What, Me Exercise?
who do not find time for exercise now will have to find time for
&The Earl of Derby, 1873
Don't kid yourself into thinking that exercise, by itself, will make
you lose weight.
Consider the following activities, and the number of
calories an average person burns per hour in each.
Calories/hour
Basketball
Compare those numbers, remembering that they're for a full hour spent
nonstop in the exercise, with the calories in the following food
Tasty Treat
Peanut butter sandwich
Pizza (3 slices)
Clearly, even an hour a day of exercise doesn't account for much food.
And what's the likelihood you'll
find the time to spend a full hour, every day, month after month, year
after year, doing those exercises?
So, don't exercise to try to burn off calories and lose weight.
Unless you're a professional athlete or obsessed with sports,
you're not likely to spend enough time exercising strenuously enough
to make much of a difference.
Exercise will help you lose
weight in more subtle ways.
Regular exercise increases your rate of
metabolism: the number of calories you burn all the time.
Plus, for many people, exercise actually reduces appetite.
But these are side effects: hardly reasons to start exercising.
real reasons to exercise are that you'll live longer and
feel better.
Let's consider the case for exercise from those
standpoints.
I was never much of a one for sports.
Every time I played baseball, I
got hit in the mouth with a ball or bat.
Whenever I played
football, I ended up with a mouthful of mud.
Imagine my delight when
I discovered that the physical education requirement at my college
could be satisfied by playing ping pong or on the rifle range.
After reaching that glorious stage in life when other people couldn't
make me do things I'd rather not, the case against exercising seemed
straightforward and overwhelmingly persuasive.
Exercising consumed time.
Exercising was not programming.
Therefore, by exercising, less time was available
for programming.
I'm a hacker&I like to program!
Substitute your own favourite
activity for programming and you'll see what I mean.
In addition,
exercise carried all the unpleasant connotations of high school
calisthenics, or the equivalent indignity of more modern, yet equally
regimented, forms of workouts.
But is there a flaw in this argument after all?
Indeed there is.
premises are correct, but the conclusion doesn't account for the fact
that regular exercise will, in all likelihood, allow you to live longer.
Let's look at the numbers.
&Life Extension Worksheet& is provided as an Excel worksheet.
You may want to load LIFEXT.XLS and plug in your own numbers to compare
with mine.
Directions for
by hand are
given in the
So, if you're 40 years old, and you exercise 15
minutes a day from now until you turn 65, you'll have spent a total of
about a quarter of a year exercising in those 25 years.
But, if by exercising you manage to live 3 years longer, you're ahead
by a total of two and three quarters years by age 65&1000 days.
Your increased life span works out to an additional 172 minutes per
day from age 40 through 65.
Even after spending 15 minutes
exercising, the life extension you can expect from getting into shape
gives you what amounts to two and half more hours per day to do
whatever you enjoy most!
Even if you live only one additional year
through physical fitness, you'll still end up with 270 more days by
exercising.
Of course, we're talk you could be run over by a
truck tomorrow.
But hey, if you're in shape you may dodge that
Exercising not only gives you more time to live, it makes the time you
live more enjoyable.
You'll feel better, think straighter, sleep more
soundly, and have more capacity and endurance for everything you wish
It varies f the only way to
experience the benefits is to start an exercise program and see for
Fortunately, the payoff becomes apparent pretty early-on, particularly
in a program like this one where you can always compare your current level
of fitness with the much lower levels you strove to master only a few
weeks before.
If you don't buy the &feeling better& argument, consider this.
Virtually all medical evidence shows that if you don't exercise,
you're more likely to suffer a heart attack or, if you're going to
have one anyway, to have it earlier in life.
Even if you're resolute
in believing you won't feel one whit better from exercising, you'll
certainly concede that you'll feel a whole lot worse after collapsing
to the floor with a coronary.
I've no direct experience with this
particular unpleasantness from life's menu of surprises, but folks I've
talked to who have are unanimous that it's best avoided.
dropped dead right away were unavailable for comment.
Convinced?
Not convinced?&please bear with me a little
longer before skipping to the next chapter.
Since exercise seems, on the face of it, so distasteful and the time
devoted to it stolen, perforce, from other more pleasant activities,
I've designed this exercise program around the following goals.
Minimum time per day.
Time spent doesn't increase as you progress.
Easy to start, regardless of the shape
you're in.
Progress at your own pace.
