Be one of those who can sing, "I Like to Move It!"

Jogger out for a midday jaunt
(Courtesy Elvert Barnes @ Flickr)

Not everyone wants to run a marathon. Indeed, only 0.2% of the population each year does so. Clearly that level of physical challenge and the weekly workouts undertaken to approach that challenge are way more than we need to simply be in good health. And even if each of us believes that being in good health is a desirable goal, not everyone would choose jogging / running as their way to reach that goal. That's OK. We're all different and we should choose our own path forward to good health. If we can agree that being is good physical health is something we all desire, what does it take in the way of effort to achieve that?

The definitive paper on this topic was co-authored by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American College of Sports Medicine way back in 1995 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Though the study takes six pages to makes its case, here's the bottom line conclusion: "Every US adult should accumulate 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity activity on most, preferably all, days of the week."

Yikes! How many years of my adult life was this not true? Most of them, I think. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm alone on that one. The CDC has been weighing in on the effects of inactivity for some time, and even their estimate that 35% of adults may be obese is probably understating the extent of the problem. Obviously, most of our fellow Americans are simply not moving enough often enough. And perhaps neither are we.

So, what can we do? We all have life situations and physical conditions which individualize our own situation completely, so we have to be creative and choose from within our own circle of control. But there are lots of options, too. And jogging / running is only one of them - and probably not the best one for many of us. Let's look at a few of our other options for a moment.

Aerobics in a Thailand backyard
(Courtesy Robinnnnn @ Flickr)

Aerobics: This can be as simple as watching one of those fitness shows on TV or on a DVD and moving our arms and legs as best we can to the music. Do we have to keep up with those models? Heck no. All we have to do is 'move it,' just get our extremities moving. If we can afford one, the Wii game which attaches to our TV set (a really good use of a TV, I'm thinking) has excellent activities built into it to get us on our way to an active lifestyle. This device will keep track of our efforts and even provides verbal encouragement to keep us motivated.

Biking for exercise ... and a view
(Courtesy M. V. Jantzen @ Flickr)

Bicycling: We can get that old Huffy or Schwinn out of the garage, pump up the tires and get rolling. We needn't go very fast, we just need to get those legs moving around and around. Some neighborhoods are more friendly to biking than others, so this won't work for everyone. But it is so much fun and in the heat a biker feels cooler biking with her self-made breeze than that poor jogger who slogging along at his much slower speed. We don't need a good bike, just one that works. We do need a helmet and a comfortable bike seat, however.

Low impact exercise in the pool
(Courtesy Old Shoe Woman @ Flickr)

Swimming or Water Aerobics: Sure, this isn't the easiest thing to make happen - there are a limited number of venues available. But many YMCAs have pools and most cities have private facilities where the pool is made available to even us older folk. If we don't know how to swim, no big deal. Water aerobics in the shallow end is a fun activity and takes a lot of strain and pressure off the joints, unlike running. Almost every place with a pool offers special senior activities as well, so age is not an excuse.

Even the elderly and infirm benefit
(Courtesy PetroleumJelliffe @ Flickr

Walking: If we've found an excuse to dismiss all the timelapserunner's suggestions so far because of lack of equipment or other financial challenges or we simply don't like those particular activities, this one is perfect. In fact, the timelapserunner stuck to walking for six weeks in this latest effort to leave the couch. Most all of us can walk, even if (as the pic to the right indicates) we need some kind of assistance. Walking doesn't burn as many calories per mile as jogging / running does, but it's not bad. A crude rule of thumb: take your weight in pounds and divide by 2 to get approximately the number of calories burned per mile. Of course, we don't want to go out in the heat, nor do we want to go out alone in the early morning or late evening. But most of us can find a time ... I used to walk around Tiger Stadium during lunch break when I had a peer who motivated me to do so.

If we're not already working at one of these, let's pick one and give it a chance. If we do so, we can bring ourselves into better physical health. If we're way out of shape or have some limiting medical condition, it's prudent to see our doctor first before undertaking any uptick in physical activity. But the general idea is to get ourselves moving.

The timelapserunner wants all of us to be singing, "I like to move it, move it!"

TODAY'S WORKOUT: Three miles of ... yes ... walking around the neighborhood. Average pace: 15:51 per mile. (This is faster than a leisurely walk, so don't think you have to walk this fast, especially at first.) Forgot to stretch first, so I stretched afterwards ... might do that regularly: stretch first before running days and stretch afterwards on walking days.