Last week I asked ten questions about the people, discoveries, fads, technology and occasional nonsense that helped create the fitness world we live in today.

Here are the answers. If you’re new to this Substack, here’s the original post.

1. Vic Tanny and the invention of the modern health club

Answer: Vic Tanny.

There were gyms long before bodybuilder and schoolteacher Vic Tanny opened his first club. Jack LaLanne opened his famous Oakland health club in 1936. Weightlifting gyms, YMCAs, athletic clubs and physical-culture establishments had existed even earlier.

But Tanny helped invent something different: the modern American health-club chain.

After some early attempts beginning in the 1930s, Tanny expanded aggressively after World War II. His clubs weren’t just rooms filled with barbells and sweaty men. They had carpeting, chrome equipment, swimming pools, mirrors, music and amenities designed to appeal to ordinary middle-class Americans, including women.

Tanny also understood that fitness could be sold. Prospective members were brought into the club for a tour and a workout, followed by a sit-down with a salesperson using many of the high-pressure closing techniques that would remain part of the health-club business for decades.

At their peak in the late 1950s, the Tanny empire included more than 100 clubs.

Exercise was beginning its migration from something associated primarily with athletes, bodybuilders and physical labor into something people might deliberately purchase as part of a lifestyle.

2. America gets a fitness scare

Answer: Two things happened in 1955.

First, researchers Hans Kraus and Ruth Hirschland reported alarming differences between the physical fitness of American and European children. On a series of basic muscular-fitness tests, American kids performed terribly by comparison.

Second, on September 24, 1955, 64-year-old President Dwight Eisenhower, seemingly the epitome of an active, fit adult, suffered a major heart attack.

It would be inaccurate to say Eisenhower’s heart attack caused him to create the President’s Council on Youth Fitness. His concern about the fitness of American children was already underway. In fact, Eisenhower had prepared a message for a national youth-fitness conference just six days before his heart attack.

But consider the cultural moment. America was prosperous, increasingly suburban and increasingly sedentary. Cars, television and labor-saving devices were transforming everyday life. Researchers were warning that American children weren’t physically fit, and now the president himself had suffered a heart attack.

The enormous media attention also turned Eisenhower’s cardiologist, Dr. Paul Dudley White, a co-founder of the American Heart Association and pioneer of preventive cardiology, into a national figure. Suddenly Americans were hearing about heart disease, exercise and lifestyle from one of the country’s leading physicians.

In 1956 Eisenhower established the President’s Council on Youth Fitness. Fitness was becoming more than an athletic concern. Americans were beginning to understand that health was something everyone needed to think about.

3. Kenneth Cooper gives cardio a name

Answer: The United States Air Force.

Dr. Kenneth Cooper was an Air Force physician who became fascinated with a question that now seems almost obvious: What happens if ordinary people regularly exercise their cardiovascular systems?

Cooper developed a system for measuring and improving aerobic capacity while serving in the Air Force. His 1968 book, Aerobics, helped introduce the concept to the public.

Today we casually talk about “doing cardio.” But cardiovascular exercise wasn’t always a normal category of everyday behavior. Cooper helped give it scientific legitimacy, a vocabulary and, perhaps most importantly, a reason for ordinary people to find new ways to do it.

4. Jack LaLanne puts fitness on television

Answer: Jack LaLanne.

Long before YouTube instructors, Peloton coaches and Instagram fitness influencers, there was Jack.

The Jack LaLanne Show began locally in the San Francisco area in the early 1950s and went into national syndication in 1959. LaLanne stood in front of a television camera and asked ordinary Americans, particularly women watching daytime television, to exercise along with him, occasionally joined by his wife Elaine and their dog Happy.

Separating fitness instruction from the physical gym was innovative and prescient. Technology moved from television to VHS, DVD, cable, YouTube, streaming, Peloton and eventually the phone in your pocket.

The instructor could now come to you. The remaining issue was motivation.

5. Then everything collided

Answer: There isn’t one. That’s the point.

By the late 1970s and early ‘80s, a remarkable collection of cultural and technological changes arrived at roughly the same time.

• Disco demonstrated the enormous appeal of moving to a driving beat.

• Better and cheaper stereo systems brought that beat everywhere.

• Wireless microphones eventually allowed instructors to move around a room and still be heard.

• Gyms increasingly became coed.

• Cardio and the running boom introduced millions of Americans to sustained aerobic exercise and the power of endorphins.

• The women’s movement was changing ideas about female strength, athleticism and bodies.

• Lycra, leg warmers and home video with Jane Fonda made group exercise look fun and maybe even necessary.

Suddenly exercise became an experience. Music mattered. Personality mattered. Community mattered. Choreography mattered. What you wore mattered.

