What is fitness?

BWL Column
The News-Press, 1/4/2018
by Ken Gooderham

A new year can bring new resolve, perhaps to be a better person or at least to be a fitter one. Addressing the former is well above my pay grade, but working toward the latter is something about which there are insights to be shared.

First, fitness is a matter of routine, finding something you enjoy doing and will make a (habitual) part of your daily life.

As many have shared, fitness is not a destination but a process – and a crucial component of that process is regular ongoing activity. What that activity needs to be is based on your fitness goals, but it’s also based on your fitness feelings – meaning finding something (or some combination of things) you will do regularly and that will help you accomplish your goals.

If you want to get stronger, lift weights. If you want to get leaner, aerobic exercise is key. Is flexibility your target? Try yoga. Want a little bit of each? Then do a little of each – a good way to stay engaged and to avoid overuse of certain body parts to their eventual detriment.

You also need to look for things that are easy for you to do (almost) every day. That’s why we bring up biking, walking and running so often… activities that can be incorporated easily into your daily life, on your schedule and as part of other pursuits. (They also work well for where you live, at least in terms of weather if not always in terms of facilities.)

But some people need other motivators to get (and keep) them moving. They need to join a gym, let’s say, particularly one that’s close to either work or home, and one that has a variety of activities to keep things interesting. They may need to sign up for classes or coaching, working to get better at a specific task or practice via a commitment of time and money. Or they may need to find someone else with which to share their fitness pursuit, knowing that having someone who’s depending on you will boost your motivation and (maybe) combat boredom.

Second, you need to decide what fitness is to you before you can get there.

For some, fitness is a body image… muscular or slender, sculpted abs or bulging biceps. For others, fitness is a physical ability… able to run 5 miles or cycle a century, the strength to lift a certain amount of weight or the flexibility and focus to excel at yoga.

Some equate fitness with wellness, the ability to avoid disease to enjoy life with fewer aches and pains. Others see fitness as a state of being, some combination of mental and physical equilibrium that stays in one’s individual “sweet spot.”

All of these definitions can be correct… the key is to determine which one is the target for you. That will better define how you pursue fitness.

Being physically fit typically encompasses five components:
    • Cardiorespiratory endurance
    • Muscular endurance
    • Muscular strength
    • Flexibility
    • Body composition

So, while all of these are part of fitness, your view of what makes someone fit may focus more on one than the others. It helps to know that going in. That list is also a good reminder that fitness is not just one of these attributes, but a combination of them all… so the bulky body builder who can’t climb a flight of stairs or reasonably bend over is not “fit” by the usual measures.

Third, you need to know what motivates you to do something – and what does not motivate or, worse, has the opposite effect.

Let’s consider the currently faddish fitness trackers: Some people swear by them, others swear at them. If you like data and need daily goals, they can be great motivators to keep you moving (at least until you hit your target for that day). However, studies have shown that failing to make those goals can actually discourage people from even trying, or can undermine fitness efforts if the tracker’s purpose is not understood by the user (it measures movement, not your entire fitness regimen).

Then there’s the frustration many have with the technology itself, finding it too complicated or cumbersome to be an effective part of their routine. You also need to check that the tracker even tracks all the activities you want to measure; some models fail miserably at monitoring things such as cycling or swimming.

All of this is not meant to discourage you from working to be more fit – quite the opposite. Making the right choices early improves your chances for success and for sticking with a fitness practice that can work for you for the long haul.

Seniors, take a survey!

Carol Kachadoorian, a transportation planner with Toole Design Group, is doing research on seniors who cycle. She has launched a survey is for cyclists 50 years and older, which includes an option to complete an online journal of two cycling trips.

The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.  It will remain open for several months in order to get the greatest number of responses. Go to https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/3879293/Active-Seniors-Cycling-Survey to take the survey.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR RIDE:

Have a favorite route you like to bike, or a unique walk you’d like to share with others? Tell us about it at info@bikewalklee.org, and maybe we can feature it in an upcoming column.

# # #

Ken Gooderham writes this on behalf of BikeWalkLee, a community coalition raising public awareness and advocating for complete streets in Lee County — streets that are designed, built, operated and maintained for safe and convenient travel for all users: pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders of all ages and abilities. Information, statistics and background online at www.BikeWalkLee.org. 

