A wife and husband argue about the best way to stay in shape. And the winner is…
When it comes to exercise, he says aerobic—and I say resistance.
Running is my husband's thing; weight training is mine. Our running joke is that we have a Running Argument: a debate over which type of workout, his or mine, provides the optimal benefit for health and fitness as we age.
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Yes, the easy answer is some of both. But achieving that balance can be difficult. And many people don't seem to recognize the importance of each type of exercise in later life.
I have always known that it's love (of me, not just of running) that drives my husband Phil, the marathoner, to try to convince me that cardio is king for staying heart healthy and that I should do more of it. He's fond of quoting Kenneth Cooper, the fitness guru who invented the word "aerobics." Among Phil's favorite sound bites: "I don't criticize weight training—as long as it is not a substitute for aerobic training."
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As for me, the gym rat, I'm a firm believer that strength training is my ace in the hole for keeping my bones and muscles—and quality of life—strong. Which is why I push Phil to make room in his schedule for the gym, not just training runs. "It's especially important for boomers of a certain age, like us, dear," I'll purr, adding that Dr. Cooper himself, now age 81, recommends increasing the amount of time spent doing resistance training with each decade of life.
Two Jolts, Countless Squats
Once upon a time, in my 20s, I, too, used to run (Don't tell Phil!), until an ankle injury sidetracked me to walking. For a good part of my 30s, I didn't seem to have time to be anything but out of shape. Then I came across a medical study showing that exercise might help reduce the risk of cancer of the colon, the disease that felled my mother when she was only 58. Teetering on the brink of 40, I first asked myself: How can I afford the time to exercise? Then I rephrased it: Could I afford not to find that time?
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It was that jolt that led me to enter a gym for the first time in years. And it was another jolt to realize just how much time and effort would be required, given the years of inactivity, to shed my excess weight and rebuild my stamina.
But I took it slowly, learning (and relearning) physical skills and movements as I began trying and working out on different machines. When I reached the limit of what I could figure out on my own, I turned for help to a personal trainer—and that's when I got hooked on the challenges and empowerment (both physical and mental) of doing dead lifts, squats and shoulder presses, and using dumbbells, barbells and kettlebells.
Phil, meanwhile, is just as dedicated to his running at 66 as he was three decades ago.
Doing It All
At the same time, though, neither of us can ignore the growing amount of research about fitness and aging. The science is increasingly clear: Older adults need both strength training, to help replenish and maintain the muscle mass and (for women especially) the bone density our bodies lose each year as we age, and cardio to help guard against the risks of clogged arteries in the heart and brain.
And that is what our Running Argument has ultimately succeeded in getting us to do. Phil keeps running, I keep pumping my iron, and we both keep talking. But much better, we've spurred each other on. Phil now goes to the gym at least once a week for strength training. I've become an avid walker. I'll even quote Dr. Cooper now and then: "We do not stop exercising because we grow old—we grow old because we stop exercising."
We're in it for the long run, Phil and I. And the effort is worth its weight in extra years of running—and walking—around town together.
Ms. Cole is a writer in New York. She can be reached at encore@wsj.com.