I was there for a good part of this, and I loved it. Ask anyone who was there. It was the most fun exercising, ever.

6. The workout comes home

Answer: Kathy Smith, Denise Austin and Billy Blanks.

Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons demonstrated that an instructor didn’t need a health club full of students. All they needed was a camera, decent production, some charisma and a medium like VHS to support the marketing that was creating a new kind of fitness personality.

Kathy Smith became one of the defining instructors of the VHS era. Denise Austin became another extraordinarily durable fitness personality. Then Billy Blanks combined martial arts, boxing, music and aerobic exercise into Tae Bo and created one of the great fitness crazes of the late 1990s.

What emerged between Fonda and Simmons and Billy Blanks was the growing importance of marketing. Late-night infomercials created another kind of exercise personality: self-proclaimed experts who became famous by appearing on television pitching their products.

The pitch became remarkably familiar. You have a problem. We have the solution. And you can order it right now.

The Gazelle, Bowflex, P90X and Insanity became as much a part of the late-night fitness-infomercial boom as the instructors themselves. Fitness had become not just an activity but a product, with television providing an enormously effective way to sell it.

7. America learns to run

Answer: Jim Fixx’s 1977 bestseller was The Complete Book of Running. Seven years later, at age 52, Fixx died of a heart attack while running in Vermont.

But Fixx was only one piece of something much bigger: the awareness and growth of cardio as a required component of being fit.

New Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard helped develop the idea of recreational jogging. Oregon coach Bill Bowerman brought those ideas home and became one of America’s great running evangelists. Kenneth Cooper provided the scientific case for aerobic exercise. Frank Shorter won the Olympic marathon in 1972. Bill Rodgers became a road-racing celebrity, winning both Boston and New York four times. Nike and its competitors transformed running shoes from relatively primitive athletic equipment into a huge consumer category.

Suddenly there were road races everywhere. By some estimates, 25 million Americans took up running during the 1970s and ‘80s. There were 10Ks, marathons and then triathlons.

Cardiovascular exercise was something regular people could do. And you could start today. No team, opponent or gym needed. Just a pair of shoes and some very short shorts.

Then Fixx died. One of America’s most famous evangelists for running had died of a heart attack while running. While runners paused, the cardio genie was already out of the bottle, opening the door for the group-exercise boom that continues today.

8. Beware of suspiciously round numbers

Answer: 10,000 steps and 10,000 hours.

Walk 10,000 steps every day. Practice something for 10,000 hours and you’ll become an expert.

Both are wonderful examples of what happens when a complicated idea gets converted into a wonderfully memorable number. But the facts tell a slightly different tale.

The 10,000-step target did not emerge from research identifying a magical physiological threshold. Its history traces to a Japanese pedometer marketed in the 1960s. Similarly, the famous 10,000-hour rule popularized by Malcolm Gladwell greatly simplified research by psychologist Anders Ericsson and colleagues on deliberate practice.

That doesn’t make either idea useless. Walking is good. Practice makes us better.

But 10,000? That’s magical thinking, or perhaps just the perfect packaging of an idea that helps it spread.

“Move more” is advice. “10,000 steps” is a program.

Guess which one travels farther?

9. Fitness for what?

Answer: Falls.

Falls are the leading cause of injury among Americans 65 and older and a major cause of injury-related death.

Kind of amazing, isn’t it?

For much of modern fitness history, measurable data was the gold standard: body weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, resting heart rate, treadmill stress tests.

All useful. But as we live longer, fitness needs to be connected to something more practical.

Like not falling.

Enter wellness and a broader idea of what it means to be fit. Can I balance? Can I react quickly if I stumble? Can I get off the floor? Can I carry groceries? Can I get in and out of my car and my bed? Can I keep doing the ordinary things people do every day without hurting myself?

For that I need a more holistic view of fitness, one that includes strength, balance, flexibility, sleep, diet, body awareness, mental acuity, mental health, social connection and movement, along with the cholesterol.

Maybe the better question isn’t simply, “How fit am I?”

It’s: Fit for what?

10. Johnny G takes the bicycle indoors

Answer: Race Across America, better known as RAAM.

South African-born endurance cyclist Jonathan Goldberg, better known as Johnny G, was preparing for ultra-distance cycling when he began experimenting with a stationary bicycle that better reproduced the geometry and feel of riding a road bike.

Goldberg has also said his wife was pregnant and he wanted a way to continue training without spending so much time away from home. And, yes, the wonderfully improbable part appears to be true: an early prototype was built in his kitchen.

What began as a personal training solution eventually grew into a group-exercise format. Goldberg opened an early Spinning center in Santa Monica, and by the early 1990s he was working with John Baudhuin to develop the bikes and program that became Spinning.