No equipment needed.
Exercise anywhere, in private
if you like.
The general outlines for this program were derived from the Royal
Canadian Air Force &5BX& exercise program for men.
I originally
used that program, but found it unnecessarily complicated and
confusing for people, like myself, interested simply in achieving a
reasonable level of fitness and maintaining that level throughout
their life.
The RCAF programs for men and women are entirely
different: I know of no reason this should be.
My program is
self-paced, relying on your own body to tell you how far and how fast
to advance.
Thus it should work fine for women as well as men.
course, I'm male and I may be missing something.
Both men and women
should feel free to modify the program as you like.
It's your body!)
The program is organised around a &fitness ladder& with 48 rungs.
Each rung prescribes a given number of repetitions of five exercises.
The first 15 rungs constitute the Introductory Ladder and
involve easier variants of the exercises in the Lifetime Ladder,
rungs 16 through 48.
The exercises are intended to be done every
Completing all the exercises typically takes between 10 and 15
Regardless of the shape you're in (or think you're in), start at the
first rung of the Introductory Ladder and work your way up.
at which you climb the ladder depends on your own body.
in reasonable shape to start with, you may progress through the
introductory rungs rapidly, then slow down as you reach the higher,
more difficult levels.
Just as it's important to start at rung 1, it's also important not to
rush from rung to rung too quickly.
Please spend at least five days
on each many people will prefer to spend at least
a week per rung.
When I was developing this plan, I used the
following schedule, which I recommend.
Spend one week on each rung.
On a given day of the week, for example
Sunday, try the next higher rung.
If it seems as easy as the current
rung felt the week before, move up to that level.
If you have
difficulty completing any exercise of the new rung, or you can't
complete it in 15 minutes, or you feel pain or exhaustion at that
level, stay at your current level for another week.
Introductory Ladder
Rung Bend Sit up Leg lift Push up Steps Count
1 2 3 4 2 105 1 30
2 3 4 5 3 140 1 65
3 4 6 6 3 170 2 20
4 6 7 8 4 200 2 50
5 7 9 9 5 225 3 0
6 8 10 10 6 255 3 30
7 10 11 12 7 280 3 55
8 12 13 14 8 305 4 5
9 14 15 16 9 325 4 25
10 16 16 18 11 350 4 50
11 18 18 20 12 370 4 70
12 20 20 22 13 390 5 15
13 23 21 25 15 405 5 30
14 25 23 27 16 425 5 50
15 28 25 30 18 440 5 65
The introductory ladder contains 15 steps, each of which specifies a
number of repetitions of the same five exercises.
The exercises in
the introductory ladder are easier versions of those that appear in
the corresponding positions of the lifetime ladder&they exercise the
same muscles in the same ways and develop the basic strength you'll
need as you progress to the lifetime ladder.
To perform the exercises
at a given rung, examine the entry for that rung in the table and
proceed as it directs.
For example, suppose you're on rung 10, which
Rung Bend Sit up Leg lift Push up Steps Count
10 16 16 18 11 350 4 50
Proceed as follows:
Stand upright with your legs apart, hands outstretched above your
Bend forward, as far as you can, trying to touch your toes
(it's OK if you can't reach your toes).
Then straighten up and bend
backward moderately.
Repeat the specified number of times.
Lie on your back on the floor, feet slightly apart, hands at your
Lift your head and shoulders off the floor far enough so that
you can see your heels.
Smoothly lower your head and shoulders back
to the floor.
Repeat the specified number of times.
Lie face down on the floor, legs slightly apart, with the palms of
your hands under your thighs.
Lift your left leg, bending at the hip
and knee, while simultaneously lifting your head from the floor.
Smoothly lower both your head and leg.
Then lift your right leg and
head in the same manner.
Repeat the specified number of times (each
repetition involves lifting both the left and right legs).
Lie face down on the floor with palms just outside your shoulders and
arms bent.
Keeping your knees on the floor and allowing your legs to
bend at the knee but holding your upper body straight, lift your
body until your arms are straight.
Then smoothly lower your body back
to the floor.
Repeat the specified number of times.
Run in place at a brisk pace for the specified number of steps,
lifting your legs 4 to 6 inches from the floor with each step.
75 steps, stop and do 7 introductory &jumping jacks&: stand with
your legs together, arms at your side.
Jump up in the air, extending
your legs to the side and your arms outward to the level of your
shoulders.
