Spring 2005 Edition

What Fair Lawn Residents Do For Exercise   By Linda Rosen, Certified Medical Exercise Specialist    Conversations I’ve had with Fair Lawnites about their exercise or lack of exercise has been quite entertaining.    Though not at all a scientific study, I found that the people I interviewed over the age of 40 were more inclined to exercise regularly than those under 40. Is that because of time constraints or that they haven’t felt the ravages of "father time"? As you read this article think about your own answers to my questions. If you are not exercising, hopefully this will give you the impetus to start. Please remember that exercise does not have to be grueling. The old "no pain, no gain" is false! If you have pain, you will not gain. Your body is telling you to stop for awhile. You did too much. Find an activity that you enjoy, one that keeps you active. If you do, you’ll exercise regularly. You’ll be feeling so much better, you’ll want to exercise more. These are the questions that I asked my fellow Fair Lawnites concerning their exercise. 1. What do you do for exercise? 2. Why are you exercising? 3. Do you enjoy exercising? 4. If you don’t exercise, why not? 5. Do you own any exercise equipment and do you use it? 6. Do you believe exercise will improve the quality of your life? I took a walk to the library (you notice I said "walk", not "drive") and found Penny Kaplan, the Assistant Director of our wonderful free library. Penny, who is over 50, told me that she walks for her exercise in addition to climbing the steps of the library all day long. Actually, climbing steps is an excellent cardiovascular exercise, and also builds leg strength. Readers, think about getting older, don’t you want to be able to get up the steps in your house when you’re 90? Not everyone will be in a one floor condo down south. Penny and her husband own a treadmill and she says he uses it "devotedly". She told me that she’ll walk on it "in moments of desperation" but she prefers to be outside. She’s not sure if she is walking vigorously enough to get the endorphins moving but she feels good walking at her pace. I believe "if she feels good, then the endorphins are up". To answer the question of why is she exercising, Penny said, "for health, to clear my mind of those niggling little worries". Even when she walks on a grey day she feels better, though being out in the sun is what she enjoys. She told me that her husband, Mitch, is "driven" to exercise. She is not. However, she exercises to improve the qualify of her life because, "when I see people getting older and they can’t move as well as they used to I realize it’s important." I then walked down the steps (!) and spoke with Art Murray at the Main Desk. Art, also around 50 yrs, runs 5x per week. He stops his exercise for aches and pains, or when he is too busy. His family owns a treadmill but "it gathers dust". He prefers to be outside and no one else uses it. When I asked Art if he enjoys exercising he gave me an emphatic "indeed". He started running in the 1970’s, when he was in his 20’s," because I felt like I would be unable to run if I didn’t start then". His father was a runner and Art always thought it was fun. He runs to stay in shape and believes it does improve the quality of his life. I then walked back up the steps (getting my exercise) and had a very enjoyable interview with Gail Zimmer, Principal Librarian and head of the Reference Department. Gail is slightly over 60 and does not exercise. When I asked her why she said, "I’m going to live to be 90 whether I exercise or not. It’s in the stars. I’m in pretty good shape for my age though I could lose a few pounds." The last time Gail exercised was when she was in Physical Therapy. She says, "I’m saving exercise for my retirement". Gail told me that she used to get more exercise walking in New York City before the "all day MetroCard, to save the two bucks" (on the subway). Now she doesn’t have to. She can ride for the one price and never have to walk. Maybe the all day MetroCard isn’t such a good idea? Continuing on my quest to find out what Fair Lawnites do for exercise, I walked across the street to the Municipal Building and spoke to Police Officer Joe Mecionis. Officer Mecionis is 35 and does enjoy his exercise. He told me he does "free style motocross" which I found out means he does motorcycle tricks. Wow! He also goes mountain biking and hikes. He does own dumbbells but prefers going to the gym instead of working out at home. He said he exercises to "feel better, stay healthy, and avoid injuries in this profession". Avoiding injuries is a very good reason to exercise, not just for police officers. I realize some of you might think that you get injuries from exercise, and that does happen from overuse and/or misuse. But, staying strong and flexible prevents injuries. When one does occur, you recover faster because you are in shape. Another Fair Lawnite who does not exercise regularly is Sgt. Robert Boyle. Sgt Boyle, who is a decade or two older than Mecionis, enjoys swimming and playing ball with his kids when the weather is warmer. In the winter his exercise consists of walking his dog. That’s actually a good thing, at least he’s out walking. He finds exercise equipment boring so he rarely uses the exercise bike he owns. However, Boyle did say exercising would improve the quality of his life. " It would help me to lose weight and lower my blood pressure, but life gets in the way." he said. "I’m too tired at the end of the day, I don’t feel like it". Sgt. Boyle hopes he’ll have more time to exercise when he retires this summer. I hope so, too. I also hope he and all of the readers realize that