Once again, fitness history was a collision of things that already existed: cycling, aerobic conditioning, music, group exercise and instructor coaching.

And I may be slightly biased here, but that turned out to be a pretty good idea.

And the bonus question

Who invented the step-touch, grapevine and single-single-double choreography patterns now used in group exercise classes throughout the world?

Obviously, Jim Stalker.

There is absolutely no evidence supporting this claim. None.

But after teaching thousands of group exercise classes, the highly deluded author remains convinced that somewhere, sometime, he must have invented at least one of them.

Please don’t research this. I’d like to keep one fitness myth alive.

So, how did we get here?

Modern fitness emerged from a strange, wonderful and occasionally ridiculous collision of science, culture, commerce, technology, fashion, celebrity and human behavior.

And looking back at these stories, something else becomes apparent. The history of modern fitness is also partly the history of how ideas get communicated.

A doctor writes a book. A president has a heart attack. A runner wins an Olympic marathon. Jack LaLanne gets on television. Jane Fonda puts on a leotard. Somebody decides 10,000 is a really good number. And a cyclist puts a stationary bike in his kitchen.

Ideas become movements. Movements become businesses. Businesses become culture.

Which makes the question David Byrne asked all those years ago worth asking every once in a while:

Well, how did we get here?

Because understanding how we got here might help us decide where fitness ought to go next.

In the Talking Heads song “Once in a Lifetime,” David Byrne asks the great existential question:

“Well, how did I get here?”

Ask that about fitness right now and you won’t get a clean answer. Health, exercise, diet, pharmacology, celebrity, and social media have all collapsed into one loud, tangled conversation, and actual science is just one more voice shouting to be heard in it.

We know more about the human body than ever before. We also have more people confidently telling us things about it than ever before. Some of them even know what they’re talking about.

I’ve been teaching fitness for almost 50 years — over 5,000 classes. I didn’t just read this history. I lived a fair amount of it. I originally put this quiz together for one of my spin classes, and it’s been rattling around in my head ever since.

So — how did we get here?

No Googling.

1. The modern gym Who created what is generally considered the first modern American health-club chain, and when did it begin taking shape?

2. 1955: A wake-up call Two events in 1955 helped turn physical fitness into a national concern. One involved alarming research about the fitness of American children. The other involved the 64-year-old president of the United States. What happened?

3. The father of aerobics Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the man who popularized the term aerobics, developed much of his early thinking about fitness while serving in what branch of the U.S. military?

4. Fitness comes into the living room Long before Jane Fonda, Richard Simmons, VHS tapes, Peloton, or YouTube, who became America’s first great television fitness evangelist, broadcasting workouts directly into American living rooms?

5. The cultural collision The aerobics explosion of the late 1970s and ‘80s didn’t happen in a vacuum. What convergence of music, technology, social change, and gym culture transformed working out from a chore into a mass-market spectacle?

6. The home-workout stars Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons became fitness superstars. Which three personalities became fixtures of the home-workout era that followed, including one who turned a combination of martial arts, boxing, and aerobics into a late-1990s phenomenon?

7. The running evangelist What was the title of Jim Fixx’s enormously influential 1977 bestseller that helped fuel America’s running boom? And what happened to Fixx just seven years later, at age 52, that shocked the fitness world and challenged some assumptions about exercise and health?

8. 10,000 and 10,000 Name two enormously popular “10,000” rules in fitness and self-improvement that became accepted as scientific truths despite neither being what the science actually said.

9. Fitness for what? Here’s the one that isn’t nostalgia. What is the leading cause of injury-related death among Americans 65 and older?

10. From a kitchen prototype to Spinning The indoor cycling phenomenon we now call Spinning began when endurance cyclist Johnny Goldberg, better known as Johnny G, built an indoor bike so he could train more effectively. What grueling race across the United States was he training for?

Bonus question Who believes he invented the step-touch, grapevine, and single-single-double choreography patterns now used in group fitness classes around the world?

I’ll give you a hint.

He’s the highly deluded author of this quiz.

Answers, and more importantly, the stories behind them, next week.

Every day I’m served another parade of sixty-something fitness “experts” announcing, “I’m 67!” before launching into some circus act involving rings, kettlebells, handstands, or a movement that would make my orthopedic surgeon start filling out paperwork.

Good for them.

But I can’t help wondering: Who is this for?

This isn’t instruction. It’s performance.

The old message was, “Come exercise with me.” Today’s message is often, “Look what I can do.”

There’s a difference.

I don’t need an iron cross. I need to ride a century without my back giving out on the last twenty miles. I need to stand and teach a spin class for forty-five minutes and still have something left for the next one. I need my hands steady enough to play guitar the way I want to, not the way arthritis decides I’m allowed to.

