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Colleagues,
Jane Brody wrote a compelling essay for the NYTimes earlier this month titled, "To Keep Moving, Look Beyond the Physical." It was one of those gems that says everything you've always believed about exercise in a straight forward, concise and, at times, lyrical way. Excerpts of the three-page essay are below. If you are so inspired, click here to read or download the full article at the NYTimes website. (I'm sure your staff and residents "know" the truth in this article, as you have lived it, but it's special to see it expressed in print so articulately.)
I have long known (though I've yet to give up trying) that it is almost impossible to motivate smokers to quit for good by regaling them with the health hazards of tobacco. And now I've been told by readers of last week's column, "Even More Reasons to Get a Move On," that repeated sermons on the health benefits of physical activity may get some folks started but are unlikely to keep them at it.
And it's true that for many people, future health benefits may just be too abstract and speculative to overcome inertia and take up walking, running, swimming, cycling or working out in the gym. So here is a little secret. What really keeps us devoted exercisers going, even in the face of myriad obstacles, is much more tangible.
Vicki Van Horn, 62, of Rio Rancho, N.M., sent an e-mail message in response to my column: '"There are other ancillary benefits, in addition to the obvious health benefits, to regular exercise. My husband (Thomas McAlister), at 77, visits the gym almost daily, where he has a huge coterie of gym buddies (many of whom also retired), with whom he shares books, magazines and conversation. I still work full time but make it to the gym about five times a week; usually it is a gym 'date' with him. We stride along on treadmills next to each other and talk about the day's events while we watch 'Animal Planet'!"
The 'health' and 'weight-loss' brand of exercise doesn't create desire in people to exercise on a daily basis. It makes the behaviors feel like a chore and a 'should,' which undercuts our desire to do them....We've made exercise feel like a chore to most people, not like a gift we give ourselves.
Ms. Brody goes on to talk about her walking and knitting groups, and swimming mates -- and being struck by the camaraderie among the elderly women, most of them widows, whose water aerobics class follows the morning lap-swim. Few knew each other before they joined this activity. Now they lunch together almost every month, celebrate birthdays together, check on one another if someone fails to attend a session or two, even raise money for a beloved staff member who lost her job in the recession."
Almost anything can get people to start exercising. The challenge is to get them hooked on it so that they keep going. We need to rebrand exercise as something we can enjoy, something that really feels good to do. Our communities are positioned beautifully to take advantage of the power of the group to motivate and inspire, and may of us are doing it so beautifully.
Here's to helping our residents live less complicated lives with a whole lot of joyful exercise thrown in.
Sincerely,
Neil Beresin
COLLAGE, The Art & Science of Healthy Aging
610.335.1283
An Integrated Assessment Tool and Person-Centered Process to Advance Healthy Aging and Improve Outcomes.
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