More than 80 percent of the American population does not meet the Surgeon General's minimum recommendation for fitness: 30 minutes of moderate physical activity most days of the week.

Most folks, particularly seniors, are relatively well-educated on fitness issues, but can't find the time or inspiration to develop a program they can follow.

Working out is hard work, and gets harder every year. Starting a fitness routine might be even more difficult, particularly when you are older and suffer from chronic pain or illnesses. Staying motivated might be toughest of all.

A year ago, AARP Hawai'i brought together several state and local partners to try and simplify the process. Shape Up Across Hawai'i was designed with midlife and older adults in mind.

It was a 16-week, self-monitored virtual journey that encouraged people to form a fitness habit by keeping track of any activity that made them breathe harder. That included everything from gardening and vacuuming to tennis and chasing toddlers.

Some 3,000 participated. What AARP and its partners found was that there was a huge demand for guidance and accountability.

Simple program

This year, the idea is to make it simpler still. AARP and its 23 partners have joined forces to form "Start Walking Now." The program is introducing itself with 15 workshops, on the four major islands, designed to kick-start walking groups.

"Walking" because it is not intimidating and easily accessible. "Groups" — friends, family, clubs, classes or any combination of two or more — because it offers incentive to go out and makes people accountable to each other.

BETTY BROWN

"It turned out we live two blocks apart," Brown said. "It's gotten enjoyable because we talk as we walk and learn a lot about each other and don't think about time."

Brown, who moved here four years ago from Michigan, realized at the workshop the reason she no longer walked was that she didn't want to do it solo: "It's hard to get up and do it by myself."

She is not alone.

"At least half the people coming to the workshops were there to meet other people to do it with so they could stay motivated," said Jackie McCarter, AARP Hawai'i's Associate State Director. "It was easy to get them to form groups, which I thought wouldn't be easy. That's the part that really worked."

Goal of 5,000 participants

The program wants group leaders to check in with AARP or online, making it easier to track the success of the program. The goal is to get 5,000 people to take the four-week challenge and hold on to most for the ensuing eight-week challenge. In February, the hope is that at least 1,000 graduates will walk the Great Aloha Run.

To pass the first challenge, participants have to commit to three days of physical activity a week for a minimum of 10 minutes. The eight-week challenge follows, with 30 minutes required at least three days a week; time can be accumulated in smaller increments during the day.

MABEL SILVA

Participants aren't required to walk together as a group, just check in with each other. One woman's group is her family on the Mainland and they check in online. But many, like Brown and Mabel Silva, enjoy the company, if not require it for motivation.

Conversing while walking

Silva, 72, is diabetic and walks to help her circulation. She and seven others who met at a Kaua'i workshop now walk from the pavilion area to the bridge and back at Lydgate Park (2.2 miles), three mornings a week.

"We talk story, but it's serious walking," says Silva, whose goal is to lose about 10 pounds, then maintain that weight.

Alu Like, Inc., a program partner, also plans to bring its walkers to Lydgate, among other sites. The federally funded program for Native Hawaiians 60 and older had 13 participants at the workshop, with 10 meeting to walk the field around Anahola clubhouse soon after.

The group ranges in age from 62 to nearly 90. Many suffer from arthritis and diabetes and some use canes. The goal is to walk, stretch and work with resistance bands in increments totaling 30 minutes. Some "younger ones" go longer. Alu Like also plans to get its members from Waimea involved.

"Old age and creaky muscles and bones are obstacles," says Alu Like's Lucille Rogers. "But I'm seeing people wanting to go even if it's just a short distance. They see everyone else doing it and want to get involved."

While the program and workshops are designed to encourage more walkers, plenty are already out there. Chew Nung Lum and three friends have been meeting at 6:30 a.m., six days a week, for nearly three years at Ala Moana Center.

The 70-somethings walk an hour, have coffee, then move on. Lum golfs and gardens. He admits to slowing down, but not much.

"The first question the doctor asks me when I go in his office is, 'Are you exercising?' " said Lum, who admits he might not walk without the company. "He hasn't told me to stop. I feel pretty healthy."

He could be Start Walking Now's poster boy, but he's not alone, in his tenacity or interest in staying healthy. The program sent out a direct mailing advertising its Hilo workshop last Thursday. It filled up (120) early this week. The program clearly got their attention. Keeping it is the next challenge.

"If people can sustain their motivation that long (through the 12 weeks), we hope they can sustain it on their own after," McCarter says. "If the groups really work, they'll have built-in support."