Fitness should prepare us for living, not auditioning.

Whenever I see another reel featuring some astonishing feat of strength or flexibility, I ask one simple question:

If I learned to do this, how would it make my everyday life better?

If the answer is, “It would make a great Instagram video,” I keep scrolling.

Nearly five decades in, and I still don’t need an audience. I need groceries carried, a bike ridden, a set of strings that still ring true under my fingers. I need a beach in Capitola, lunch at Gail’s, and a long walk with a friend I’ve known long enough to go quiet with.

That’s the whole job. Everything else is just noise with good lighting.

Next week I'm asking a harder question: what does wellness even mean anymore?

Were you a boomer who got ripped maniacally going to the gym, counting carbs, and hiring a personal trainer? OK, maybe that wasn’t you - but I bet you knew someone who did, and you were quietly relieved it wasn’t your thing.

Guess what. You’re now suddenly over 50, and your doctor is telling you exercise isn’t optional anymore. You’re now dealing with a big fitness word: Dynapenia — the age-associated loss of muscle strength and power that significantly increases your risk of functional limitation, falls, and mortality.

The Stakes

And here’s the kicker. Falls are now the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries among adults over 65. In a single recent year, nearly 39,000 older Americans died from falls. The death rate has more than doubled since 1999, and it keeps climbing.

You thought you were just getting a little older. Turns out your body has been quietly renegotiating the terms of the agreement.

That’s where group fitness enters - not as vanity project, but as survival strategy. One that can help ensure that as you age, you’ll be prepared to do more of the things you love, and avoid the kind of needless personal tragedy nobody puts on their calendar.

This transition can be smooth, lasting, and considerably easier with a bit of science-based planning. In the last forty years, we’ve learned a great deal about how psychology, neuroscience, and physical training interact - what makes exercise effective, and more importantly, what makes it something you’ll actually look forward to.

As someone who has been in the fitness industry nearly fifty years and taught over 5,000 group exercise classes, I’ve watched people come to exercise late, embrace it fully, and make it a permanent part of how they live - doing all sorts of things they love. And not falling.

Let’s break this down into three areas.

First: Finding Your Motivation to Start

If the risks of falling, loss of muscle and bone density, and a metabolism that leaves you exhausted and running on fumes aren’t enough of a wake-up call, maybe the positives of group exercise are.

Group exercise delivers a one-two punch most people don’t see coming. The Group Effect - the well-documented tendency to work harder and feel better when exercising alongside others - combines with the Köhler Effect, the phenomenon where the least fit person in a group unconsciously raises their effort to avoid being the weakest link. Together they produce enhanced pain tolerance, reduced stress, greater workout intensity, and longer duration. And the social dimension - seeing familiar, like-minded people regularly - turns out to be the single strongest predictor of long-term exercise adherence.

Second: Setting Realistic Expectations and Choosing the Right Format

Starting with an accurate picture of where you are, and finding the type of group exercise that fits how you’re wired and how you learn, eliminates most of the unnecessary derailment people experience early on. A few basic fitness facts can inform your judgment and save you considerable wasted effort.

Your First Few Classes

Expect to try several before committing to a single format or instructor. You’re surveying the landscape, not making a permanent decision.

Ask the front desk which formats and instructors are popular with the over-50 crowd. Start there. Get to class 10 to 15 minutes early. If the instructor is already in the room, introduce yourself - let them know it’s your first time, ask if there’s anything worth knowing, and find out what else they teach and who else they’d recommend.

Claim a spot in the back or along the side. Then start a conversation with someone who looks like a regular. Something simple: “Hi, I’m new here. What should I know? What do you like about this class?” You’ll be surprised what you learn.

Go at about 50 percent. Observe, follow, don’t worry about keeping up with anyone. You are not 35 anymore - that’s not a problem, it’s just your starting point.

Reading Your Own Body

It is always okay to stop. It is always okay to modify. Learn to recognize your body’s stop signals and respect them. Don’t confuse a productive challenge with overuse or pain that doesn’t belong.

Beyond fitness, you are developing body awareness - the ability to read your own rate of perceived exertion and shape your experience rather than just endure the class. Teaching a room of students with varied ages and fitness levels is genuinely difficult. A good instructor will get better at reading you over time. So will you. Showing up and staying curious is the work.

Third: Avoiding Burnout and Stagnation - Staying in the Game

As you settle into a regular class, three questions are worth asking after each session.

The Three Questions

Can I keep up? Progress isn’t always visible. A day where 100 percent feels like what 70 percent felt like last month is real progress - even when the number on the board hasn’t moved.

Is it working? One reliable read: how do you feel walking to the car after class? Not during, not the next morning - right after. That answer tends to be honest.

