NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA Langley fitness center manager Chris Jones trains Langley employees with the same exercises he once prescribed movie stars in a six-story, ritzy gym in Manhattan.

Open to all Langley employees, the fitness center has seen many successes in improving fitness, muscular strength, body composition and flexibility. Dan Murri, head of the Flight Dynamics Branch, took advantage of Jones’ fitness expertise and began working with him to ease his back and hip problems.

Murri had struggled with back pain for ten years and developed hip pain as a result of his back problems. He tried seeing an orthopedic surgeon for help but received no such thing.

“All the orthopedic surgeon ever did was say, ‘you need to be doing a lot of stretching, but never really showed me what to do,” Murri said.

Murri told Jones about his back and hip pain along with his dead-end hunt for help. Jones, a certified trainer, performed a hamstring test to find out if his problem was a result of tight muscles.

“I noticed his hamstrings were really tight,” Jones said. “By loosening his hamstrings, he aligned his hips, which took pressure off his back.”

Image Right: Chris Jones guides Dan Murri through exercises to help relieve back pain. Credit: Sean Smith

Jones created custom workouts for Murri, including weight routines and corrective stretching exercises. These workouts aligned his body, strengthened his muscles and worked together to ease his back and hip problems. Within three months, Murri began to feel results.

“My hip pain has completely gone away…and I feel like my back’s improved a lot,” Murri said.

Although Murri has been working out at the fitness center for over 20 years, it wasn’t until this past January that he began focusing on his back and hip problems.

“I just changed what I was doing. I used to go over there and just go for a run and now I’ll do some weights or an abs workout,” Murri said. “Chris put me on the right track.”

Although Murri would like to go to the gym five days a week, he averages going about three times a week. His workouts involve completing a “heavy circuit,” where he performs three sets of ten exercises without resting.

“Dan is a rigorous workout person,” Jones said.

Back and hip problems are not the only reasons Murri goes to the fitness center. He and other fitness center regulars manage to have some fun.

“It’s a pretty good crowd,” Murri said about people at the fitness center. “There’s always good-natured banter going on.”

More successes like Dan Murri’s are found at Langley’s fitness center. Jones has helped people correct and improve posture, flatten stomachs, strengthen knees and increase flexibility.

“We had guys that couldn’t touch their toes when they came in here, but now some of these guys can do splits,” Jones said.

The fitness center is open weekdays from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Jones also works with fitness instructor Joanne Edmonds, who facilitates three different aerobics classes.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to have this facility right here,” Murri said. “It’s helped a lot of folks out.”

From celebrities like Sex in the City’s Kim Catrall, actor Harry Connick Jr. and comedian and actor Al Franken to NASA Langley employees like Dan Murri, Jones has worked with many different people and many different problems.

“Al Franken had the same exact problems that Dan Murri had,” said Jones. “I had to use the same exercises on him to correct his tight hamstrings and weak lower back.”

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The Researcher News
By: Emily Sturgill
Langley Research Center
Managing Editor and Responsible NASA Official: H. Keith Henry
Editor and Curator: Denise Adams