BWL urges Lee Legislative Delegation to strengthen FL laws re: distracted driving

As the 2018 Florida Legislative session begins on January 9th, BikeWalkLee sent a letter to the Lee Legislative Delegation urging them to support legislation to strengthen laws against distracted driving, including passage this year of a bill (HB 33) to make texting while driving a primary offense. Add your voices by contacting members of the delegation.  

1/8/18 Update:  News-Press printed BWL's letter as on op ed in the Jan. 8th edition: "As fatalities surge, we urge strong no texting while driving law", by Darla Letourneau on behalf of BWL

1/10/18 Update: Good news...on Jan. 9th, the Florida House Transportation Committee unanimously approved SB 90 (companion bill to HB 33).  See News-Press article: Tougher texting-while-driving ban moves in Florida house, 1/10/18.

  January 4, 2018

Members of Lee County Legislative Delegation:

BikeWalkLee, a coalition raising public awareness and advocating for complete streets in Lee County, has long urged the Legislature to improve the safety of all road users in Florida.  In particular, our top legislative priority for the past five years has been passing a bill to strengthen Florida's laws dealing with distracted driving, in particular the weak “texting while driving” law.  As the 2018 legislative session begins, we urge you to strengthen roadway safety laws to address the growing dangers of distracted driving.  Specifically, we request that you co-sponsor the pending bill (HB 33) that would make texting while driving a primary offense.

Across the nation, overall traffic fatalities have surged in the past three years.  In Florida, traffic fatalities climbed by 21% between 2014 and 2016.  In Lee County, fatal traffic crashes increased much faster – 30% during the same two-year period, and to 43% during 2014 to 2017 (from preliminary 2017 data).  According to the Florida Dept. of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, there were almost 50,000 crashes involving distracted driving in Florida in 2016, and these crashes accounted for more than 3,500 serious injuries and 233 deaths.

Most experts agree that the primary cause of the surge in traffic fatalities is distracted driving, increasingly caused by the use of smartphones and internet apps.  According to the recent national “Safe Driving Report: 2016-2017” (issued by the insurance firm EverQuote Inc.), Florida ranked the second-worst state for distracted driving.

Recent studies show there is a relationship between individual state roadway safety rankings and that state’s driver safety laws and enforcement of those laws. While Florida is one of the most dangerous state in the country for road users, it ranks as the seventh worst state for driver safety laws (2016 study by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety). While the Legislature finally adopted a “texting while driving” ban in 2012, it was a weak bill and only a first step in addressing this growing epidemic.  Florida is one of only four states that doesn't make texting while driving a primary offense.  Clearly, one of the reasons Florida's traffic fatalities are among the highest in the nation is that it has very weak driver safety laws in place. 

Florida's alarming increase in traffic fatalities is not only a concern for driver safety, it is of particular concern for vulnerable road users -- pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists -- who are at the greatest risk when drivers take their eyes off the road.  The national 2016 “Dangerous by Design” report ranked Florida as the most dangerous state in the country for pedestrians, and eight of the most dangerous metro areas in the U.S. are in Florida, with Lee County being ranked the most dangerous in the country!

This is a crisis that can no longer be ignored by the state of Florida.

It is critically important that the Legislature take action this year to address the growing dangers presented by the use of electronic devices while driving.  At a minimum, the Legislature must strengthen its current texting law so that texting while driving is made a primary offense.  In previous legislative sessions, bills have been introduced which made texting while driving a primary offense, doubled the fines, and provided enhanced penalties for violations when committed in a school zone or school crossing. However, in each of the past five years, the Legislature failed to take any action to strengthen its weak anti-texting law, and took no action to address the broader causes of distracted driving. 

 

For the 2018 session of the Legislature, a bill has already been introduced (HB 33) that would make texting while driving a primary offense.  We urge the Lee delegation to support HB 33 and work to ensure that the bill is enacted this year.  In addition, we encourage the Lee County Delegation to play a leadership role in pressing the Legislature to go beyond this texting bill and address more comprehensively the growing epidemic of distracted driving.

Thank you for your support. 

     /s/

Darla Letourneau

on behalf of BikeWalkLee

cc: Lee MPO Members

The highs and lows for outdoors activities during 2017

Florida Weekly 'Outdoors' column, 1/3/18
danMOSER
bikepedmoser@gmail.com

Plenty happened in 2017 that impacts those of us who spend a lot of time outdoors - some good and some bad.

