Getting Fit

Yes You Can

by Lorrie Klosterman and illustrations by Annie Internicola, September 28, 2010

We’ve heard for decades that exercise is valuable, and those who get it regularly attest to the benefits. Nonetheless, for many of us the decision-making flowchart about whether to exercise leads at every branch point to “no”—except for the question, “Shall I do it later?”

Rather than berate ourselves for shrugging off exercise in the past, consider each new day a chance to join the ranks of the fit—and join them we must. “It’s absolutely true that there is nothing out there more effective than regular exercise for keeping most of our chronic diseases at bay and warding off the ravages of age,” says Jane Brody, longtime personal health columnist for the New York Times and a fitness enthusiast from Woodstock. “I know of a hundred studies that show that people who are physically active are healthier, happier, and mentally more alert, including into their 80s and 90s. Even a simple activity like tai chi, which doesn’t require sweat or any special equipment or clothing, can be done at any age, and has been shown to improve balance and reduce the risk of falls. Exercise helps people sleep better, too, which goes to hell in a handbasket as you get older.”

Mike Arteaga, owner of Mike Arteaga’s Health and Fitness Centers in Poughkeepsie and Highland, avidly follows fitness and health research. “The medical community is finally recognizing the fact that exercise is the most important thing we can do to prevent premature death and thousands of diseases,” he explains. “For many years research about the benefits of exercise used questionnaires, but a study done about those studies found that people greatly exaggerate the amount of exercise they get. So that had really been watering down any appearance of a health benefit.” Now researchers work directly with study participants and collect accurate data. “They find a tremendous correlation between getting regular exercise and disease prevention,” says Arteaga.

Destination: Invigoration
Daily living in a mechanized world, unless your vocation is fitness or manual labor, puts few demands on our biological systems. They languish in underutility, like an orchestra waiting for sheet music. Regular physical activity gets the symphony under way: blood circulating, lymph stirring, immune cells prowling, toxins clearing, tissues regenerating, muscles building, bones reinforcing, lipids shuttling, mental faculties revving. Activities that put demands on the cardiovascular system and muscles, and which increase flexibility and coordination, are ideal. Engaging in them at least three times a week is best.

Luckily, the Hudson Valley is a buffet of outdoor recreation opportunities like walking, jogging, bicycling, or skiing the rail-trails or Scenic Hudson’s many open space parks; canoeing or kayaking the Hudson River and its tributaries; rock-climbing in the Shawangunks (or the indoor climbing walls in New Paltz and Albany); hiking or mountain biking in the Catskills; snow skiing on surrounding slopes.

Enjoying these often enough is the catch. To address the nitty-gritty of a regular exercise routine, exercising at home works for some. Lifting weights while watching the news, jogging the neighborhood, vigorous housecleaning, and serious yardworking are examples. Guidance and motivation for individual workouts abound in exercise videos, the cable fitness channel, and online websites.