Should I push harder? Recovery deserves the same respect as the workout. At this stage of life, 48 hours between hard efforts isn’t optional - it’s non-negotiable. Ignoring it doesn’t make you tougher. It makes you slower to improve and faster to quit.

What Actually Makes it Stick

What keeps people going long-term isn’t willpower. Psychologists who study motivation have a name for what actually works: Self-Determination Theory. It identifies three things that, when present together, make behavior stick.

The sense that you chose to be here - that this is your decision, not an obligation imposed by your doctor or your guilt. The accumulating awareness that you are getting better - even when the improvement is internal and invisible to everyone else. And the experience of belonging to something - people who know your name, notice when you’re absent, and will still be there next week.

That last one takes time to build. Measure in months, not days.

The boomer who got ripped was chasing something. So are you — just something different now. Not a number on a scale or a reflection in the mirror, but the capacity to keep doing what matters. Group fitness, approached with realistic expectations and a little patience, is one of the most reliable ways to build that capacity. The science supports it. The community sustains it. And fifty years of watching people get this right tells me the only thing standing between you and a very good next chapter is walking through the door.

Start today. Show Up

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It’s Not Your Workout

If you’re leading a class, you’re not there for your workout.

You’re there to create an environment where people show up, move safely, and leave feeling better than when they walked in. In a word — you motivate them to keep doing what might be the best thing they do all day.

I didn’t know this for years. Life got busy, teaching time became my only workout window, and I rationalized it. But the bigger truth is nobody wants to watch you work out. And if they do, that’s kind of weird. So stop. Pay attention. Become the professional the club and its members actually want.

A few things that help. And students reading this — look for these in your instructors.

Teaching vs. Yelling

Yelling at a crowd isn’t teaching. Whoop whoop should have died in the late 1970s. It’s annoying.

Professional teaching is enthusiasm with awareness. Intensity with control. It’s knowing when to push and when to pull back, and showing up with an actual plan. Being the King of Wing isn’t a teaching style — it’s a habit. Professionals prepare.

The Reality of Who’s in Front of You

For most regular classes, you’re looking at the same people week after week — committed exercisers managing real bodies with real mileage. After 50, muscle declines about 1-2% per year without strength training. These people are managing joints, injuries, and energy levels. Plan accordingly.

Clear instruction beats clever choreography every time. The move that feels great to you often looks like punishment to your class. The temptation is to nail it while they struggle. The professional move is to watch them — notice individual efforts, encourage, correct when needed. A class running smoothly is more impressive than an instructor who looks good doing something nobody else can follow.

Balance Isn’t Optional

Balance training can reduce fall risk by up to 30%. That’s not a footnote — it’s the whole point for a significant portion of your class. Balance work isn’t boring filler. It’s essential preparation for getting older, and it could be the difference between catching a stumble and an emergency room visit.

Nearly every group exercise class serving the over-50 population should include a balance segment. Build it in like it matters. Because it does.

You’re Building More Than Fitness

The social dimension of group exercise is underestimated and under-managed by most instructors.

Early in my teaching career, classes ran over, people rushed in stressed, the transition was chaos — and all of it was unnecessary. Arriving early, setting up, greeting people at the door with a genuine offer to help newcomers — none of that takes much. All of it signals that you actually want them there.

Don’t underestimate what happens inside the class either. I’ve seen nearly a dozen marriages and countless friendships come out of classes I’ve taught. Nobody signed up for that. But connection happens when you build the right room.

You’re not just leading workouts. You’re building an environment people want to return to. That’s a different job description — and a better one.

Ask Yourself Before Every Class

What am I doing here?

Have a real answer. A student-focused one. Because bad habits creep in — I’ve made most of them. Today my answer is simple: I love doing this, I’m good at it, and people appreciate what I do. That’s enough to walk in the door with something worth giving.

The Job

Your job isn’t to push everyone to the same fitness destination. Hard to believe, but not everyone over 50 wants to be ripped.

Your job is to recognize the story behind the story — that they showed up, which for some people on some days is a genuine achievement. To see what they’re doing and acknowledge that it matters — to their health, their energy, and everyone in their lives who gets a better version of them because they came to class.

It turns out that’s a pretty important job. Reminding your students that you’re grateful for the chance to do it just might make both your days.

And, sometimes that can all be communicated with eye contact, a pleasant greeting, and a smile that acknowledges them and recognizes their effort.

Jim Stalker writes about fitness and the music that drives it at JimStalkerFitness.com, and culture and the examined life at TellTheTruthandRun.com.

Most people are training for a body they used to have. The smarter move is training for the life that’s coming.

There’s a version of fitness that gets sold hard — ripped abs, punishing workouts, no days off. That’s fine if you’re 25 and chasing money, mirrors, and supplements. But for most of us, especially past 50, that’s not the game anymore.

