Get Fit!

Okay, remind me why I'm doing this. I'm on a treadmill at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, ganglia of wires hooked to my torso, a blood-pressure cuff on my arm, walking about 3.5 mph. Not too bad—just a little faster than normal walking speed. But shortly into the stress test the front of the treadmill begins steadily rising, making it seem like I'm climbing a steeper and steeper incline. I think I'm doing pretty good when I start to get my second wind. The problem is my legs. My calves burn, my thighs turn rubbery. I have a bum knee, which doesn't help. The blood-pressure cuff periodically tightens against my arm, a machine beeps constantly, and the CNN broadcast on the TV in front of me fades into a blur as I concentrate on my rapidly failing legs.

Wait a minute—I was a U.S. Marine, able to rip off a three-mile run in 18 minutes. But that was more than 25 years ago. During those intervening years, I've spent more time in a chair than on the track.

I finish the stress test. Let's just say I'm not Ironman material. There's good news: The head-to-toe physical exam shows I'm basically healthy with no sign of heart disease. I do need to lose some weight and stop eating junk food. Another necessary change: mental attitude. I may still think I'm 18 years old, but my body definitely isn't. The law of entropy has had its way with me. But there's hope.

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The numbers are in, and they're not promising. The Journal of the American Medical Association devoted an entire issue last fall to the subject of obesity. The issue could be summed up simply: Americans are getting fatter, and fat kills.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the number of people considered obese—more than 30 percent over their ideal body weigh—increased from one in eight in 1991 to nearly one in five in 1999. No wonder the Journal declares the problem an epidemic, one that kills an estimated 300,000 people a year.

Fight back

It's a dilemma faced by many parents into their 30s and 40s. They were healthy and fit when they were younger, but the demands of career and family might have bumped fitness somewhere lower on the priority scale.

If you're out of shape, it's easy to become demoralized. But Dr. Ken Cooper, the founder of the Cooper Clinic and considered the "father of aerobics," says getting back into shape is not as complicated as some try to make it. The first thing is simply to begin doing something, however small. "It's never too late to start," he says. "Even with 90-year-olds we can see a change" after they start an exercise program.

The secret to good health? In slightly oversimplified form, it's to burn more calories than you take in. "Our recommendation here is a basic diet, which is low in calories, not just low in saturated fat," Dr. Cooper says. "You drop 250 calories per day, you'll drop a half pound per week. You drop it down by 500 calories a day, you'll lose a pound per week. If you drop it by 1,000 calories per day, you'll lose two pounds per week."

But people want a quick fix. "People are not satisfied with that one pound a week," he says. "But weight taken off that way stays off. With these fad diets where you take off five pounds in a weekend, I'll guarantee that you're going to get it back, as 97 percent of the people do."

As for an exercise program, there's no need to go out and join a gym or buy expensive exercise equipment that will wind up serving as an extra clothes rack. "Just go out and walk vigorously for 30 minutes three times a week," Dr. Cooper says. "Who can't do that?"

Any exercise program should be combined with muscular conditioning. "You need to do this so you can be totally fit, not just cardiovascular fit," he says. "It doesn't do you any good if you've got a great heart and the rest of your body can't keep up with it." Hmmm. Sounds familiar.

Misconceptions

You do not need to strive for the sleek, athletic look. In fact, Dr. Cooper worries that some hard-core exercisers are actually damaging their bodies by becoming too thin.

The goal is overall fitness, and the key enemy is a sedentary lifestyle. "You're better off to be fat and fit than skinny and sedentary," he says. "I'm in no way endorsing obesity. I'm just trying to show how dangerous it is to be sedentary. The weight of scientific evidence concludes that abandoning the sedentary lifestyle and following a moderate exercise routine will greatly reduce your risk of dying from all causes and enhance your chance of living a longer, more active life."

By the same token, one can be aerobically fit and still be unhealthy. That's why balance—diet, aerobic exercise, muscular conditioning is important. Dr. Cooper cites the example of Jim Fixx, the author of The Complete Book of Running and the man who started the running craze in the 1970s. "He could have passed all the tests as far as oxygen capacity, resting heart rate and all those things we attribute to being aerobically fit, but he still had serious heart disease," he says.

In July 1984, Fixx died suddenly while running. For this reason, Dr. Cooper insists that men over 40 and women over 50 undergo a stress test before starting a vigorous exercise program. (That's what I was doing on the treadmill.) Such a test done by a knowledgeable doctor will detect any abnormalities or hidden heart conditions.

Fit kids

Dr. Cooper is worried about today's children, too. "Kids today are fatter and less fit," he says. "Teenagers are five to seven pounds heavier than they were in 1980, and it takes them a minute to a minute and a half longer to run a mile—if they can even run a mile."

He sees four reasons for this:

1. “There are no state-mandated PE programs in school systems," he says. "They've replaced it with computer technology or math or something else. They keep forgetting that it's not going to be much value if you've got a great brain but you don't have the body to go along with it."
2. Today's society: "It's not safe for the kids to walk or ride their bicycle to school anymore. They're being driven to school or they're driving their own car."
3. The couch potato generation. "They're spending so many hours now watching television, playing video games and computer games."
4. A fast-food diet.

So what's a parent to do? First, he says, is set an example with diet and exercise. Next, encourage your kids to get involved with athletics. But this comes with a warning: "Don't force your children into an activity they don't want to be in," Dr. Cooper says.

There is also the danger of placing too much emphasis on winning. "If you ask a lot of kids what are the 10 reasons they want to participate in sports, No. 1 was to have fun. No. 10 was to win." The overemphasis on winning at all costs can lead some kids to resort to drugs such as creatine or anabolic steroids in the belief that they will improve performance.

"Teach and encourage your kids to participate in lifetime sports," he says. "Participate with them in things they can do for the rest of their lives, not just basketball or football, but tennis, walking, jogging, cycling, swimming—things of that type."

Start an exercise program as a family, even if it's just going for an evening walk. "Set aside time for this," he says. "You have to program time with your family just like you program in time for your work."

Dr. Cooper, whose children are grown, cites a habit he and his wife, Millie, have enjoyed for years. "We take our two dogs on a two-mile walk. You know, even our dogs look forward to that time with us. It's 30 minutes of uninterrupted time with their masters. I wonder how our children would respond if we spent that amount of activity daily with them, listening to their problems and trying to give them wise counsel. If dogs can appreciate that attention, don't you know your children would?"