BIDDEFORD — Eleven years ago, Chris Jordan created a 7-minute workout for busy executives, something they could do in a short amount of time in their hotel room while on the road.
Now, two exercise stations ”“ the first of their kind ”“ that employ Jordan’s workout are set up at Mechanics Park, at the intersection of Main and Water streets, and available for use by the public.
Resident David Flood came up with the idea of creating an apparatus based on the 7-minute workout for public use after reading about the exercise program.
Jordan, the director of exercise physiology of the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute, published his research about the program in May 2013 in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health and Fitness Journal.
“That triggered an article in the New York Times,” and that triggered a “media explosion,” said Jordan Thursday.
The results of his research, he said, showed that “a simple, well-designed, body-weight exercise program can provide health and wellness benefits to anyone.”
Jordan said Flood contacted him, and then got local architect Caleb Johnson involved.
Jordan and Johnson worked together to design the apparatus.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the two pieces of equipment took place on Thursday, with Jordan there to mark the occasion.
After the ribbon cutting, Flood and Johnson’s wife Dana, dressed in workout gear, demonstrated how to use the equipment to perform, arm, core and leg exercises, all in 7 minutes.
Jordan said he’s pleased with the result.
“I can’t think of something more simple than having an apparatus” to do the exercise program, said Jordan.
Johnson said he was also excited about how the equipment he designed came out.
“The idea we had was keep it simple so it could be replicated,” he said. “Already more cities are interested.”
With the help of the downtown revitalization organization the Heart of Biddeford, $19,000 was raised to pay for the design, building and site work for the equipment. With the design in hand, the cost to other cities interested in the apparatus should be less, said HOB Executive Director Delilah Poupore.
Healthy Main Streets, a program of the Maine Development Foundation, provided some of the funding for the equipment.
“Our mission is building a productive Maine workforce,” said MDF President and CEO Harold Clossey, which is important for economic development of the state, at the ribbon cutting Thursday.
The new workout stations are in keeping with the many changes taking place in Biddeford in recent years, said Mayor Alan Casavant at the ceremony Thursday.
In Biddeford, “we’re creating a place in which people can live and play and work in safety,” he said.
The workout stations are “iconic in showing that Biddeford does things that are unique, special and family friendly.”
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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