The real goal is something better and smarter: elegant fitness. You move well, feel good, and you’re physically prepared for the life you actually live — not the one you scroll past on Instagram.

Start With Reality

After 65, falls are the leading cause of injury-related death. About one in four older adults falls each year. That single statistic should reorganize what you train for. It did for me.

So instead of extremes, the focus shifts to balance, strength, mobility, and awareness. Less performance. More capability. And if it hurts when you do it — stop doing it.

Consistency Beats Perfection

Even light activity reduces mortality risk compared to inactivity. Not perfect workouts. Not elite programming. Just doing something, regularly, without making it a project you abandon by February.

People Matter More Than Programs

The Harvard Study of Adult Development — the longest running scientific study of happiness ever conducted — found that strong relationships are among the clearest predictors of health and longevity. Not supplements. Not hacks. Not Madonna arms. People.

Regular movement combined with genuine social connection is linked to slower cognitive decline. Your training partner may be doing more for you than your training plan.

Don’t Guess — Get Checked

Annual physicals. Blood work. Honest conversations with people who know more than you do about your own health. Jim Fixx helped launch the American running boom and died at 52 of a heart attack. The lesson isn’t fear — it’s that awareness and honest self-assessment are non-negotiable. Fixx ignored symptoms. Don’t be Fixx.

What Elegant Fitness Actually Looks Like

Show up consistently. Don’t overdo it. Recover like it matters, because it does. Sleep well. Eat reasonably. Adjust as your body changes — and it will change, so pay attention.

You’re not training for who you were. You’re preparing for what’s ahead. The goal is to arrive there fit, capable, engaged, and moving through your life with something that looks a lot like grace.

That’s the whole thing. Elegance isn’t a aesthetic — it’s a standard.

Selected Sources & Research

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  Important Facts about Falls.

  https://www.cdc.gov/falls

• National Institute on Aging.

  Exercise and Physical Activity: Your Everyday Guide.

  https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/exercise-physical-activity

• Harvard Study of Adult Development.

  Waldinger, R. & Schulz, M.

  The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.

  (Also summarized in multiple Harvard publications and TED Talk)

• American College of Sports Medicine.

  ACSM Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription.

• Journal of Sports Sciences.

  Karageorghis, C. & Priest, D. (2012).

  Music in the Exercise Domain: A Review and Synthesis.

• Jim Fixx.

  Case widely documented in discussions of exercise, genetics, and cardiovascular risk.

• Holt-Lunstad, J. et al. (2010).

  Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review.

  PLOS Medicine.

  (Shows strong correlation between social connection and longevity)

I’ve met hundreds upon hundreds of people who made my classes part of their regular fitness routine. Many became lifelong friends. I’ve counted at least seven marriages that grew out of my classes. Teaching these classes was incredibly fulfilling; tapping into parts of myself, my 9–5 jobs didn’t. Teaching classes was my avocation — my side hustle.

Flashdance

This teaching and motivation were unknown to those who knew me in my vocation as a sales executive. The secrecy wasn’t planned. Teaching fitness classes started long before my career did. When I finally started working, it just seemed awkward to bring up.

“Hey, do you know I teach aerobics?” “Um, yeah, so what?”

So, I just never talked about it. Plus, I didn’t want to explain the spandex of the early days.

It’s hard to explain if you weren’t there, but for about a decade, my classes were, in the words of Ron Burgundy, “kind of big deal!” I had what they called a “following.” It was a bit like the movie Flashdance living a double life. Instead of “welder by day — dancer by night,” it was “sales executive by day, fitness instructor by night.” That is not a hit movie.

A Dichotomy

A strange dichotomy arose in my work lives (plural). During the day, I’d put on my tie, go to work, be restrained, professional, methodically executing the countless details required to be successful at enterprise sales. Then at night, I would let it all go being the crazy person required to lead a class in high-intensity sweat-drenching, choreographed exercise.

I moved from aerobics to high-impact aerobics, to funk and then spinning. I’ve stayed employed in fitness for decades. Most importantly, I showed up, night after night, year after year, with high energy and a fun demeanor regardless of what was going on in my life. All done concurrently with my sales career.

Balance

Having a vocation and an avocation like this made for a fantastic balance in my life. Many know and tap into this.

• Tough day at the office? Well, redemption with a great class full of smiles, high-fives, and thank-yous was around the corner!

• Terrible boss? Having this fun avocation, endurance is easier.

• Feeling the day-job isn’t pressing the “meaningful” button, helping people stay in shape did.

As the years moved on, my day in the sun of group exercise passed, and my classes were no longer any big deal. But, they were still fun for me. I still teach today only to much smaller classes.

