Healthcare costs hurt. In about five years, these costs are going to hurt twice as much. Costs for health insurance are rising astronomically. In 1973, United States healthcare costs were less than 5 percent of the gross national product (GNP). In 1993, medical costs rose to 14 percent of the GNP.

In order to avoid asking employees to help shoulder rising healthcare costs, many employers are seeking alternative methods. The most popular formula is prevention.

Employees are often reimbursed for personal training, gym memberships, given free access to a corporate fitness facility and fitness assessments or even rewarded monetarily for healthier lifestyle choices.

It turns out that the answer to saving money on healthcare costs is ridiculously simple - don't get sick. Those who are physically fit don't get sick nearly as often. For example, General Electric, Cincinnati, found that regular exercisers were sick 45 percent fewer days than non-exercisers.

While it may be naive to think that physical fitness can save us from all illness, it has been proven to reduce the number of times we are ill and to greatly reduce recovery time when we do get sick.

A complete exercise program is going to include cardiovascular training and strength training. The standard recommendation is three to five days of each per week. If that recommendation overwhelms you, look at it this way. Whatever you do to increase your activity is going to be a good thing. If you add walking one day a week, that's better than not walking at all.

Even though the recommendation for aerobic activity is 60 minutes, few people accomplish that. There's nothing wrong with 20 or 30 minutes and absolutely nothing wrong with not killing yourself on your first day out. Exercise is meant to improve your health, not add stress to your life. As your body gets stronger, minutes, repetitions and weight will almost automatically be added to your workout. It will feel good to be outside longer on that walk, or your body will feel more invigorated by adding the extra pounds onto the weight you are lifting.

If it has been a long time since you have exercised, I recommend a beginning program. Of course, check with your doctor first.

Walking: Get out of the house. Find an interesting place to walk, hike, stroll, meander or even skip (yes, adults are allowed to do that). If you need a jumpstart, go someplace really interesting like the Getty, LACMA, the beach or Huntington Gardens.

Strength training: Most people are surprised to know that you don't have to lift weights at a gym to gain strength. Try pilates. It is a wonderful exercise form for building strength, tone and stamina without the gym atmosphere. Dance classes, yoga, Tai Chi and other martial arts, even kayaking (my "mature" 60-something parents are the youngest members of their kayaking club) are all wonderful ways to increase strength without ever stepping foot into a gym.


Karena Lineback is the author of "OsteoPilates," contributing author of "Cancer Wellness" and the president of Pilates Teck.