GET FIT WITHOUT EXERCISING by Shari Miller Sims in RxEmedy Magazine September/October 2000
How to make every move count – for starters, just try hiding the remote.
About six years ago, Jane Norstrom was becoming increasingly frustrated as she tried to figure out how to get adults more active. No matter what she said when she talked to groups-part of her job at HealthSystem Minnesota-people kept asking one simple question:
“What’s the best exercise?”
Once the surface her answer seemed clear and simple: “Just do as many different activities as possible.” But in fact it was too broad and vague. And reading out a laundry list of activities didn’t help-there were too many choices. “It tended to leave people feeling lost,” she says. “Then one night, sitting on the couch, it came to me: The food pyramid has really helped a lot of people understand what makes up a healthy diet. Why not create an activity pyramid? I sat down at my computer and worked it out.”
Norstrom’s idea has come a long way from the rough photocopies she handed out during early workshops. Her Activity Pyramid now incorporates guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and major medical studies. It is used by public health groups across the country. It’s available in English and Spanish. It has been copyrighted by the Institute for Research and Education, where Norstrom is a staffer.
And yet her basic idea hasn’t changed from that first night on the couch: Like eating a variety of foods, if you just do a variety of activities-many of them not even “exercise”-you will be more likely to stay physically fit and independent. And your body will thank you for it: More and more evidence shows that we need to stay activity throughout our lives for optimum health.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
“When experts talk about exercise, they tend to forget one critical fact,” says Norstrom. “Many people don’t want to go to a gym or put on a leotard or join an aerobics class.”
“For some people, exercise is the ‘E’ word. They hate it,” agrees Dale Brigham, PhD, assistant professor of nutrition and fitness at the University of Missouri-Columbia. “We haven’t yet gotten across the concept that any activity-indoors, outdoors, vigorous or not-counts,” adds Norstrom. “They pyramid gives you a place to begin and a simple path to follow. For instances, if you haven’t been active at all, start at the base. Just walk to the store or the post office tomorrow morning and you’re already ahead of having driven there, even it it’s only a few blocks.”
Brigham’s approach, an idea he calls “found fitness,” complements Norstrom’s. “People who hate exercise often love to work in the garden, get great satisfaction out of waxing the car, like to play catch or walk the dog,” he say. “You can take advantage of the ‘found fitness’ opportunities in these everyday activities, just the way some sculptors crate ‘found art’ from objects they discover laying around the neighborhood.” For instance, if you’re straightening up the house, take things up or down stairs right away rather than accumulating a pile and making one trip.
“The latest fitness research-which suggests that 10 minutes of activity three times a day is all you need to get some benefit-is tremendously important,” adds Peter G. Snell, PhD, University of Texas Southwest Medical Center, Dallas. “Virtually everyone has the time and stamina to go for a 10-minute walk. If you choose a place that’s particularly pleasant, or walk with a friend or a pet, or do some of your daily chores on foot, you’ve turned '‘exercise’ into doing something rewarding.” And you may find that 30 minutes, not 10, have flown by.
Also, look around the pyramid of several things you like to do. Not only does your body like variety but interests change over time. “You may have been an ace tennis player in your 30s but no longer have the time or enthusiasm for it,” says Snell, a former Olympic runner who won three gold medals for New Zealand in the 1960’s. A 20-minute bike ride after work or half an hour of driving golf balls may suit you better now. “The point is, if you get tired of one thing, try another.”
The key to staying motivated, adds Snell, may be to find an activity that goes beyond the physical. He offers an example from his own life: “For some people, including me, there’s a thrill that comes from competition, from challenge. Now running's gotten hard on my knees and, honestly, a bit boring. So instead, my wife and I have started doing orienteering-a sort of treasure hunt on foot that tests your map and compass skills in forests. IT challenges our minds as well as our bodies and it’s something we can do together.”
For more on exercise, go to www.healthsclout.com/af/phys and search under “exercise” or “fitness”
[This message has been edited by Kelly_S (edited 12-07-2000).]
