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Total Gym Donation Bolsters Chuck Norris’ Program For At-Risk Houston Youth

02/27/06

San Diego – Feb. 27, 2006 - efi Sports Medicine, developer of GRAVITY and Total Gym, is lending its muscle to an organization dedicated to helping at-risk youth by donating more than 400 of its Total Gym machines to the KICKSTART Foundation.  Six-time World Karate Champion and action film star, Chuck Norris founded KICKSTART to instill the values and skills necessary to combat drug and gang-related peer pressures.

Over the course of the next few months, 446 Total Gyms will be delivered to more than 30 Houston and Dallas area middle and high schools where KICKSTART operates.  Recently, Derrick Stinson and his CityWide Demo Team, a Houston area KICKSTART program, received 39 Total Gyms for the over 40 Houston teens currently active in the program.

"The KICKSTART staff, principals and students are having a great time staying in shape working out on their new Total Gyms,” said Stinson, former KICKSTART student and current CityWide instructor.  “efi Sports Medicine is incredibly generous and we're very grateful."

Started by Norris in 1990, KICKSTART works to encourage students to resolve conflict productively, avoid participating in gangs, choose drug-free lifestyles, and remain in high school until they graduate.  Martial arts training is used as a vehicle to instill the values and skills necessary to combat the drug and gang-related peer pressures.

“efi has been an invaluable, longtime supporter of KICKSTART, and we were thrilled with this generous donation,” said Lloyd Ford, KICKSTART executive director.

efi Sports Medicine has had a long-time connection with Norris, who began using the Total Gym in 1978 to successfully rehabilitate an injured shoulder without surgery.  Norris is also the co-host of efi’s Total Gym infomercial, a show whose 10-year run makes it one of the most successful in the infomercial industry.

“What Chuck and KICKSTART accomplish with the kids in their program is amazing and important,” said Tom Campanaro, efi Sports Medicine president.  “We’re proud to help them achieve more positive results through the role that physical fitness will play in these young lives.”

The Total Gym promotes functional training, increased flexibility, greater strength and improved endurance.  It is designed and built based on the scientifically researched principal that “functional exercise” – the recreation of natural body movements – is the safest and most effective way to exercise increasing strength, flexibility and endurance.  efi’s integration of the proven benefits of gravity resistance and functional training on a single, adjustable exercise apparatus facilitates shorter, more efficient workouts that produce superior results.
 
“efi Sports Medicine has developed remarkable products that I have been using for decades,” Norris said. “I am honored that they have chosen to help my Foundation in such a substantial way.”  

About efi Sports Medicine
After more than a quarter century at the forefront of innovation in fitness training, physical therapy and rehabilitation, efi Sports Medicine, maker of Total Gym, has become the leading manufacturer of functional rehabilitation and conditioning equipment. efi’s ground-breaking integration of the proven benefits of gravity and function into a single exercise apparatus allows shorter, more efficient workouts that produce superior results. For fitness professionals, the GRAVITY System facilitates Group Strength, Pilates and Personal Training classes with one piece of equipment - the GTS. Today, efi provides a wide array of functional equipment to more than 14,000 clinics, schools, hospitals, athletic training centers and health clubs. For more information, visit www.efisportsmedicine.com.


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