Then jump up again, bringing your legs back together and
your arms back to your side.
The &Count& column in the table helps you keep track of the
running and jumping phases of this exercise.
The first number is how
many complete sets of 75 steps of running and 7 jumping jacks you
should perform.
The second number gives the number of extra steps you
should run after the last full set (don't jump after these final
Be sure to count a running step only as your left foot touches the
floor, not every time either foot touches.
The easiest way to keep
count is to count to 75 as you run, do the 7 jumps, then start
counting from 1 again for the next running phase.
I find that keeping
track of the number of complete sets of running and jumping is best
done by setting out a number of coins equal to the number of sets
for the current rung and moving a coin from one pile to
another as you complete each set.
After you're comfortable with the exercises of rung 15, the top of the
Introductory Ladder, you're ready to graduate to the Lifetime Ladder,
rungs 16 and above, where you'll eventually find the level of fitness
you're happy with.
The entries for rungs in the Lifetime Ladder are
interpreted exactly as those in the Introductory Ladder, but each
specifies a somewhat more demanding exercise.
Note, however, that the
number of repetitions is reduced as you move from rung 15 to rung
This compensates for the increased difficulty of the exercises in
the Lifetime Ladder and should make the transition no more difficult
than between any two other rungs.
The exercises in the Lifetime
Ladder are sufficiently demanding that if you're seriously out of
shape you may not be able to do a single one when you begin the
exercise program at rung 1 of the Introductory Ladder.
that's what the Introductory Ladder is all about.
By the time you
reach rung 16, you'll have the strength and stamina you need to take it
in stride.
Rung Bend Sit up Leg lift Push up Steps Count
16 14 10 12 9 340 4 40
17 15 11 14 10 355 4 55
18 16 12 16 11 375 5 0
19 18 13 17 12 390 5 15
20 19 14 19 13 405 5 30
21 21 15 21 14 420 5 45
22 22 16 23 15 435 5 60
23 24 17 25 16 445 5 70
24 25 18 27 17 460 6 10
25 27 20 29 18 470 6 20
26 29 21 31 19 480 6 30
27 31 23 33 20 490 6 40
28 33 24 36 21 500 6 50
29 34 26 38 22 510 6 60
30 36 28 40 23 515 6 65
31 38 29 43 24 525 7 0
32 40 31 45 25 530 7 5
33 43 33 48 26 535 7 10
34 45 35 51 27 540 7 15
35 47 37 54 28 540 7 15
36 49 39 56 29 545 7 20
37 51 41 59 30 545 7 20
38 54 43 62 31 545 7 20
39 56 46 65 32 550 7 25
40 59 48 68 33 555 7 30
41 61 50 72 34 555 7 30
42 64 53 75 35 555 7 30
43 66 55 78 36 560 7 35
44 69 58 81 37 560 7 35
45 72 61 85 38 560 7 35
46 74 64 88 39 575 7 50
47 77 66 92 40 575 7 50
48 80 69 96 41 575 7 50
Here are the exercises of the Lifetime Ladder:
Stand upright with your legs apart, hands outstretched above your
Bend forward and touch the floor between your legs, bounce up a
few inches, and touch the floor again.
Then straighten up and bend
Repeat the specified number of times.
Lie on your back on the floor, feet slightly apart, hands at your
Lift your upper body, bending at the waist, until you're
sitting up vertically.
Keep your arms at your sides and your feet on
the floor&avoid the temptation to &cheat& by pulling yourself up
with your arms or levering yourself up by raising your legs.
lower your body back to the floor.
Repeat the specified number of
Lie face down on the floor, legs slightly apart, with the palms of
your hands under your thighs.
Lift both legs, bending at the hip, at
least high enough that your thighs are lifted from your hands.
Simultaneously lift your head and shoulders from the floor.
lower your head, shoulders, and both legs.
Repeat the specified
number of times.
Lie face down on the floor with palms just outside your shoulders and
arms bent.
Keeping your back straight, pivoting on your toes, lift
your body until your arms are straight.
Then smoothly lower your body
back to the floor, touching your chest.
Repeat the specified number
Run in place at a brisk pace for the specified number of steps,
lifting your legs 4 to 6 inches from the floor with each step.
75 steps, stop and do 10 &jumping jacks&: stand with your legs
together, arms at your side.
