The Caring Foundation of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama announced a funding of the TigerFit Lab for the next five years for $30,000 per year. The TigerFit Lab conducts health and fitness assessments as part of a service learning effort in the Department of Health and Human Performance.

Dr. Peter Grandjean, associate professor and director of TigerFit, works with undergraduate and graduate students as well as local physicians and physical therapists in providing on-going exercise programming and fitness education for the students, faculty, staff and alumni of Auburn University and community members of East Central Alabama.

"The funding will be used to develop our lab space, purchase new equipment and upgrade existing equipment," Grandjean said. "We want to thank the Caring Foundation of Blue Cross/Blue Shield for this outward gesture of support for our program."

The importance of receiving funding and support from companies like Blue Cross/Blue Shield goes beyond creating a current facility. It reaches people?from the students getting hands-on training to the community members getting health assessments to the business executives getting in shape with the trained professional at the company's fitness center.

"The most direct benefit to companies is our ability to partner with them to offer health and fitness assessments to their employees. Additionally, many of the students completing our program are trained to work in their corporate fitness centers, clinical settings and other community-based fitness programs," Grandjean said. "The TigerFit Program is a unique and tangible way for organizations to give back to the community because we offer comprehensive health and fitness assessments to all members of our community.

"Contributions help us to develop and maintain state of the art equipment and training for our students. Through TigerFit, students are able to work side-by-side with exercise physiologists, physicians and physical therapists to conduct these assessments. Because of partnerships and financial contributions, we are able to implement new techniques, offer new tests and keep current as we learn more and more about the benefits of primary prevention of cardiovascular and other health-related diseases," he said.

Some of the tests that are included in the TigerFit Comprehensive Health Profile include: physician screening; blood analysis; body composition; pulmonary volumes and function; graded exercise testing for monitoring heart and blood pressure responses to exercise; musculoskeletal evaluations, including strength and flexibility assessments; and a complete health and fitness report including cardiovascular disease risk assessment and an individualized exercise prescription. Group reports are also available as is health, fitness and exercise consultation. TigerFit provides these comprehensive tests for anyone interested in starting a safe and effective exercise program.