SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) -

Trampoline parks are offering options when it comes to making fitness fun.

Parents are jumping at the chance to be a part of Air-robics at Air U in Shreveport.

Marissa Tavantana Diaz has been teaching trampoline aerobics at Air U since the class started about a month ago.

"The first couple of times, I'm not going to lie, it really is a different kind of workout. But overall it's great, said Diaz. It's a lot harder than regular aerobics, because you're constantly moving and it's actually a full body workout versus aerobics.

The class is much different than a typical aerobics class.

We do circuits and we do suicides and we do sprints and triceps and biceps and sit ups. We do everything."

Mary Catherine Ackel has been taking the class since it was first offered. She said she was glad she how has more alternatives to stay in shape.

"I hate running on a treadmill. I felt like it was so boring and I wanted to find something new and different to do that would keep me interested," said Ackel.

Air U offers trampoline aerobics class every Monday and Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. They also have child care during this class.

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Healthy Living: Trampoline parks offer fun fitness alternative

Physical activity that makes you puff and sweat is key to avoiding an early death, a large Australian study of middle-aged and older adults has found.

The researchers followed 204,542 people for more than six years, and compared those who engaged in only moderate activity (such as gentle swimming, social tennis, or household chores) with those who included at least some vigorous activity (such as jogging, aerobics or competitive tennis).

They found that the risk of mortality for those who included some vigorous activity was 9 to 13 per cent lower, compared with those who only undertook moderate activity.

"The benefits of vigorous activity applied to men and women of all ages, and were independent of the total amount of time spent being active," said lead author Dr Klaus Gebel from James Cook University's Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention.

"The results indicate that whether or not you are obese, and whether or not you have heart disease or diabetes, if you can manage some vigorous activity it could offer significant benefits for longevity."

Co-author Dr Melody Ding from University of Sydney's School of Public Health, said the results indicated that vigorous activities should be more strongly encouraged in clinical and public health guidelines.

The current advice from the World Health Organization -- and health authorities in countries including the US, UK and Australia -- is for adults to accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week.

"The guidelines leave individuals to choose their level of exercise intensity, or a combination of levels, with two minutes of moderate exercise considered the equivalent of one minute of vigorous activity," Dr Ding said.

"It might not be the simple two-for-one swap that is the basis of the current guidelines," she said.

"Our research indicates that encouraging vigorous activities may help to avoid preventable deaths at an earlier age."

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Working up a sweat: It could save your life

SALT LAKE CITY Victor Pardini lived 20 years with the heart of a woman.

He received the heart, which belonged to a 35-year-old female aerobics instructor from Idaho, after doctors said he wouldn't live more than mere minutes after suffering a sudden heart attack. That was in 1995.

Pardini, however, lived until about eight months ago. He died from a kidney infection in August.

"He went through quite an experience for several years, but he really did lead a very good life," his wife, Karla Pardini, said Wednesday. She said the transplant process and meeting the family of the woman who gave her husband life has been "an incredible experience."

More than 123,300 people in the United States are awaiting vital organs, 800 of them living in Utah, according to Intermountain Donor Services, the federally regulated organ procurement organization serving Utah, southern Idaho and southwestern Wyoming.

"When a family is faced with making the decision about organ donation, it's often a traumatic event," said Alex McDonald, director of public education and public relations for Intermountain Donor Services. He said a lot of people have questions and a lot of those questions stem from religion.

"As you can imagine, when you're talking about death, heaven, hell and eternity, these things are extremely important," McDonald said.

Become a Donor

Representatives from various religions agreed Wednesday that organ donation is a very personal decision that can benefit families in many ways, but it is not a shameful thing if declined.

"Anything we can do to further life is a blessing, is a mitzvah, is a commandment," said Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman, leader of the Jewish Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City. "We know we live on in the memories of the people we knew in the world and in the acts of good we do in this life."

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Religious leaders weigh in on organ donation