Jump up in the air, extending your legs
to the side and your arms upward as high as you can (ideally touching
your fingers together above your head, but at least above your
shoulders).
Then jump up again, bringing your legs back together and
your arms back to your side.
The &Count& column in the table makes it easier to keep track of the
running and jumping phases of this exercise.
The first number is how
many complete sets of 75 steps of running and 10 jumping jacks you
should perform.
The second number gives the number of extra steps you
should run after the last full set (don't jump after these final
Be sure to count a step in running only as your left foot touches the
floor, not every time either foot touches.
The easiest way to keep
count is to repeatedly count to 75 as you run, do the ten jumps, then
start counting from 1 again for the next running phase.
I find that
keeping count of the number of complete sets of running and jumping is
best done by setting out a number of coins equal to the number of sets
you're doing at the current rung and moving a coin from one pile to
another after each set is completed.
The Lifetime Ladder is called that because most people will find an
optimal level of fitness on one of its rungs and maintain that
level, more or less, for most of their subsequent years.
level to attain depends on your age, your general state of health, and
the characteristics of your own body.
This isn't about training to
become a professional athlete&it's a common sense program to
maintain reasonable fitness in the interests of health and overall
well-being.
There's no reason to go off the deep end striving for
levels above those you're happy with, and can sustain on a permanent
Almost all adults in good general health can reach and maintain
rung 20 of the Lifetime Ladder, assuming they're not overweight or
otherwise physically constrained.
Most people below the age of 50
will have no trouble reaching rung 25.
Beyond that, just continue to
advance until you settle on a level you're happy with and can maintain
every day.
If, after a couple of months, the exercises at that rung
begin to seem easier, your body's telling you its conditioning is
continuing to improve.
Try moving up to the next level and if it
doesn't pose a problem, settle there.
Before you begin this program you may scarcely believe you have any
hope of reaching the levels of fitness the middle rungs on the
Lifetime Ladder represent.
&Sheesh&,& you say, &I can't even
see my toes, no less touch them, and you're tellin' me in a year
or so I'm gonna be doing 20 Marine pushups every day?
Gimme a couple of weeks.
Very few people will start this program in
worse shape than I was when I began to develop it.
In only 90 days, I
had reached rung 28, my initial goal, while managing to lose 20
pounds in the same period.
Since then, I've slowly drifted upward,
settling, after two and a half years, at rung 36.
I'm happy there,
although I may continue to creep upward over time.
Almost anybody can have the same success with this exercise program
or with any other sane program.
There's nothing magical about
any particular set of exercises or plan for doing them.
Developing
physical fitness through exercise is just like losing weight:
extremely simple, but based on an unpleasant fact most people would
rather ignore.
For an exercise program to work, you have to follow it.
exercise books in the world won't make you healthy as long as they're
sitting on your shelf and you're sitting on your backside.
program is designed to motivate you to start it, progress through it,
and keep it up for the rest of your life.
Here's how.
The first rung on the Introductory Ladder can be accomplished in a few
minutes by almost anybody who's able to walk up a single flight of
stairs without collapsing.
In fact, it's so easy, why don't you
try it right now?
That wasn't so hard, was it?
Oh, you didn't try it.
Please, give it a
Now that you've tried that first rung today, go make a note of it in
the &Rung& column of your weight log for today.
Now that that
column isn't blank, you'll feel better and better as you make each
day's entry after completing the exercises.
That's nothing compared
to how you'll feel as you start to move up the rungs and you see the
number climbing from week to week, month to month.
long-term rewards from exercise are longer life and better
health: this program provides short-term feedback showing your
progress as you persist in it (or lack of progress if you find too
many excuses to skip the few minutes it takes, day after day).
You exercise to build health, and when you're healthy you don't hurt
and you aren't exhausted.
The last thing you need is an exercise
program that makes you feel awful.
This program won't do that.
may ache a little after starting rung 1, but that should stop in a few
After that, only move up to the next rung when you're
comfortable at the current level however long that takes.
you advance to the next rung and find it's making you sore, or
exhausted, or you have trouble completing the exercises in 15 minutes,
no problem!
Just drop back down to the previous rung, where you know
you're already comfortable, and try the next level in another week or
In all likelihood by then it won't present any problem.
does, your body continues to gain strength and capacity
even as you remain on a given rung.
Since this program won't make you hurt or tire you out, the only other
excuse to skip it is the time it takes.
