After 26 years, I am still practicing what I preach.
The reason I exercise is for the quality of life I enjoy.
Exercise is a journey, not a destination. It must be continued for the rest of your life. We do not stop exercising because we grow old – we grow old because we stop exercising.
If you look at body fat, it seems to increase with age, even though your weight does not. That’s a physiological fact of aging, they say. Heck it is. It is an adaptive effect of aging.
Since then, I have not missed five consecutive days in getting some type of aerobic exercise, mostly jogging.
Fitness is a journey, not a destination; you must continue for the rest of your life.
You have to run 75 to 100 miles a week if you expect to break the four-minute mile.
Now I say that if you run more than 15 miles a week, it’s for something other than aerobic fitness. Once you pass 15 miles, you do not see much further improvement.
According to the Gallup Poll, 24 percent of American adults exercised regularly in 1961, and 50 percent after 1968. The peak was 59 percent in 1984, dropping off to 51 percent last September.
I think investments in general related to the exercise industry are going to be good for a long time.
So I’ve broadened the fitness concept to make it one of moderation and balance.
I used to think that it didn’t make any difference how far you ran if you had a good, strong musculoskeletal system and no underlying cardiovascular problems.
Far too many times over the next 12 to 15 years, it was brought to my attention that people who followed my exercise guidelines exactly but ignored their diet, their weight and their cigarette smoking had heart attacks at age 55.
We are involved in youth testing internationally. We want to try to prove without a shadow of a doubt the relationship between physical fitness and health, not just physical fitness and ability to perform.
I have not missed a day from work because of illness since 1956.
I don’t criticize weight training – as long as it is not a substitute for aerobic training.
It’s easier and more cost effective to maintain good health, than to regain it once it’s lost.
Over the years, Ive covered 22,000 miles.
Aerobic dancing is already adjusting to injury problems and will probably phase out to some extent.
But even as I talk about working out for 20 minutes in these most effective aerobic activities, I should mention that that’s only a minimum. The optimum workout would be more like 30 minutes, three to four times a week.