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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)
How Dr. Ken Cooper and I Disagree Regarding How You Should Get Into Shape
If you are normal, you're not in very good shape. Normal in America is the pits; most folks who are "normal" (that is, like nearly everyone else) are underfit and overfat, for starters. (They are also bogged down in terms of key skill areas within the mental and meaning & purpose dimensions of wellness, but that's another matter for another time.) I hope you are not normal, but if you are, my friend Kenneth R. Cooper, the famous, revered and influential aerobics doctor who heads the toney 30-acre Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas, Texas, has a wide variety of books, residential programs, medical tests and other protocols and even a line of vitamin pills. He wants to assess your situation and set you on the road to wellness. His expertise is in a field called "preventive medicine." Of this there is no doubt: thousands (maybe millions, for all I know) have benefited from his books, lectures, assorted services and product lines. Hail to the king of fitness.
Despite all the wisdom, fame, riches and history of good works from Dr. Cooper and the multi-million dollar complex of programs at the Cooper Clinic at his disposal, I still have the gall, the temerity and the chutzpah to think that you would be better off following MY advice than his, at least insofar as getting fit on the cheap is concerned. If you want to spend big bucks by taking yourself off to Dallas and indulging in tests and classes and meals and counseling and all the high cost, high tech foo foo at the Cooper Clinic, well, that might be more helpful than simply reading one or more of my "Don's Reports." Maybe. However, if all you are willing or able to do is read either Dr. Cooper's tips for getting into shape versus reading MY tips for getting into shape, I think you are better off reading MY tips, not dear old Kenny Boy's! Of course, I suspect Dr. Cooper might disagree -- I dunno.
Dr. Cooper offers an essay entitled "Getting Into Shape-Safely" at his website. In the following paragraphs, I'll summarize five ways in which his "preventive medicine" approach and my "self-management for lifestyle artistry" wellness approach vary -- or are more or less the same. Being biased, I'll suggest that, in the event of differences, my wellness orientation is superior! Naturally, you get to decide if there is merit in my dissents or if I am just blowing smoke, or smoking something.
- Dr. Cooper suggests: Don't take action to get healthier (fitter) until you do some serious preparation. Determine (he'll be glad to help if you want to fly on down to Dallas) "the level of physical activity" suitable for "your age, weight, gender and medical history." My position is take action now -- don't wait. Spend 15 minutes reviewing the obvious (start out at moderate levels and other such common sense considerations that everyone must know by now) and then just do it! Exercise is not that complicated -- you do not need to follow special protocols depending upon your age, weight, gender, medical history or even your horoscope, sexual preference, religion, favorite movies or anything else!
- Dr. Cooper suggests: If you are a man over 40 (or woman over 50), don't do anything without a doctor's clearance. My position is you only need a doctor's clearance if you DO NOT intend to exercise! The doctor might be able to estimate how long you might last remaining sedentary.
- Dr. Cooper suggests: Go slowly, pace yourself and allow your exercise program to build over the course of 12 to 16 weeks. Here we agree, since this is surely more sensible (and safer) for purposes of motivation, injury prevention and so on. Yet, this is rather obvious -- who is going to go out and do otherwise? Better to go too fast than not to go at all for, as problems arise, it will be self-evident that you need to cut back if you did start off with an overly ambitious program.
- Dr. Cooper suggests a warm up of three to five minutes stretching before exercise. I hardly ever stretch. A few minutes walking before jogging, a good yawn and body stretch of five seconds and an initial slow pace seems to do the trick. You could, in fact, pull something by stretching while you are still "cold" or stiff from sleeping or hours of inactivity if you initiate your exercise with five minutes of stretching.
- Dr. Cooper suggests a cool down. I agree. I also agree on the merits of being aware of exercise intensity and a balanced, practical program of endurance activity three to five times a week and two 20 minute weight training sessions weekly.
Basically, the good doctor and I are not that far apart, and where we differ, the sensible thing to do is to take his advice, not mine. I mean, he's a REAL doctor, has more than 30 years of research-based fitness expertise, is world famous and has a huge staff of experts doing research and backing him up at the Cooper Aerobics Center. I just think he's a bit conservative and overly medical about wellness, and thus I'm a lot less cautious than Dr. Cooper. Also, I suspect he has a special interest in emphasizing the importance of a "supervised workout at a reputable fitness center (I can guess which one he has in mind) or...with a personal trainer who can also coach you in an overall program" and "a well-rounded get-fit program" that includes "attention to your nutrition and stress management." Yet, that's what you might expect from someone like me, a self-declared, bemused skeptic.
We do agree on more than we differ. He urges clients to "listen to your body, don't ignore pain, particularly recurrent pain. Never ignore any pain in the chest that occurs with exercise" and that "fitness is a journey, not a destination. It's not what you did six months ago that counts -- it's what you did yesterday, and what you will do tomorrow." Hear, hear (or is it, "here here?" Whatever, pay attention!) Where we disagree is when he plays it way too conservatively, as in counseling "And, if in doubt about anything, play it safe -- consult your doctor." Most people are in doubt, not just about anything but about nearly everything. That's part of life. We have to deal with our own doubts daily. No matter how wealthy, we can't run off to the Cooper Clinic or Aerobics Center in Dallas or elsewhere to doctors and other test specialists to attend to every doubt, or to decide whether to exercise. The Nike slogan really does apply to getting started on a lifelong fitness regimen -- just do it. Ask questions (and get tested) later, if at all.
And don't forget to look on the bright side of life.
Domain: physicalSubdomain: exercise and fitness
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