Now 15 minutes a day isn't
much time, even if you ignore the time you gain by not dropping dead
prematurely.
But the effective bite out of your day can be reduced
even further.
More than half your exercise time is spent in the
run and jump exercise, especially after you advance to the middle rungs
of the Lifetime Ladder.
I've found that, with a little practice, I
have no trouble keeping count of the 75 steps and 10 jumping jacks
while letting my mind free-run on whatever I'm interested in at the
In fact, in the couple of years I've been following this
program, I've had some of my very best ideas while doing the running
and jumping exercises.
I don't know whether it has
something to do with getting the circulation going, or just with being
forced to think for five minutes or so, but it happens.
hard to keep track of the number of sets of running and jumping at the
same time.
That's why I recommend using coins or other markers to
keep count, freeing your mind for more interesting pursuits.)
Further, the time required remains pretty much the same as you
progress from rung to rung.
Since each rung calls for more
repetitions of each exercise this might not seem to make sense, but as
your conditioning improves you'll find you're performing the exercises
at a brisker pace, keeping the total time roughly constant.
exercise seems to take forever to get through, that's an indication
you've moved up to that rung too quickly.
In exercise, as in controlling your weight, success is the very best
motivator.
Once you've followed this program through the Introductory
Ladder onto the Lifetime Ladder, you will be able to look back on your
early steps and find it hard to believe you ever could have found
progressing up the lower rungs challenging at all.
Progress in this program is so dramatic I recommend,
on occasion, that you take the time to repeat the exercises for a
rung five or ten below your current level.
Remember when you found
that hard?
Can you imagine ever wanting to be that unfit again?
Certainly not, especially since the time and effort to maintain your
current rung are no more than you were spending to attain that much lower
Just as the feedback of the record sheet and charts is essential to
controlling your weight, similar feedback can help you meet your
fitness goals.
The daily feedback in the exercise program is even
more visceral than the number on a scale or a daily trend figure.
It's how you feel after doing the exercises each day.
you progress up the rungs at the pace your body dictates, each
day's exercise will leave you pleasantly invigorated.
drop out of the program for a few days and try to jump back in at the
same rung where you left it, you'll notice the difference&right away!
Instead of a vague sense of your fitness and stamina slipping
away, you'll see precisely how much you've lost by neglecting your
body's need for exercise.
Precisely, since after this happens and you
drop back as many rungs as you need to resume the program
without pain or exhaustion, your log will reflect the loss in fitness
from neglecting daily exercise.
As you note each day's level in the &Rung& field of the log sheet
and enter those data into the spreadsheet every month, you're
amassing a permanent record of your progress toward fitness.
the declining, then leveling out trend line on the weight chart shows your
success in controlling your weight, the ascending exercise rung line
documents, month after month, your climb toward and eventual
maintenance of physical fitness.
Looking back at your old charts and
recalling the difference in how you felt then and now will make it
easy to keep going.
Unlike organised exercise programs or those requiring special
equipment, you can begin this program at any time, practice it
anywhere, and progress at your own pace without coercion or
embarrassment.
People who travel frequently usually find their
exercise programs disrupted when they're on the road.
two-week trip, they go back to the gym and are startled to discover
how much they've slipped.
Trying to catch up in a hurry leaves them
sore the next day: hardly an incentive to go do it again!
And before long
the exercise program lies abandoned.
With this program, that need never happen.
All you need is
yourself, fifteen minutes, and enough floor space to lie down.
You can continue this exercise program in your hotel room, while
visiting family, or wherever, and unless you wish to tell them, nobody
need ever know.
By exercising in private and keeping track of your own progress,
you're assuming responsibility for your own health.
If you undertake an
exercise program for any other reason, you're likely to fail.
advance through this program, you'll see your progress and take pride
If you put it aside for a time, you'll see the price you're
paying reflected right in the numbers, and you can make your own
decision about just how much time is worth devoting to better health
and longer life.
As you progress in this exercise program, you'll undoubtedly encounter
numerous special situations that affect your progress.
I'll try to
discuss some of the most common, based on my own experience.
If you want to make an exercise program a regular part of your life,
it's best to assign it a particular time in the day and become accustomed to
exercising then.
If you're always used, for example, to doing your
exercises right before hopping in the shower, it will increase the
sense that something's wrong if you should skip them one day.
If, instead, you try to shoehorn exercising into a random snippet of
&free time& every day, you're demoting it to a lower priority.