¦ Hurricane Irma brought its wrath to our area with a direct hit, creating problems for many months after its passing, including in our parks and on our pathways. As with any impactful event like Irma some good comes with the bad. Neighbors helped neighbors, strangers helped strangers, and public safety personnel went above and beyond the call of duty. One group of volunteers whom I feel deserve to be recognized for the heavy lifting they’ve done - and continue to do - to reopen Caloosahatchee Regional Park’s many miles of mountain bike trails, is the Florida Mudcutters. They were ready to get to work well before Lee County Parks and Rec would allow them to do so for safety reasons and continued to chomp at the bit while awaiting permission to take on what is a difficult task after a normal summer, never mind post-hurricane. Anyone who enjoys the challenging single-track trails at CRP should be grateful to this outstanding corps of volunteers, the same group who built the trails in the first place.

Trail in Caloosahatchee Regional Park (Photo: news-press.com)

¦ The hurricane also brought to light some very weak elements of the various governments’ recovery processes which, in general, was admirable. However, in too many cases bike paths, sidewalks, and even some bike lanes along roads and highways much too busy for most non-motorists to attempt to “share” with drivers, were left blocked by debris well after what can be considered a reasonable time period. This resulted in unnecessarily hazardous situations and denial of access for pedestrians - including those with disabilities - and bicyclists. For example, the Summerlin Road pathway along the Whiskey Creek wall was inaccessible for over a month because of three or four piles of downed trees that were quite obvious to any government official driving by. Hopefully, when another storm creates similar access and safety problems for non-motorists, our governments will put pathway on the same priority level as the roads they run adjacent to.

¦ Just like the classic movie “Groundhog Day,” missed opportunities by the city of Fort Myers to improve its walking and bicycling environment occur over and over, and 2017 was no exception. One of the main misses this time involves the city’s signature roadway, McGregor Boulevard. Over 20 years after blowing the first chance to either widen the sidewalks to shared use width or add bike lanes, they did it again. When FDOT “improved” McGregor in the mid-1990s before giving it over to Fort Myers, the city could have pitched in dollars to make either or both of those improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists, but it chose not to. (Ironically, it was illegal to ride a bike on sidewalks at that time so rather than make necessary improvements they simply changed the law.) This time, after convincing FDOT that it did a poor job on the storm water infrastructure back in the 90s, they were awarded enough money to redo that element of McGregor. That prompted a number of us to lobby the city to add some of its own funds to do what should have been done two decades earlier - widen sidepaths or remove all medians - but officials declined, crying poor. Interestingly, they somehow came up with money to add more medians - the very features that make cycling on the road a non-starter for most people (you rarely see anyone riding in the travel lanes of McGregor). After finally caving in to a cry for public input on the matter they held a McGregor Landscape Medians Public Workshop in November. But before even considering the results they began reconstructing the medians that had existed before work began. To this day I have no idea what the outcome of the workshop is nor have I been able to get answers from the city. In terms of Fort Myers missing opportunities, failing to listen to its citizens, and making poor decisions in general, I don’t expect 2018 to be any different than it’s been for decades.

¦ On a positive note, there’s Sanibel Island. I admit to sometimes coming down hard on the city of Sanibel, usually for the way cyclists using the roads are treated. But it should also be commended for its commitment to continually improving the extensive pathway network and, in 2017, for making that network a high priority for reopening after Hurricane Irma.

¦ Finally, Lee County’s purchase of Edison Farms is a major positive event for our area, a decision that puts an end to the possibility of the almost 4,000- acre property being developed. It would be great if walking, running and biking trails are part of the plan but even if that’s not in the cards it’s a win all around. At the very least, the historic flooding that occurred in 2017 won’t be added to by additional development and the land will instead serve important environmental, water quality and storm water management purposes. ¦

- Dan Moser is a long-time bicycle/pedestrian advocate and traffic safety professional who cycles, runs and walks regularly for transportation, recreation and fitness. Contact him at bikepedmoser@gmail.com and 334-6417. 

For Lee County cycling and tri events visit Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club (caloosariders.org); Florida Mudcutters (mudcutters.org); and SW Florida Biking Meetup Group (meetup.com/Biking-SWFL). The Florida Bicycle Association (floridabicycle.org) is your source for statewide happenings. BikeWalkLee’s blog site has all the information you’ll need to stay abreast of advocacy efforts in Southwest Florida as well as statewide and nationally.