A new free class for older adults who want to become or stay physically fit will be starting this fall at the Los Ba&#241;os campus of Merced College.</p><p>"Fitness for Active Seniors," taught by John Spevak, will begin on Sept. 3 in room B-136 at the Los Ba&#241;os campus. The class will be held Wednesday and Friday mornings from 8:30 to 10 a.m.</p><p>The course is part of Merced College's free Continuing Education Older Adults Program. Although it is designed primarily for persons 50 years of age or older, it is open to every adult in the community.</p><p>Besides being free, this class has no grades or attendance requirements. Registration takes place the first day a participant attends. This class, as Spevak said, "is one of the best examples of learning for the sake of learning."</p><p>And although the class will meet indoors for the first week at the campus, Spevak hopes that most classes will be held outdoors, especially, he hopes, at the Colorado Street tennis courts.</p><p>"The class is designed to help older adults develop a regular fitness routine that suits their interests and life patterns,"Spevak said. </p><p>Participants will be involved in a variety of in-class activities at a pace appropriate for active older adults--including walking, stretching, and even some tennis -- that will help develop cardiovascular and musculoskeletal fitness.</p><p>Students will also be encouraged to develop outside-of-class exercise patterns that are both healthful and enjoyable.</p><p>In some ways this class will be a "revival" of physical education courses that Spevak taught for the Los Ba&#241;os campus between 1973 and 1985. During that time Spevak, taught tennis at a time when interest in that sport was at its peak. There were some semesters when more than a hundred students were taking tennis.</p><p>"This time around," said Spevak, who retired from college administration in June, "things will be much slower and more laid back, even though the pace was pretty relaxed in the old days. No one will be asked to do anything that would create pain or discomfort.</p><p>"This time around," Spevak went on to say, "I want to focus on things that seniors like me need to remind ourselves about, including regular stretching and reasonable motion activities. </p><p>"Once I see what the composition of the class is, I'll be incorporating activities that will suit the people involved, so that we can have some fun as a group and stay healthy at the same time."</p><p>For more information, call the Los Ba&#241;os campus at 826-3495 or email spevak.j@mccd.edu.