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Calling All Couch Potatoes
Exercise is what you make of it. So, wanna make something of it?
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Business New Haven
6/24/2002
By: Melissa Nicefaro
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It's summertime. Time to see beyond the office walls, get outside, unplug the brain and work those neglected bodies.
Whether executive, teacher, doctor, civil employee or unemployed, Connecticut's adult population is getting larger - when they step on the bathroom scale, that is. In 2000, 16.9 percent of Connecticut adults 18 and over were categorized obese. In 1990, the number was 10.9 percent. It's not a bad statistic - if you consider the pitiful amount of exercise we're actually getting.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control say that between 1991 and 2000, the greatest national increase in obesity was found in 18- to 29-year-olds, those with some college education, Hispanics and those living in the South.
That doesn't put Connecticut adults in the clear. Another recent study by the CDC says only 25.2 percent of Connecticut adults get recommended amounts of exercise, meaning physical activity at least five times a week for 30 minutes or vigorous physical activity for at least 20 minutes at least three times a week.
On the flip side, 45.4 percent of us get insufficient exercise (less than the recommended amounts) and 29.4 percent are completely inactive. (Data are weighted to each year's U.S. and state population estimates and age-adjusted to the year 2000 U.S. population standard.)
Obesity is measured by body mass index, or BMI. The National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey says anyone with a BMI over 25 is obese. The American Heart Association says obesity is a major independent risk factor for heart disease. Other measures are cardiovascular endurance (fitness of the heart and lungs), muscular strength and flexibility. The first two are linked with risk of heart and blood vessel disease.
The CDC and American Heart Association are not asking us all to put physical trainers and personal chefs on the payroll or devote three-hours a day to exercising. They are asking us to take the time - the biggest obstacle in many corporate lives - and get moving.
Exercise can be intimidating. It's a commitment, but it is not what it used to be. It can actually be fun. During the nicer weather, 30 minutes of vigorous physical activity - the recommended amount that only a quarter of us achieve -- can mean playing volleyball on the beach, hiking East Rock, West Rock or Sleeping Giant State Park or swimming.
On a rainy day, many walk laps around the inside of a shopping mall or, if you're pressed for time, a 30-minute yoga video works just as well.
If you're the type that needs the structure of exercise classes, the sky is the limits. Creative Health & Fitness (CHF) at 179 Boston Post Road in Milford, offers the basics: step, aerobics, kickboxing and yoga. The health club recently added classes in spinning and even belly dancing.
Says CHF owner Dan German: “The latest craze in fitness is yoga and spinning in the winter, not so much in the summer, and kickboxing. Also, belly dancing when we have it.”
While obesity levels are rising, German says people are generally much more regular with their workouts, as opposed to years ago.
“The businessmen and women at CFH do mostly cardio and some weights.
People are still big into treadmills, and [cross-training machines].”
Business people, a busy bunch, are popular with CFH's LA Personal Training program, which is a cardio/strength circuit done with a personal trainer.
Special corporate memberships are also offered to local companies.
“Our corporate membership are priced a few different ways, depending whether the company is paying for it, the indidivual is paying for it or a combination of both,” German explains. “If the company is paying for it, they could get anywhere from 35 percent to 80 percent off their dues rate depending on the size of the company.”
For the traveling businessperson, CHF has short-term memberships for those visiting the area.
Since opening in May 1985, the club has physically expanded seven times, growing from 3,000 square feet in 1985 to 20,000 square feet today.
German says his gym stays very busy from June through about August. “However, there are more students that join for the summer, June through August, and our regular adult membership drops off a little.”
So the infrastructure is there, but then there's the issue of time for many busy adults.
Gaylord Hospital chief executive officer Jim Cullen finds the time - three times a week - to work out. He works with a personal trainer and a nutritionist at Cheshire's Physique Plus. He makes it sound easy.
Cullen says his particular professional situation allows him some freedom. He took what he calls “CEO privilege” when he was president of the Hospital of Saint Raphael in New Haven and blocked off time during the workday for exercise. “I blocked it out as a meeting and went to the gym.”
Not everyone can do that, though. “It depends on the type of job you have, if you have the autonomy to control your schedule,” he says. Accountability to a physical trainer and a nutritionist helps him stay on track.
While accountability to a fitness professional helps some stay on track, it is not everyone's forte. Luckily, we live in Connecticut, a place where a half-hour hike up a hill can burn some calories and some stress.
New Haven is home to West Rock Ridge, a 1,688-acre focal point in the city's landscape. West Rock rises up to 627 feet above mean sea level, and offers a view of approximately 200 square miles from various locations on the ridge including excellent panoramas of New Haven Harbor and Long Island Sound. Year-round, a hike up West Rock is a decent workout.
East Rock Park is New Haven's oldest and largest park, covering more than 426 acres, including eight miles of hiking trails.
For a magnificent view of New Haven, Hamden offers Sleeping Giant State Park, a 1,439-acre hiker's dream. The mountain's profile resembles a sleeping giant, hence the name. There are two miles of trails lead to the a stone observation tower on the peak of Mt. Carmel.
If the beaten path of a mountain top is not your thing, also in Hamden is the Farmington Canal Walkway, an almost eight-mile paved walkway perfect for biking, walking, hiking and in-line skating. The trail begins in Hamden and continues north into Cheshire.
The original canal trail ran 80 miles, built in the 1830s to connect New Haven with Northampton, Mass., and was used until the 1840s, when railroads replaced the canal barge system. In 1982, the corridor was purchased by the state's Department of Environmental Protection.
Hamden Mayor Carl J. Amento says the trail is used by all kinds of people, including many businesspeople. “It's over seven miles of free exercise space,” Amento says, stressing the word “free.” “There are so many entry points that it is convenient for everyone - walkers, bikers, in-line skaters.”
It's a great place for exercise because, as Amento says, “You can set your own pace and set your own goals.”
Parking is available on Todd Street and at Brooksvale Park in Hamden and near Lock 12 in Cheshire. Brooksvale Park itself is home to 195 acres of hiking trails, picnic areas (think nutritious) and ball fields. Brooksvale has 7.5 miles of hiking trails with access to Naugatuck State Forest.
Note: Always consult a physician before starting an exercise program.
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