Preset Programs: Tailor your workouts to your fitness goals, stay challenged and add variety, with preset programs. Our Precor treadmills have runner/walking specific programs such as 1 mile, 5K, 10K and Heart Rate Control.

The Precor’s powerful motor runs cool and quiet, providing plenty of power and torque when you want it.

Team Fraciscan Center: Deep Tissue Massage!

Kristin Pitstick Spa Manager

Happy New Year to you and your family from the Franciscan Center Day Spa! A new year means a fresh start – a time for personal reflection and growth; a time to move forward and reach our goals. In this month’s issue, I am going to talk about deep tissue massage – the lies, the truths, and if it is appropriate for you.

First and foremost, deep tissue massage is a technique that aims to relieve the deeper structures of muscle and fascia. It uses many of the same movements as Swedish massage; however the sessions are often more intense as a result of deliberate, focused work. Many people associate deep tissue massage with “deep pressure” massage, these are not the same. Deep pressure massage is a technique that is performed with sustained strong, occasionally intense pressure throughout and entire full-body session. Not only is this technique physically intense on the therapist, it may also lead to injury of localized muscle or nerve trauma.

Deep tissue is great for people with chronically tense areas, specifically when adhesions are involved. It is also beneficial for people with limited mobility, postural problems, fibromyalgia, repetitive strain, and osteoarthritis pain. It is NOT recommended for people with infectious skin diseases, open wounds, acute injury, varicose veins, immediately after surgery, those prone to blood clots, those who bruise easily, areas with sensation loss, deep vein thrombosis, and contagious conditions. Those with osteoporosis should obtain written permission from their doctor before receiving a deep tissue massage. If you think you could benefit from a deep tissue massage, call the Day Spa now to consult with one of our therapists. Make 2012 the year you reach your wellness goals!

Team Franciscan Center: Safe and Comfortable Workout Gear!

Dr. Jack Harless The Franciscan Center Manager

Happy New Year! As the temperature drops it’s important to keep our spirits up and one of the best ways to stay on top of your game is through movement and exercise with friends. I wanted to share some information with you about correct exercise attire that will keep everyone safe & comfortable while they’re having fun this new year. This information is taken from the livestrong.com website:

Proper Clothing & Shoes for Exercising: Exercise is necessary to keep you physically and mentally healthy. When you're working out, you want to be as comfortable as possible. It is important to wear the right clothing and shoes. The purpose of fitness clothing is to keep you comfortable, allow for correct freedom of movement and in some cases, help your performance. Proper clothing will allow you to feel more comfortable during workouts, control your temperature and enhance your performance. Carefully choosing the right fit and style of exercise shoe can prevent you from suffering a lower body injury.

Suggested Workout Clothing: Wear workout clothes that are breathable and movable. Look for clothes that are comfortable and allow a free range of motion. Restrictive clothing or clothing made from synthetic fabrics is typically less breathable than cotton, linen and high-tech fabrics that help wick away sweat and keep you cool while you work out. Try workout clothes on before you buy them to ensure the proper fit and comfort. Take note of any bothersome stitching, tags or emblems that cannot be altered after purchasing.

Suggested Workout Shoes: Whether your workout involves running, walking, sports or gym equipment, a proper sport shoe is a must. Injury caused by inappropriate shoes can needlessly derail your fitness or weight loss attempt. Choosing a proper shoe can help you to prevent foot and ankle damage, and make your workout a more pleasant and comfortable experience. Good shoes can lessen the impact of your step and cushion the foot from heavy landings.

Finding a Good Fit: Athletic shoes should fit comfortably. When trying shoes on, look for a snug fit in the heel and plenty of room to move your toes around in the front of the shoe, or toe box. The snug heel ensures that the shoe can properly support your foot, and you will also be less likely to develop blisters in that area. A roomy toe box is important because the foot expands during exercise, as blood flow increases throughout the body and the body heats up. If there isn’t enough space in the toe box, the toes can go numb or the toes can jam into the front of the shoe. Choose a shoe designed to accommodate your arches; if they're low, you need more support in the arch area and more foot control, and if they're high, you need more lateral stability and shock absorption