Military Officer - June 2008 - (Page 69)

HEALTH when others are involved,” says Teresa Pridmore, who lives near Scott AFB, Ill., with her husband, Ed. Teresa walks as early as 6 a.m. with a group of female friends, including an Air Force retiree and the wife of an active duty ofﬁcer. “You keep each other motivated as well as challenged,” she says. “I know I push harder at walking faster with a group.” Ed, who is retired from the Air Force, regularly plays basketball, racquetball, and “wallyball” with a group of men from his church. Because the group keeps a regular schedule, everyone in it is held more accountable. “When someone expects you to be there, that’s powerful,” says Toni Branner, an exercise physiologist and author of several books, including The Safe Exercise Handbook (Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1993). friends in each others’ living rooms three times a week, as long as you like it, you’ll do it,” says Nicole Glor, a group exercise instructor in New York City and creator of an exercise video, “Nikkiﬁtness Military Wife Workout.” “If you hate your routine, try new things,” she says. Branner realizes people often make signiﬁcant lifestyle changes only after receiving a bad diagnosis. “My passion is trying to get people to make changes before that happens,” she says. “You can’t feel prevention. You don’t feel it when you’re not getting a cavity, and you Find the right exercise group for you Branner says ﬁnding a group is not hard for most people. “Try at least 10 different places,” she says, explaining that many workout facilities offer free one- or twoweek introductory sessions. “There are commercial ﬁtness centers, park-and-recreation departments, and the local [YMCA] and many churches now have programs.” Most retirement communities and military facilities include ﬁtness centers. Some exercise programs, such as Silver Sneakers, are sponsored by health care systems and speciﬁcally are directed at senior wellness. A ﬁnal consideration is ﬁnding a workout you enjoy. “Whether you’d rather jog or kickbox in a group, take a Pilates class or use a DVD with “ Competition is a positive aspect of group exercise. There’s that keepgoing spirit that’s very important. You tap into positive group energy. — Debbie Mandel, fitness expert Air Force veteran Rick Hansen of Silver Spring, Md., did just that. He found a new workout called SingYo, which combines classic yoga postures with singing familiar songs. “The entire group sings,” he explains. “It’s encouraging to hear other voices. It deﬁnitely helps to have the support of others. It’s not that you have to exercise, but that you want to.” don’t feel it when you’re not getting cancer, but the research is so clear now. We know what we have to do.” Mikulka says he recognizes that people make different exercise choices, but being a member of a group can help them achieve a common goal. “We all want to stay well, stay ﬁt, and stay ahead of Father Time.” MO JUNE 2008 ” 69 MILITARY OFFICER

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - June 2008

Military Officer - June 2008 Contents MOAA Online From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire MOAA Member Services Washington Scene Chapters in Action Financial Forum Ask the Doctor MOAA Scholarship Donors Cover Story: Mission to Modernize World War Web Playing to Win Fitness in Numbers Fighting Infection Pages of History Faces of MOAA Information Exchange Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - June 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.