‘Ultimate Fitness,’ scientifially

Gina Kolata, Princeton resident and New York Times science reporter, writes book on exercise and health.

By: Jillian Kalonick
   Named for the ultimate test of endurance, the Mount Everest climb at Evolutions Fitness in East Windsor was a challenge that New York Times science reporter and workout buff Gina Kolata could not resist.
   "I thought, ‘I’ve never trained for an event — I’ll see whether it really works,’" says Ms. Kolata, who lives in Princeton with her husband. "Mount Everest" was a four-hour session of Spinning, a group indoor-cycling program that she had become obsessed with. "You had to use heart monitors — what interested me is that meant you had to train. You’re in a little room, it’s hard to push, it’s hard to gauge how hard you’re working — you don’t know."
   When Ms. Kolata discovered that her heart rate was much higher than it should be according to the standard formula (220 minus one’s age), she began to investigate the theory behind the accepted method. Further investigations into science’s claims about exercise and fitness led her to write several stories for The New York Times, and her newest book, Ultimate Fitness: The Quest for Truth about Exercise and Health (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2003), which she will discuss at Barnes & Noble in West Windsor on Wednesday.
   "I thought this was a book like nothing I’d seen before. What I was hoping for is that people who read it could end up being able to think for themselves. They could ask ‘What am I trying to accomplish?’ and understand themselves how to achieve the goal," says Ms. Kolata.
   "Every book I’ve ever seen has always been an advice book that tells you, ‘just do this program and you’ll be magically transformed.’ No one talks about the history of the rest of us who are out exercising."
   Her book traces the trends of exercise, including running, cycling and aerobics, and profiles fitness enthusiasts such as Jack LaLanne and weight lifter Jan Todd. She also takes on commonly accepted claims about exercise, including the "fat burning zone," spot-reducing techniques, and the effect of exercise on lowering cholesterol levels.
   Although she refrains from giving advice on how to work out ("I never want to come off as telling people what to do, since there’s so many options," she says), she does present findings on the real results of exercising.
   "People really have to ask themselves, ‘What are my goals?’ If your goal is something health related, you don’t have to do much, 20 minutes of brisk walking, five days a week, or the equivalent in swimming, or riding a bike. If your goal is to get an exhilarated runner’s high, you have to do more. If you want to burn calories, 20 minutes burns 100 calories. That’s an Oreo cookie. For weight loss, you have to do more."
   Ms. Kolata, who has been a fitness enthusiast for years, belongs to three gyms, lifts weights and works out several times a week.
   "I believe in exercise to keep my weight down," she writes in Ultimate Fitness, "and also because I discovered if I work out really hard and for at least 40 minutes, I can sometimes reach an almost indescribable state of sheer exhilaration. I don’t want to call it a runner’s high — I’m not sure what that is supposed to be, though many describe it as sort of a trance-like state. That is nothing like the feeling I crave."
   Her research on the heart-rate myth has changed the way she paces her workout.
   "I really am a fan of heart-rate monitors, even though I don’t believe in the formula," she says. "I use it to make myself work harder. I’m always after this feeling, and I don’t always get it. I push harder now consistently when I do cardiovascular stuff. I’ve gotten smarter about admitting when I need a day off. Now, when I think exercise does not sound fun, I think, ‘If I don’t want to do it, why am I doing it?’ I discover if you take a day off, you feel so much better."
   Although many fitness buffs exercise simply because they enjoy it, others seek a quick fix, a health cure or an instant weight-loss program.
   "There are a lot of programs sold as brand names," says Ms. Kolata. "It’s a marketing tool, like the latest diet or nutritional supplement, or cosmetic. They make it look attractive, it’s a way of drawing people in."
   In Ultimate Fitness, she also investigates the certification process for fitness instructors and personal trainers. "They have to keep paying to be certified. You have to ask yourself, ‘What does this trainer know?’ If you think your trainer’s not helping you, you don’t have to stay with them. The actual process does not guarantee that they know how to take a person and achieve goals. I overhear them all the time, saying things that are strange, and not right."
   How does Princeton rank on the fitness scale?
   "I see a lot of people here who are active or feel they should be active," says Ms. Kolata. "On the weekends everyone is walking or riding their bike, maybe not with the intense zeal some fanatics go for. But they gyms are pretty popular. We have a lot of gyms for a town this size, compared to other places — we’re a town who takes it seriously."
Gina Kolata will speak at Barnes & Noble, 3535 Route 1 South, West Windsor, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. For more information, call (609) 716-1570.