Even moderate exercise is important because the biggest population group, the baby boomers, either have entered, or are rapidly approaching, their 40s - a time when the habits and wear-and-tear of a lifetime, plus the demands of family and career, make it less likely that a person will begin or maintain a vigorous exercise program.
For a long while exercise physiology people tried to get people into high-intensity exercises.
Right now the trend is to get people to change their behavior so they will do anything in exercise.
The aerobic revolution has been a bust, recruiting only one in 10 Americans, and emotionally and physically devastating many of those who thought it would be their ticket to happiness and health.
Confronting such discouraging statistics as the fact that only 8 percent of Americans get as much exercise as government health officials recommend, according to a survey last year by the U.
S.
Centers for Disease Control, the health and fitness community is going through a period of agonizing reappraisal.
Even Dr.
Kenneth Cooper, the father of the aerobics movement, agrees it's time to emphasize that people don't have to train to gain the health benefits of exercise.
To get in shape you don't have to go out and do a marathon, but you still have to put time aside to do some exercise.
A person needs to get his heart rate up to 70 to 80 percent of his maximum heart rate and keep it at that level for at least 20 minutes.
Waxing the car might be good for your arms, but it will not get your heart rate up there.
And while any movement is better than sitting on the couch all day, to attain cardiovascular fitness, a person needs to exercise three to five times a week at the maximum heart rate.
Since some people use improper form while running or run with too much weight, the preference would be biking versus running.
There's less strain on your body.
I would recommend riding a bike or walking at a brisk pace or swimming.
Cutting the grass would do it if you have one of those half-acre lots like they have out, and if you're constantly going.
We're trying to encourage people to walk.
All you need here is a pretty good pair of walking shoes.
If you work downtown in an office that has 15 floors and you work on the sixth, why not walk to your office, and then walk down at night.
Instead of parking your car in the parking lot in the building your office is in, why not park it a half mile away and walk to work if the weather's nice? That's burning calories.
We're trying to encourage you to do something that's not mechanized.
Another way to get exercise is to walk to the post office and mail a letter.
People have to have a purpose in order to stay with it.
Mailing a letter might be that purpose.