Exercise With Friends

Everybody knows all about exercise— the who, what, when, where and why—thanks to the public education campaigns of the last 14 years.

Well, only one-third of Americans absorbed the facts, according to Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Two-thirds of Americans have been bypassed by the “highly generalized, saturating effect of media in the current environment,” researchers wrote. “Through varied sources, many are bombarded with multiple physical activity and general health promotion ‘recommendations’ that may be challenging to differentiate.”

That is just one of many news bits about exercise. We’re here to be saturated with “recommendations” so you won’t have to. Here are the latest facts about exercise:

Who: You and at least one friend. The Royal Society journal Biology Letters reports that people who exercise with a friend or in a group produce more feel-good endorphins than those who go for solo activity. So sign up for a class, call a friend, put the dog on a leash and go. You will be marked “excellent” for multitasking if you also chatter about world events or co-workers.

What: 30 minutes of activity.  The studies say that 150 minutes a week of aerobic activity (that’s a 30-minute walk at least five times a week) plus two days of strength training each week add up to the minimum for adults. Check it out at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

You say you have a condition that always got you out of gym? The Exercise Is Medicine Web site is chock-full of information on how to exercise safely with various conditions ranging from arthritis to visual impairment. You can download a flier explaining it all, thanks to the initiative of the American College of Sports Medicine. Download brochures on all sorts of exercise info at the ACSM’s Web site.

When:  It’s easier to make it a habit if you exercise in the morning, before all the busyness of the day rears up to steal your time. Lunch is a great time to get active. Right after work is fine (before you get home, say, and collapse on the couch).

Niko Paalanne and Tuija Tammelin of Finland reported to the ACSM that watching two or more hours of TV per day means poor muscular fitness in young adults, chillingly, “regardless of their overall physical activity level.” Even worse: American adults average four hours of TV watching per day. You get credit if you ditch the remote and walk to the TV to change channels, but you really don’t believe that will push you into the realm of “activity,” do you?

Make sure you complete your workout a few hours before bedtime so it doesn’t interfere with your sleep.

Don’t imagine making excuses because the weather is not perfect. A 26-mile bike ride with the rainy slop off the back tire splashing a muddy stripe onto your back is exhilarating.

Where: Any sidewalk or pathway that offers you and your friends at least 30 minutes of walking or running or cycling and leads to a favored coffee spot.  The Journal of Applied Physiology reports that after a workout, athletes who ingest both carbohydrates and caffeine (rather than just the carbs in a big plate of pasta) recover more quickly from exhaustive exercise.

Apply that knowledge to yourself and stop for coffee.  A cup of brewed coffee or tea averages 63 calories. The largest size of a blended coffee drink can ding you for more than 800 calories. And you haven’t exactly worked your muscles to exhaustion, have you?

Why:  Fitness levels decline with age, and can plummet after age 45, reports the Archives of Internal Medicine. That could lead to disease or the end of living independently when you are older. However, you can maintain a higher level of fitness throughout your life if you don’t smoke, maintain a healthy body mass index and are physically active.

You’ll feel good, your friends will feel good, and after you indulge in lattes, you’ll need to get out for a brisk walk tomorrow.