It turns out this fitness instruction side gig was pretty sweet for me. I started young and was able to adapt through all its iterations. Teaching got me focused on others and taught me how to better deal with people. Putting classes together developed an otherwise dormant creative muscle.

Plus, it helped me stay in shape. It gave my life, as I think all meaningful side projects do, a sense of balance. Good and the bad. Exciting and not-so-exciting. Best of all, I met my wife in class.

Side Hustles

Lately, side hustles became a thing — they sound cool. Having a hustle can be indicative of someone who is scrappy, motivated, and multi-talented.

Over the past decade, I’ve heard many open conversations about side hustles at work. I have heard stories of employees selling stuff online, doing consulting work in other fields, and group exercise instruction as a yoga instructor. I get it. Yoga isn’t weird; it’s hip.

As a result, I became more comfortable talking about my side hustle at work and elsewhere. I could write this article (so long as it was broad). Few, if any, are interested in the nuance of aerobic choreography. But, trust me, it is fascinating.

If you have a side hustle, I hope yours is as fun and rewarding as mine has been. A good one can provide a hedge against life’s difficulties in the workplace and elsewhere.

I also hope you don’t have to defend photos of yourself like this one from yours

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The Early Days: UCSB and Fitness Fanaticism

This week our little family returned for the 17th year to the UCSB Family Vacation Center (FVC), a cherished respite and touchstone for us and many other families through the years. Established in 1969, the FVC has been providing memorable experiences for generations, hosting over 1,000 guests annually on the picturesque Santa Barbara campus.

When I attended UCSB in the late 1980s, I was a bit of an undisciplined maniac whose cognitive dissonance was offset by the then-popular fitness fanaticism. Working out five hours a day was typical, and the measure of well-being was directly linked to an epic climb up Old San Marcos Road and Painted Cave Road. This route, part of the Santa Ynez Mountains, offers breathtaking views of Santa Barbara and the Pacific Ocean, attracting cyclists and hikers for decades.

The Challenge: San Marcos Pass

My unbalanced fitness goals back then had me attempting personal records (PRs) weekly on the over 3,000-foot ascent through eight miles, timing myself with my then-popular Timex Ironman watch. Introduced in 1980’s, the Timex Ironman became an icon of sports watches, named after the grueling triathlon event.

Local Flora and Fauna

The Santa Ynez Mountains, home to San Marcos Pass, boast a diverse ecosystem. The area is known for its chaparral vegetation, including the fragrant California sagebrush and the vibrant California poppy, the state flower. Wildlife in the region includes mule deer, black bears, and the endangered California condor, which has been successfully reintroduced to the area.

Part of what makes this ride so interesting is the stark contrast between the the region’s history and beauty (and knowledge of it), my personal history with cycling and the area versus the here and now challenge of having the will and fitness to potentially successfully complete it.

Life Changes and Fitness Decline

Like many, I always harkened back to those salad days of youth, with seemingly limitless future possibilities anchored by the best fitness of my life. UCSB, founded in 1909, has a rich history of fostering both academic and physical excellence, ranking consistently among the top public universities in the United States.

Maturing, my feet eventually retouched ground with resized ambitions as I watched my fitness wane while I got to the more important business of being a husband and dad. The transition from student life to family responsibilities is a common experience, often accompanied by shifts in priorities and lifestyle.

While FVC reinforced the soundness of these moves, seeing other families enjoying the same challenges we were, it was also plaguing me with the ever-present climb up the San Marcos Pass. Would I ever do that again? The San Marcos Pass, also known as State Route 154, has been a vital link between Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Valley since its completion in 1868, originally as a stagecoach route.

The Wake-Up Call: A Heart Scan and a Mission

Five years ago, I gently eased back into cycling, buying a good bike and riding a modest 20–35 miles a week. While this improved my fitness, I was still much heavier than in those now decades-old UCSB days. This gradual return to cycling aligns with health recommendations for middle-aged adults, suggesting that regular moderate exercise can significantly improve cardiovascular health and overall well-being.

However, a wake-up call came when, upon a friend’s suggestion, I had a heart scan that revealed a very high calcium score. A subsequent visit to a cardiologist — who used to take my spinning classes — emphasized the urgency of my situation. The good doctor’s guidance was clear: lower my BMI through better diet and more exercise. This seemingly obvious advice kicked off my five-year quest to conquer San Marcos Pass once again.

Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring is a test that detects calcium deposits in the coronary arteries, potentially indicating an increased risk of heart disease. High scores often prompt lifestyle changes and preventive measures.

Overcoming Obstacles

My journey back to fitness wasn’t without its challenges. Initially, finding the time and motivation to exercise regularly was difficult amidst work and family commitments. There were days when the weather was uninviting, or my body ached from the previous day’s ride.