you would feel less tired and more energetic if you are more active. Across the hall I found Jean Farrell, a Police Records Clerk. Jean is also over 50 and as most "over 50’s" that I spoke with, she walks for exercise. In addition she worked out at Curves on Fair Lawn Avenue two or three times per week before she got hurt. Her family has a bench with weights that they use at home, but she doesn’t. She enjoys her exercise and continues it to lose weight, feel better, and stay in shape. She believes she’ll stay healthy through exercising and knows that it’s a good stress release. Stress release is a benefit of regular exercise. Several people told me that after the death of their spouse they found exercise to be extremely helpful. One woman walked in the park regularly to release the tension, think and clear her head. Another went to a group exercise class where the music and aerobic dancing made her smile and enjoy life again. Personally, I know that aerobic dancing and exercising to music helped me through some stressful and sad times. Now, back to the Municipal Building. Also a full time employee in the Police Records Department is James Van Kruiningen. James is 32 and says he "has no time to exercise".  He is Chief of the Fair Lawn Rescue Squad and that "takes up a ton of my time." James said. It also "keeps me in shape" but he believes he should do some regular exercise. Brenda Cianci of our Health Department and Karen Cianci in the Building Department, sisters who are each under 30 and living in Fair Lawn, both don’t exercise regularly. Brenda says, "I’m in a bad routine, I can’t say I don’t have time. I get lazy". She has a treadmill in her basement but finds it too "gloomy". She used to enjoy exercising. She taught classes at Living Well Lady, which used to be in Fair Lawn, and worked out 5 days per week. She told me she was happier when she was exercising. Interesting and upsetting to me as a Fitness Professional who does private training, Brenda told me that she used to belong to a gym and had a male personal trainer who only wanted to talk about his weekends. "I wanted a woman trainer. I wanted to workout, not be picked up",  she said. She feels uncomfortable going to a co-ed gym but says "at a woman’s gym the equipment is not the same". Karen also says she doesn’t have time to exercise between work, chores, and errands. She knows she is too sedentary now though she does dance occasionally. She prefers to get her exercise through recreation and is more active in warmer weather when she can hike and play baseball. She told me her exercise is seasonal. "I am an extremist. I say I want to (exercise) but don’t. If I did I’d be exercising all the time and there’s no time now". Both girls believe that exercise will definitely improve the quality of their lives. Lydia Kranmarchuk of the Health Department was the last person I interviewed on that day. Lydia is 61 years old and swims and does water exercise everday. She goes to a "Y" on her way home because of its convenience. In the summer she swims at Memorial Pool, bikes, and walks. She says she’s an "outdoor person". Like many people, Lydia "hates equipment". She owns a treadmill and uses it only when she can’t walk outside. She likes to think while exercising and definitly enjoys it. Lydia told me that she exercises for her health, her bad back and arthritis. She said, "If I don’t exercise I feel it two days later. If I’m running low on energy and I exercise, I have extra energy to keep going". Although I did not see Mayor Ganz on my day of interviewing at the Municipal Building, I did talk with him through email. Our Mayor stays in shape using a stair stepper daily and generally walking with his wife a mile or mile and a half each evening. He says he enjoys exercising. He also plays tennis and golf, but doesn’t view either as exercise. "They are relaxing." he said. "Of course, my view may be colored by the way I play golf. The only difference between me and Tiger Woods is three strokes...per hole." Mayor Ganz believes that exercise is good for him and does improve the quality of his life. In addition he said walking with his wife on a nightly basis is "a great opportunity to catch up on what’s going on at home and office." Mayor Ganz does it right. He keeps active and spends time with his wife all at the same time. Take a walk with someone, keep in touch and stay healthy. In the summer issue I will tell you what some of our past and present columnists told me about their exercise. Two Council candidates also responded to my email interview and if they win, I’ll include their information. Good luck to them. I’d like to hear from more of you. Your answers may help others to begin exercising and improve the quality of their lives. Email me if you have an interesting way of exercising or if you have a comment or story on how exercise has helped you. In our next issue I will have some clever exercise tips from Former Assemblyman Matt Ahearn, so until then - get active, stay active, be healthy.   See Linda Rosen's Previous Columns Between 12% and 15% of Fair Lawn's Kids Are Obese  (Winter 2005) Warren Point's Program to Get Kids in Shape  (Winter 2005) Common Sense (Fall 2004) Questions and Answers on Fitness  (Summer 2004) Atkins in Fair Lawn  (Spring 2004) Walkability and Obesity (Winter 2004) Get Out and Walk  (Fall 2003) Get In The Water  (Summer 2003) Yard Work Can Really Hurt Your Back (April 2003) Exercise Equipment  (February 2003) Great Places To Walk  (December 2002) On The Tennis Court - Part 2 (October 2002) On The Tennis Court - Part 1 (August 2002) Core Exercises (June 2002) Keep Your Belly In  (April 2002) Improving Your Posture  (February 2002)