History of the Organization

For many years, the Stanford University Medical Center has conducted research on health promotion and disease prevention. Several researchers were focused on the effects of exercise, particularly among older people, on health. One researcher, Dr. Peter Wood of the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention (SCRDP) had recruited a group of regular runners to serve as subjects in his experiments. In one "classic" study, Wood, Haskell, Klein et al., established that regular running was "associated with significant increases in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) levels (‘good cholesterol’)."1

Inspired by these results, Fifty-Plus Lifelong Fitness (renamed Lifelong Fitness Alliance) was formed in 1979 by a group of the participants in the Stanford research in order to help provide subjects for continued research at Stanford and to encourage older adults to run regularly. Dr. Peter Wood was one of the founders of the group and was elected to be its first president. The Lifelong Fitness Alliance grew steadily over the next twenty years, mostly by word of mouth as well as articles about the organization that appeared in running magazines and other publications. A group of Lifelong Fitness Alliance members have participated in a series of unique longitudinal studies of the effects of exercise over the past 15 years. Several dozen research papers based on studies of the organization’s membership have been published to date. A summary of these studies states that:

When contrasted with inactive community control groups, the Lifelong Fitness Alliance cohort has been shown to display markedly better health profiles, including several-fold advantages in mortality and disability adjusted for age, sex, body mass, educational level, smoking history, alcohol intake, blood pressure, and other co-morbid conditions.2

In 1990, the Lifelong Fitness Alliance’s board of directors voted to expand the focus of the organization from just promoting running to promoting all aspects of fitness. This broadened the appeal of the organization and helped to grow its membership.

For the first ten years of its operation, the organization was housed on the Stanford campus, in the offices of the Stanford Center for Health Promotion. A few years ago, it moved into its own offices in Menlo Park (and currently in Redwood City) and no longer has any formal ties to Stanford (although a number of its activities still take place on the Stanford campus).

Lifelong Fitness Alliance Today

The Lifelong Fitness Alliance today is a national membership organization. The current head of the organization is Patricia O'Brien, a long time fitness buff, swimming combetitively from the age of 5 and continuing her activities through running, hiking, tennis and biking. Her background is in nonprofit management and development and has worked in several art organizations, as well as senior service and social service organizations. She has been the Lifelong Fitness Executive Director since mid 2006.

Lifelong Fitness Alliance is guided by an 18-person board of directors and an advisory board of consultants that contains a number of leading researchers and gerontologists including Dr. Walter Bortz (the author of Dare to be 100), Dr. James Fries, Dr. William Haskell, Dr. Thomas Tutko and Dr. Peter Wood.

The core mission of the Lifelong Fitness Alliance is to promote "active aging." The group states that its goal is:

To encourage fitness and a more active lifestyle for those who are fifty years of older.

To show that misuse and disuse of the body and mind are more the cause of disability than chronological age alone.

The organization’s annual budget of approximately $150,000 comes from member dues, fundraising and grants. The organization has a small paid staff, and most of its activities are carried out by volunteers in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere around the U.S.

Lifelong Fitness Alliance is more than an organization; it's a way of life for its members throughout America and beyond. Our members don't just talk about being active - they are out there running, walking, swimming, biking, and simply moving their bodies for the sheer fun and vigor of it. And in the process they are meeting new people, forming friendships and finding new meaning in their lives as they literally redefine the decades-old definition of what it means to grow older in America.

We live by the belief “Use it or lose it,” and understand that our bodies are meant to move and that the connection between physical health is a large component in over-all wellness. That message of fundamental biology is as old as mankind - but ours is the first century where movement has become something strenuous and unpleasant. We are paying an immense price for that perception in terms of poor health, widespread depression, obsessions about food, being overweight, life-style induced disability and type 2 diabetes and poor self image. The Lifelong Fitness Alliance mission in an ultimate sense, is to help save lives.

Lifelong Fitness Alliance members and alliances are helping in research studies on "active aging" and its effects on person's entire physical and emotional state. We are helping friends, family members, and others in their communities rediscover the pleasure of a long walk in springtime woods, of a bike ride with families and friends, of a good swim that leaves us breathing deeply - and of more challenging running and racewalking activities that bring out the "personal best" that is somewhere inside all of us. Join us. We welcome you.

Lifelong Fitness Alliance’s Program Overview

The Lifelong Fitness Alliance pursues its goals through a number of programs. These include:

1. Sponsorship of Events
Since the goal of the Lifelong Fitness Alliance is to get people up and out of their chairs and begin exercising, it is appropriate that one of the primary activities of the group is to sponsor active programs. Our Dare to Be Fit Weekend with outstanding guest speakers during the “activity day,” including an 8k race, fitness walk and other fun stuff…as well as health fair and healthy food celebration is an annual highlight.

Our Web site also lists dozens of other events that include weekly and monthly walks, runs, skates and lap swims. Most are in communities in Northern California, but a few are in other states. The Lifelong Fitness Alliance’s calendar provides event details and contact information.

2. Ambassadors Program
Encouragement, support and mentorship are often factors sustaining individuals in an exercise or wellness program. To support fitness endeavors, Lifelong Fitness works with a group of volunteers, called Ambassadors, who help promote and lead fitness activities in their communities. Lifelong Fitness Alliance provides ambassadors with health and nutrition information, program support and incentives and motivators for their communities. We encourage dialogue among Ambassadors and between Ambassadors and program staff.

3. The Fitness Challenge Camp
The Fitness Challenge Camp has been held since July 1999 on the Stanford Campus. The camp includes 3 one hour sessions per week. The core of the program is a "six part workout for the entire body" that includes stretching, aerobics, upper and lower body, agility and balance exercises. Each participant may go through a pre-camp and post-camp testing program to measure the benefits of his or her participation.

¹ P.Wood, W.Haskell, H.Klein, et al. "The Distribution of Plasma Lipoproteins in Middle-Aged Male Runners" Metabolism 1976; 25:1249-1254.

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