Boomers Put Our Own Twist on Exercise

I've just returned from my health club. My NIA teacher didn't show up (a rare occurrence) so I headed for the weight room where I flipped through magazines and chatted with one of my fellow NIA classmates, while zipping along on the recumbent bike for 20 minutes, scooted through the weight machines, and then headed to the pool for a swim. For some reason, I started noticing that 99% of the people in the room were leading-edge Boomers. Then I began to think about how weight rooms had changed. No more Nordic Track machines. Only one stair-climbing machine and one stationary bike. Now, there are stretching machines, rows of recumbent bikes (great for weak or injured knees), elliptical motion training machines (also good on knees), and big orange and green plastic balls for Pilates and yoga stretches. And of course, many more weight machines. Only one young woman was running on one of the old treadmills.

It turns out my observations are on the money. The research folks at American Sports Data inform me that "older Americans are transforming the landscape of physical fitness." It turns out that the number of people who are 55 belonging to health clubs surged by 33% from 1999-2004 whereas the 18-34 crowd had zero growth in memberships.

". . .the compound measurement of Yoga/Tai Chi has grown by 118% . . . . At 11.2 million participants, Recumbent Cycling, a particularly back-friendly exercise. . . has grown 66%. . . . surpassed only by Fitness Walking and Aquatics." And the conclusion? "Mature exercise enthusiasts are not merely playing havoc with abstract fitness statistics; they are rocking the foundations of fitness facilities across the U.S. "

Interesting facts: Pilates participation has increased 506% during the period of the research report, elliptical training machines, 306%, Yoga, 118%, Nordic ski machines, -40%, aerobic rider exercise, -58%, stair-climbing machines, -29%.

These are great trends to contemplate. Boomers as a group are continuing to value physical exercise and fitness as one important key to a vibrant, active life. And, if we need to find new exercises that put less strain on our joints and backs, then we find them and we continue to stay fit. Boomers may yet succeed at making the concept of wellness and prevention a perfectly natural part of our culture and thinking.

Women Play Games to Exercise Their Brains

According to a market research study financed by PopCap, the game developer, most of the people who play casual online games (those are the quick games that are not violent or competitive, for the men in the audience) are mostly educated Boomer women. They found: (l) that women play to de-stress by moving their minds beyond fatigue or chronic tension or pain; and (2) for mental exercise. How could we possibly be surprised by that? We have the most educated, affluent, and stressed generation ever in history constantly looking for ways to keep sharp and manage stress at the same time. And 25 million of them are women, the health care gatekeepers for their families.

The next step is getting our families to follow our lead, as usual.

technorati: women, Boomers, brain exercises, games, stress

Fearless Women

I just finished Ariana Huffington's new book, On Becoming Fearless in Love, Work, and Life. It was a fast read, very honest, interesting and breezy. I hope it will reach the huge numbers of women who are trying to figure out if they should proceed with whatever they are fearful about-- public speaking, ending a bad relationship or marriage, letting go of their children, starting a business or a movement, traveling alone, disease, death, lonliness, whatever takes real boldness to push through the wall of fear. There were times when I was reminded of 70s self-help books on being an independent woman but then I considered my own fears, not so unlike Ms. Huffington's. I need to be reminded, too.

I heard Ms. Huffington speak at the BlogHer conference where she offered attendees her book if they asked via email. I was impressed with her intelligence, wit, and humility.

Speaking of fearless women, I have to mention my sadness at the deaths this past week of Ann Richards and Oriana Fallachi, both intelligent, passionate, bold, and couragous women. Ann Richards, at 73, was an American icon--witty, articulate, honest, and dedicated to sticking to her beliefs. She opened the door for women and minorities in Texas and was a vocal and strong supporter everywhere, as she always said she would be. Molly Ivins and Bill Clinton shared some especially hilarious and poignant moments with Ann Richards.

We will all remember her for the quotes that have become part of our vernacular: Ginger Rogers who had to dance backwards and in high heels, George Bush born with a silver foot in his mouth, etc. I heard Ann Richards speak several times and talked to her a couple of times. I remember her remarks when asked how to achieve work-family balance. She said very straightforwardly (my memory of her words): "I don't own anything that I have to water, feed, or polish! That gives me more time for what really matters."

Oriana Fallaci, who died at 76 this week, was a woman who cared intensely about righting wrongs, big ones against humanity. She interviewed and wrote about the biggest personalities of the last 40 years, with intelligence, passion, and wit. She was fearless about asking questions that no one else would ask, voicing unpopular but heartfelt opinions, and pushing, always pushing, for a better world.

technorati: women, BlogHer, Ann Richards, Oriana Fallaci, Ariana Huffington

How to Laugh Out Loud

Start reading Nora Ephron's latest book of essays. But don't finish it in one sitting. Decide to take it with you to jury duty. For breaks. To distract yourself from the serious nature of what's at hand. To give your brain a little tickle, something light and amusing. Stick the shiny, new hardback in your gigantic purse, along with your bottle of water, your iPod, your sunglasses, your distance glasses, your TREO, your cosmetics, your old, torn, grimy tissues, money, business cards, extras from your tear-out Sudoku calendar in case you have three minutes somewhere, pencils, pens, receipts from last year's purchases, and vitamins that spilled from their case eons ago and are now in zillions of little crumbs along the bottom and in the built-in pockets on the side. Pull the slim volume out, amongst the throngs waiting to be called into service as jurors, or dismissed. Dust the vitamin crumbs and tissue pieces from the sides. Ignore the fidgeters, the sleepers, the annoyed, the frightened, the horribly bored. Begin reading. Giggle, clear your throat, and then burst into uncontrollable, inappropriate laughter that will just not stay put inside your mind. Ignore the bailiff pointing at you. Ignore the prospective jurors around you, looking wistfully because they'd give anything to have brought along something fun and funny to read. The essay is called, "I Hate My Purse." Ms. Ephron describes her purse and it's just exactly the mess mine is in. Except that mine is pathetic. Hers is hilarious.

If you're a woman over the age of 35 and certainly if you're over 50 (and hey, I think men would love this one, too), you should read Nora Ephron's latest collection of wry, sometimes hilarious and sometimes poignant (and sometimes both simultaneously), always honest, and usually universally applicable group of essays, I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman.

Ephron says she doesn't like getting older. It's not as advertised. I say any big life change, and getting older qualifies, is a great reason to trot out your sense of humor. And Ephron does, with sparkling style. Delightful, all the way through.

Even though I recognized some of these essays as the same ones I read when they were first published in The New Yorker, who cares? They were even better the second time around.

technorati: Boomers, humor, books, women