Moving Toward a Healthier Life: New Exercise Guidelines Tell You How

Melanie McGill had never been big on exercise. “I’m an academic type,” says the 54-year-old special education professor from Dallas. “I never played sports, I just spent time with my books instead.”

As she got older, however, McGill began to question her sedentary lifestyle.

“I have heart disease on both sides of my family, and my mother started having heart problems at age 60,” McGill says. “When I turned 50, I thought, I really need to ... start taking better care of myself. I want to live a long time and enjoy life.”

Today McGill walks at least 30 minutes a day, six days a week. She occasionally takes the stairs at work instead of the elevator and walks to a nearby grocery store instead of driving. Her reward? After just 12 weeks on her new exercise regimen (and a healthier diet), McGill’s fitness level doubled, her cholesterol declined and she lost an inch in her waist.

How did McGill overcome her bookworm’s aversion to huffing and puffing her way toward better health? In 2006 she joined the American Heart Association’s free 12-week pilot program that focuses on helping women incorporate exercise and healthy eating into their existing routines. At the end of the 12 weeks, she found herself hooked on the program, called Choose to Move. And her lifestyle changes have stuck. “It’s become a habit,” she says.

McGill is one of millions of Americans who could benefit from even small lifestyle changes in exercise and eating, says the AHA. And it’s not just the 50-plus population that could use the exercise. According to new guidelines released last year by the AHA and the American College of Sports Medicine, all adults—regardless of age or sex—need at least 30 minutes of exercise five days a week, plus strength training exercises twice a week.

Yet for the first time, the 2007 guidelines included special advice for older adults regarding subjects such as flexibility, balance exercises and muscle strengthening. “New evidence has shown that strength training complements aerobic activity to increase heart health,” says Jennifer Mieres, a cardiologist and spokeswoman for the AHA.

Today Lopez has lost 16 pounds, shrunk from size 16 to a 12, and lost more than an inch in her waistline—all from the 12-week AHA program and healthy eating . The key to overcoming an aversion to working out, she says, is “to be honest about your time, and where you can fit in 10-minute increments.” Once she started looking at her time candidly, Lopez realized she “did sit in the chair watching TV for quite a while between work and dinner.”

Getting right with exercise doesn’t have to mean loving it. Lopez notes, “Thirty minutes is the requirement and 30 minutes is all I do.” But at least she has found a program she can stick with. “You have to think … this is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.”

For Lopez and McGill, following the AHA guidelines has been a life-changing experience. They’ve demonstrated that people can incorporate healthy activities into their daily routines—and gain a new perspective on their lives.

Says Lopez: “At 80, I want to be able to still go where I want to go, be strong and healthy enough to enjoy (my grandchildren) when they do show up. That’s my motivation.”

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