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!''
Michelle Segar, a motivational psychologist at the University of Michigan, said in an interview that what Van Horn described was no “ancillary” benefit. “Rather,” Segar said, “these are the core reasons that keep people going.”
The members of a walking group, which I joined (admittedly reluctantly) about 15 years ago, have become more than dear friends. They are a sounding board for any and all problems, providing both emotional and practical support when needed. They have introduced me to wonderful activities — museum and gallery shows, concerts and operas, movies and books — I might have otherwise missed.
One member of the group has become a frequent travelling companion — someone far easier to travel with than my husband (she doesn't snore or tell me I'm going the wrong way). We've gone wine tasting in the Napa Valley, hiking in Arizona, sightseeing in Costa Rica, snorkelling in the Galapagos, exploring the culture of Tasmania.
Another walker invited me to join her knitting group, where I rediscovered a long-abandoned productive activity and learned how to crochet. I've since made gifts for every important person in my life and every new baby.
Then there are the women in the locker room at the YMCA where I swim nearly every morning after the walk. Some I know only by first name. All have been there for me when a family crisis struck, offering to make meals, house visitors, run errands, go grocery shopping, pick up my grandsons from school, do whatever I can farm out to others to ease my burden.
For years now, I've been struck by the camaraderie among the elderly women,whose water aerobics class follows the morning lap-swim. They lunch together almost every month, celebrate birthdays together, even raise money for a beloved staff member who lost her job in the recession.
One reader of last week's column wrote that at age 61 she was surprised to discover the pleasure to be gleaned from adding an at-home activity to her already active life. She conceded that she bought Wii Fit Plus to help her less active 68-year-old husband “get up and moving” to improve his health. What they both discovered is that this TV toy is quite addictive and has helped both of them enjoy daily activity without having to leave the house in bad weather. In addition to losing weight, they have more energy and sleep like logs. “Almost anything can get people to start exercising,'' she said
We need to rebrand exercise as something we can enjoy.”- NYT
