Last spring, a friend named Joe asked my counsel on a personal issue that had suddenly taken on more importance for him. The arrival of his sixtieth birthday had stirred him to realize his need for more physical exercise and he wanted suggestions from me about how to start.

Joe’s request caught me unprepared, forcing me to ask for time to learn more about exercise before I could advise him or anyone else. Since then, I have accumulated much information about the subject and have made significant changes in my own schedule of physical activity. Unfortunately, Joe and I have not yet come together for me to share my discoveries with him.

Unlike most people, however, Joe has already done some serious exercise, at least irregularly. Thus he differs from the forty percent of Americans who, research reveals, are completely sedentary. Another forty percent reportedly do not exercise enough to get much benefit for their health and fitness. That leaves only one in five of us who take exercise seriously enough to do something about it.

My friend Joe’s request for help moved me to self-examination on the subject. Though I have gone swimming each day for many years, walked at least a mile, and played softball most Sundays from April through October, I felt the need to add another kind of physical activity, namely resistance exercise. This involves pushing and lifting so as to strengthen muscles.

If you were to walk by the section of the university health center where I go each day, you might now see this septuagenarian sitting on a large blue plastic exercise ball, first squatting and then lifting myself up, several times in order to strengthen the muscles of my legs.

You could also see me sitting on a leg curl machine, leaning back and lifting with my feet a bar almost at the floor level. I also sit on a leg extension machine that has me pressing a similar bar down against resistance.

At first, these activities felt slightly ridiculous. Seeing myself in the mirror, dressed in old clothes and looking disreputable, made me wonder if I was in the right place. The people around me were all much younger than I and clearly taking on more arduous challenges on the machines. Sitting on that big ball felt especially silly, since I felt dubious about its value. Why was I doing things that I had often dismissed as appropriate only for yuppies or Generation X?

Gradually, however, the routine has come to feel more comfortable. What has made a decisive difference is the guidance of a young woman who is an exercise trainer. By being so accepting of me with my physical limitations and my uncertain confidence, Wendy Brown has helped me take on new forms of exercise with growing enthusiasm. Swimming and walking remain my prime exercises but work on the machines and the large ball extends the physical value of my regimen.

Most Americans have probably heard something about the value of exercise. What few people realize, however, is how many varied benefits exercise provides. To quote a summary provided by researchers: “During the past 15 years, several hundred studies have looked at the effects of exercise on depression and found that exercise increases self-esteem, improves mood, reduces anxiety levels, increases the ability to handle stress, and improves sleep patterns.”  

I admire the approach of one of my neighbors, Marie Costello. About to celebrate her 91st birthday this month, she takes part in what she calls “old lady exercises” at our public library each week. She and the other participants in these hour-long sessions move their arms, legs, and torsos in a sequence carefully calculated to increase strength and flexibility. And Marie follows through by repeating some of these exercises at home.

She also walks a lot. “I never ask my sons or anyone to take me shopping,” Marie reports, because the ride would deprive her of a fine walking opportunity. Incidentally, she also believes in another form of physical exercise, that of her brain. A few days after I talked with her, she was going to La Paz, New York, where Will Shortz, the crossword editor of the New York Times, runs what she calls a “word weekend,” days that she finds highly enjoyable.

Almost everyone can do some exercise, if only pushing against the nearest wall. But to get started, most of us need the support of others. If you wish to begin or to improve your exercise plan, you can call the Council on Aging in your city or town hall and ask about group programs already functioning in your community. Or, if you prefer to exercise by yourself, you might ask for advice from a Council on Aging staff member.

You can also find such assistance at your regional ASAP (Aging Services Access Point), what used be called the Home Care Corporation. Ask first for the staff person who handles information and referral. Taking a step like this might soon enrich your life.

Richard Griffin