GLENDALE : Ryan, Joyner Tell Americans to Get Moving

Americans are missing the ball by not making time for physical fitness.

That was the pitch from former baseball star Nolan Ryan, who hosted a workshop this week at the Family Fitness Center in Glendale.

Ryan, along with Olympic gold-medal winner Florence Griffith Joyner, came to town Tuesday to promote the Nolan Ryan Fitness Guide, a free book of exercise tips. Ryan, who defied the experts by pitching competitively into his mid-40s, talked about the need for routine exercise.

“Clearly, Nolan is the role model,” said Joyner, during a telephone interview.

Nonetheless, the post-baseball Ryan, she said, faces the same physical challenges as other aging Americans. “He has to exercise to maintain his weight,” Joyner said.

Joyner represented the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, which is co-sponsoring the guide, along with the Advil Forum on Health Education. She told the crowd of about 40 how much getting into shape has meant for her athletic career.

And it’s not over yet.

Joyner, who won four medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, is training for the marathon at next year’s Olympics in Atlanta. Her regiment includes running about 60 to 75 miles a week, cycling, swimming and weights. “Fitness has allowed me to stay healthy,” said Joyner, 35.

But, for many Americans, she said, fitness has been forgotten.

“We’ve exercised less in the last 10 to 15 years than in any other time in American history,” she said. “For kids, it’s worse. They’re exercising less and eating more.”

She criticized the lack of commitment in public schools toward physical education. “I think it should be in every school from kindergarten through 12th grade,” she said. “Physical education is the first to be cut from any budget.”

Also speaking at the workshop was James Rippe, a cardiologist from Tufts University in Boston.

Rippe said that because many people think exercising takes a huge time commitment they abandon the idea altogether. They should instead exercise moderately on a daily basis, he said in a later interview.

“If people went up stairs instead of taking the elevator, and walked, they could easily accumulate 30 minutes (of exercise) per day,” Rippe said.

A copy of the Nolan Ryan guide is available by writing to the Advil Forum on Health Education, 1500 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10036.