Well, it’s happened – Men’s Health – the leading fitness magazine for men in the nation has officially declared Lexington KY as the laziest city in the U.S. Well, they call it the most sedentary, but this is still not an award that we want.
Since my business is set up in Lexington, it kind of hits home with me – I know my clients aren’t lazy – but I never dreamed that the city I am driving through every day might be the most sedentary in America. Below are the top 10 most sedentary cities according to Men’s Health.
Least active
100 Lexington, KY F
99 Indianapolis, IN F
98 Jackson, MS F
97 Charleston, WV F
96 Oklahoma City, OK F
95 Tulsa, OK F
94 Little Rock, AR F
93 Nashville, TN F
92 Laredo, TX F
91 Birmingham, AL F
Honestly the poll data doesn’t exactly have laser precision – the following information (from the following sources) was taken into account when Men’s Health arrived at their startling (for the Bluegrass) conclusions:
“We looked at where and how often people exercise (Experian Marketing Services); the percentage of households that watch more than 15 hours of cable a week and buy more than 11 video games a year (Mediamark Research); and the rate of deaths from deep-vein thrombosis, a condition linked to a lot of sitting (CDC). And since some people define “exercise” loosely, we gave credit for any physical activity in the past month (CDC).”
Regardless of the accuracy of this information – I’m afraid we have to admit things aren’t that great in regards to activity level here in the bluegrass. There are several reasons that may contribute to the sedentary lifestyle of the city in my opinion.
- Lexington is a city of extremes in regards to climate. Summers are smoldering – and winters are harsh and formidable
- Lexington is ranked the 9th most educated city by http://www.americasbestonline.com/index.php/pages/citiesmosteducated.html which means we are possibly more interested in academic endeavors; which still leaves to question: If we are so smart – why not exercise?
- We are the “Horse Capital of the World”. Maybe that means we concentrate on our horses athleticism than our own (this is starting to sound like a David Letterman top ten list now).
- I’m all out of excuses.
So my excuses really started to dwindle there towards the end – sorry bout that.
In all seriousness I think it’s time we started doing something about this. There are countless opportunities for fitness in Lexington. Whether it’s joining a sports league, a walk with the dog – or hiring a Personal Trainer it’s time to take action.
Weight Loss and physical exercise go hand in hand – and almost everyone I know would like to lose weight to some degree. Increasing activity is a great place to start. I am officially declaring this month “Move your Butt” month for Lexington. Here is the official theme song – this is rated PG-13 because I can’t identify half of the words in the song – and they may be bad. Also this video has a HBC (High Butt Count).
I think he says “nacho butt” in there but I’m not sure. I do know that regardless too many nacho’s don’t do a lot of good for the butt.
Back on track, I don’t really care what you do; just do something. Go swimming, take a jog, wash the car, just do something. We are better than this! I am doing a few things to take action on this situation – stay tuned and hopefully we can do a bit of fighting back.
Jay Scott is an ISSA Certified Personal Trainer, NPC National Level Bodybuilder, Fitness Model, and Nutrition Coach. Jay owns CE-Fitness, a Personal Training business in Lexington, KY. Jay has been helping people lose weight and transform their bodies since 1998. Jay also owns the fastest growing Fitness Membership site on the net www.getcarved.com – and trains people via the Internet with his CARVED Online Training Program. Contact him at jay@cefitness.net or visit his site at www.cefitness.net