Also the single mindedness required to achieve these results comes with an unsavory exhaust to those closest to me. At times I’ve been abrupt and not at my best remaining steadfast to these goals and for that I’m sorry.

One significant hurdle was overcoming the mental barrier of comparing my current performance to my college days. Accepting that my body had changed and setting realistic goals was crucial.

Even the great Arnold Schwarzenegger when speaking of aging with Howard Stern said, “I look in the mirror and say, you suck!”

Additionally, changing long-established eating habits proved to be tougher than expected. There were moments of frustration when the scale didn’t budge despite my efforts. Anyone who weighs themselves daily finds out that a 3–5 pound variance is not uncommon, but can be hard on the emotions.

Remember a gallon of water weighs 8.3 pounds!

However, each small victory — be it riding an extra mile or resisting a late-night snack — helped build momentum. The support of my family and the memory of my doctor’s warning kept me going through the tough times.

The Comeback: Cycling and Weight Loss

I’m happy to report that after losing 40 pounds through eating less and increasing my mileage, I twice completed the climb to the top of San Marcos Pass this year while attending the FVC.

My first attempt misjudged the apex, but felt like a huge achievement making it up that first hill on Painted Cave after N San Marcos Drive. Because I had done training, I had to do it again.

While there was no Ironman watch or PR this time, my cyclometer recorded the achievement, marking not just a beautiful ride with glorious vistas, but also a moment of recapturing a bit of my youth at the age of 64.

My weight loss began over a year ago and people ask how I did it. It’s important to note there is no complex or tricky method here to sell here. No secret combination of foods. Nor are there any supplements.

My weight loss is the direct result of three habitual behaviors combined with the compelling motivation that failure to do so, may lead to a much earlier than anticipated death.

The three behaviors:

Morning Weigh In and Tracking

Lower Carbs and More Protein

Longer and more intense daily exercise — no matter what!

More on those in another post! But because this article is about cycling, here is a quick diversion.

Health and Mental Benefits of Cycling (and other exercises)

Regular cycling can have significant health benefits, especially for older adults. According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine in 2021, cycling can improve cardiovascular health, reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, and enhance cognitive function in older adults. The study found that cyclists aged 55–79 had immune systems of 20-year-olds and body fat and cholesterol levels of 30-year-olds.

A study published in The Lancet Psychiatry in 2018 found that cycling for as little as 20 minutes a day could have a significant positive impact on mental health. Another study in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research showed that outdoor cycling had more positive effects on mood and well-being compared to stationary cycling.

Plus, with a bit of experience, some cardiovascular capacity, a good bike, and interesting terrain, being outside and cycling is simply good fun.

These scientific findings resonate deeply with my personal experience. As I increased my cycling frequency and duration, I not only saw improvements in my physical health but also experienced enhanced mental clarity and emotional well-being. The challenges I faced during my rides became metaphors for overcoming obstacles in other areas of life, reinforcing my resilience and determination.

Lessons Learned: The Importance of Fitness at Any Age

This experience underscores an important health message: Life is short, and being fit improves everything. Don’t avoid your health tests, and learn to habitually engage in fitness activities you enjoy. It’s possible at any age to make positive changes.

The benefits of regular exercise for older adults are well-documented. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults aged 65 and older can gain substantial health benefits from regular physical activity, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers.

Conclusion: A Personal Triumph

Thank you for reading this story of personal triumph and renewed health. It serves as a reminder that with determination and the right motivation, we can overcome challenges and reconnect with our younger selves, all while improving our health and quality of life.

And, what really matters in life is what matters to YOU. Health and Fitness matter to me in a very special way given my history and I don’t expect anyone to be as impressed as I was. After all, only I know what it took to do this and what it says about me today.

I write this merely to inspire you to think, “what can I do, that is important to me!” You may find, like it did, that while with aging is a road less traveled, it is also one that isn’t closed.

Call to Action

Do you have a fitness story to share? Did this resonate with you in any way? I would also remind you that one should always seek medical advice before starting a new fitness regime!

At the Top — Painted Cave and El Camino Cielo at 64

What was a general music and culture blog is becoming something more specific - a resource for group exercise instructors, fitness enthusiasts, and anyone who believes the right song at the right moment changes everything about a workout.

Expect playlist notes for rides you can find on Spotify, class frameworks built from teaching over 5,000 classes, and fifty years of experience about what actually works in a gym.

Starting this week: notes on several cycling playlists with links to them on Spotfy and Apple Music (subscriptions to those services required) that can make a class more engaging or your next solo ride (or workout) more interesting.

In the coming weeks — more playlist posts and practical workout commentary about exercises, routines, and strategies that help you live better. No subscription required for my substack.

Glad you’re here.

Show up.

— Jim