Women and Exercise

By Michele Batz

Exercise for the Right Reasons

You would be surprised by the statistics on the number of women not exercising. According to the Surgeon General, more than 25 percent of American women don't take part in any sort of physical activity. The other surprising fact from the Surgeon General report is they found that many women who do exercise don't do so with the intensity and/or the regularity they need to do to make lasting positive impacts in their lives. And it's women, more often than men, who aren't paying enough attention to exercising.

Why do you think that is? There is a theory — that many women take on much more in their lives, physically and emotionally, than many of their male counterparts. We tend to spread ourselves so thin between family and work obligations, that exercise may seem like a luxury to many women. It is, but only in that it's an invaluable gift to give to yourself.

So, what does "regular exercise" mean anyway? The definition varies, depending on your sources. The common guidelines for regular exercise are twenty to thirty minutes of aerobic activity at least three times a week. This is the minimum you should exercise if you want to see some tangible results regards to your health. And for those twenty to thirty minutes, you should really get the blood pumping through your veins and push your heart so it's getting a workout, too. According to the American Heart Association, a person exercising thirty minutes three to four days a week will achieve cardiovascular fitness, which will help to prevent heart disease, lower blood pressure and improve overall health.

When you think about it, to do the bare minimum in terms of exercise, what we're really talking about is an hour commitment per week. So, why aren't women making exercise a permanent part of their lives?

Here is another theory. It's okay if you disagree. I think one of the biggest reasons why so many women don't exercise regularly is that from the get-go, they choose to exercise for the wrong reasons. The number-one wrong reason I'm talking about is to lose weight. Then when their reasons don't pan out quickly, they quit. I'm certainly not blameless in this category. There have been many times in the past 25 years when I've vowed to become slender, and exercised like a madwoman on a mission. The first problem here is that my body has no intention of ever being slender. I'm a muscular gal. If anything, I tend to gain weight when I exercise frequently. Yet, knowing this, I have repeatedly launched into a heavy exercise regimen with a mental image of a lean, toned, svelte woman in my head, expecting some sort of metamorphosis on my butt and abs. And with unrealistic goals like this, I am bound to be disappointed. So are many other woman who are similar missions.

So what happens? When the primary motivation is gone, workouts are skipped, and hence, exercise plans fail. A client recently drove this point home with me. Last month, she called and left a message on my voicemail saying, "Call me, it's urgent." The urgent message amounted to her discouragement at not losing a single pound in her first few weeks of working out and eating well, despite the pretty radical change she was making in her routine. She asked, "Should I keep going?" " Will I eventually see results?" What could I say, but "YES! Of course! Keep going!" I didn't guarantee her that she'd lose weight if she continued on her eating and exercising streak although I believed she would. Instead, I took the "what's the worst that can happen approach". I assured her that exercising could only positively impact her in so many ways, and that not exercising was, well not exercising. By not working out and eating poorly, my client could pretty much guarantee that nothing was going to change with regard to her weight and health. In fact, experts now say that a sedentary lifestyle is as bad for you as a smoking lifestyle.

What about you? Are you reading this now and thinking that you, too, imagine a sleek, muscular you, clad in running shorts, tanned and looking awesome? I can't guarantee that working out will transform your body into the picture you have in your head. But, I can say without a doubt that if you make a commitment to fitness you will feel better about yourself and your body. Just knowing that you're doing something so good for yourself is pretty wonderful. I'm sure many of you have experienced a "high" of sorts after a good workout. Well, when you're exercising regularly, a little bit of that high always stays with you. You'll think about yourself differently, more positively. And your reflection in the mirror will be more forgiving with the knowledge that you're taking steps to nurture yourself.

Self image is really at the heart of the matter for most of us. We are obsessed with our bodies — our thighs, our butts, our hips, our stomachs. My obsession since the birth of my son is my abs. Before having him and with all my years of running, they are not bouncing back into that slender twenty something abs. From my training and experience I know this is due to genetics. Look at your parents and siblings and get real with yourself. Keep striving and make that commitment but get "real." Forget about it. Workout and maintain your fitness level, get rid of your obsession of getting that perfect body part.

For many of us, this obsession and dissatisfaction with our bodies can be all consuming. Ask around. How many women do you know who are happy with their bodies? How many women look in the mirror and say, "Darn, I look good!" More likely, they're standing in front of the mirror doing the pencil/butt rest. (For those of you who aren't familiar with this test, e-mail me.)

Something bigger has to change. Our attitudes (and society's attitudes) about what is and isn't sexy, attractive and alluring need to be adjusted. This is no easy task, especially considering the messages begin drilled into us by the media — that we as women need to be super model skinny to be happy, find a partner, and secure everything that is good in this world. I remember one particularly annoying ad campaign from a leading cereal. You know, the one commercial that features a bony, hipless woman drooling over her own reflection as she squeezes into a size two dress, oohing and aahing all the way? I was happy to discover that they dropped that campaign several years ago, after women consumers complained the ads portrayed "an unrealistic thin and unhealthy body image as the ideal."

We are after health! Kudos to that cereal company now that developed a new campaign aimed at promoting positive self-images for women. It's a start. And you get started too. Develop a new attitude towards exercising and eating healthy. You want to be around on this earth for a long time. To lead a healthy and active lifestyle. Change that mental image of yourself to a realistic one and not one that you find on the magazine covers (which has been computer enhance, you know the drill). Develop new goals for yourself and enjoy your life. Embrace your family and friends instead of obsessing about a certain body part that you dislike. Celebrate your life, get excited, enjoy, enjoy enjoy! •

© 2004 Michele Batz

About the Author
Michele Batz has an extensive 25 year career in sports education. She writes her own column for a Chicagoland newspaper and for eFitness.com and eDiets.com. Her book — What's Holding You Back? A Woman's Beginning Guide to Fitness is available through Amazon.com.