A little exertion, a lot of rewards

“Feel the burn” was the rallying cry for fitness buffs in the 1980s, and since then trainers and fitness instructors have encouraged us to push harder, run faster, jump higher. While vigorous workouts have their place, there’s nothing wrong with simply taking a walk -- in fact, there’s something very right about it, says Dr. Harvey Simon, author of “The No Sweat Exercise Plan” (McGraw-Hill, 2006).

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Jeannine Stein

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The No Sweat Exercise Plan: When Simon says no sweat, he means it. The associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School used to “preach the gospel of aerobics,” as he puts it, until he saw a Finnish research study showing that golfers who walked the course also lost weight, improved their blood pressure and boosted their good cholesterol. Now Simon is a convert to moderate exercise as a means of getting healthy. Those who love a heaping helping of information with their fitness advice will appreciate Simon’s thorough approach. (Think cardiac risk assessment calculation charts and diagrams of various strength training exercises.) As for cardio, which he calls cardiometabolic exercise, Simon suggests walking, golf, ballroom dancing, taking the stairs and bicycling -- all at a pace that elevates the heart rate but doesn’t necessarily induce panting and perspiration. Think pedaling around the neighborhood, not racing around the velodrome. Simon assigns a point system to various activities; the higher the intensity, the more points earned -- a 30-minute trip to the grocery store will earn you 115 points, but half an hour of moderately paced cycling nabs 250. The book’s emphasis, Simon says, is on the long-term health benefits of mild exercise: “You can reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, obesity, osteoporosis, colon cancer -- it’s an extraordinary list,” he says. “There are immediate rewards too, such as greater alertness, less stress and sleeping better.”

Price: $21.95, available at bookstores.