Before long, it will become a duty to be disposed of at the end of the
day and then, in all likelihood, discarded as one of the things you
&can't make time for.&
Certainly anybody with a harried schedule will have to improvise from
time to time, and that's OK; it's far better to work an exercise
session in at a weird time than skip it.
But from day to day, try to
find a time that fits your schedule and stick to it.
you come down with a cold or 'flu,
you may be sufficiently wiped out that the very thought of exercising
makes you shudder even worse. That' exercising is about being
The last thing you want to do is associate exercising with
feeling even more awful than you already do after being trampled by a
rhinovirus.
Put the program on hold until you're on the mend and feel
up to resuming it.
When you do start exercising again, you may be in for a surprise.
you stop exercising for four or five days, it's normal to have to drop
back one rung and work back up.
After a week of illness, you may have
to drop three rungs or even more.
People talk about a cold &taking
something out of you.&
With the feedback this program provides,
you'll see it right in the numbers.
What's more, you'll know when your
recovery is complete, since that's when you'll return to the rung
you'd attained before falling ill.
If you're seriously sick: typhoid, plague, creeping body rot,
rely on the guidance of your doctor about exercise.
The marvelous mechanism that is your body has many signals to let you
know when problems arise.
If you're exercising and you encounter
chest pains, shortness of breath, or other indications that something
is awry inside your rib cage, don't ignore them!
if any of these symptoms arise,
stop exercising, consult a doctor, and resume the program only under
the guidance of a medical professional.
Physicians can wire you up
and run a comprehensive set of diagnostics to find out whether
something is seriously wrong or you're just trying to push your body
beyond its natural limits.
Ignoring these signals from your body is the height of folly.
lead to all kinds of tedious and exasperating side effects such as
sudden death.
This exercise program is intended to help you reach and maintain a
reasonable level of physical fitness.
It's safe to say that once
you're doing the exercises above rung 20, you're in far better shape
than most of the people you pass on the street.
If you're inclined to participate in active sports, work out with
weights, or engage in other forms of exercise, great!
program as a foundation, you can extend your fitness in any number of
If you have the time, and you enjoy it, it'll only make you
healthier and happier.
I'd recommend, however, that unless you
participate on an absolutely regular schedule, you look on those forms
of training as supplemental to the basic level of fitness maintenance
provided by this program.
If, nevertheless, you're inclined to say, &One hour at the gym is
worth a day's exercise on the Lifetime Ladder& it's easy to see if
that's true.
If you find it hard to maintain your current rung, or
to progress at the rate you wish, then the other exercise isn't
adequately replacing the balanced set of exercises
this program provides.
Feedback doesn't lie.
weight log spreadsheet
contains a feature to help you keep track
of other exercise programs.
If you participate, whether regularly or
sporadically, in such a program, put a check mark after the &Rung&
column on your log sheet every day you do the other exercise.
Record these check marks in the &Flag& field of the weight log
worksheet by entering the number 1 in the Flag cells for the days you
checked on your log sheet.
The monthly log will display, at the foot
of the Flag field, the percentage of days that month you performed the
other exercise.
This can give you a feel for how significant that
activity is with regard to your weight or your progress up the
Lifetime Ladder.
The monthly logs, kept in your log book, will show
your participation, which you can review as you evaluate your
weight and health progress.
I use the Flag field to keep track of a weightlifting program with
which I supplement my regular exercise.
Every day I work out with
weights, I
at the end of the month I can see how
frequently I got around to it.
You can use the flag field to keep
track of any event you'd like to track in connection with your weight
and health, for example, every time you go out for pizza with the
gang at lunchtime, or swim the Hellespont in lieu of dinner.
If you normally live at sea level and travel to the mountains,
remember that the air there is thinner.
Each lungfull of air
contains less oxygen, and it's oxygen you burn as you exercise.
Consequently, you may find it's hard to get through your
normal exercises, especially the running and jumping part.
Don't push, just drop back a couple of rungs.
If you spend an
extended period of time at high altitude, you'll probably advance back
to your original rung as your body adapts.
Regular exercise greatly reduces the effects of altitude.
exercise, you increase the capacity of your heart to pump blood and
your lungs to replenish the oxygen it carries.
That's just what you
need in the mountains, so don't be surprised how little you puff and
wheeze on your first ski trip after a few months of regular exercise.