Come On Fittsburgh!

Here it is: Pittsburgh ranks as the 27^th fittest city among the 50 biggest metropolitan cities in the United States, according to the American Fitness Index.

We are smack dab in the middle of the grid between Dead Last Indianapolis, cited for low activity levels, high smoking rate and high instances of chronic and mental health issues, and Washington DC, the Fittest of the Fit, probably because the DC Metro keeps breaking down and commuters now have to walk/jog/bike or rollerblade 50 miles round trip to get to work every day.

As I contemplate the fact that I live in a land of Extremely Average Fitness, I’m a little peeved because I can’t think of a good reason for it. We are surrounded by mountains, hills, rivers, and lakes where a person could engage in any kind of outdoor fun during every season of the year. If we lived in the flatlands of Indianapolis, we’d have to travel a great distance to find a ski slope in January. But we live so close to Seven Springs and Hidden Valley, we don’t even have to wake up early to get in a full day of skiing.

And there’s hiking, walking, running and biking on the many trails and paths all around us. Pittsburgh now has a bike sharing program, so if you go anywhere near downtown, South Side, Oakland, the Strip District or the North Shore, there are bicycle kiosks every few blocks where you use an app to borrow a heavy duty, super cool cycle for however long you need to get wherever you need to go. Imagine if workers downtown started riding bikes to meetings across town, instead of clogging the streets with unnecessary motor vehicles.

From my house, it’s exactly one mile to the Montour Trail, which connects to the Great Allegheny Passage in McKeesport. If I wanted to, I could pack up and bike or hike all the way to Washington DC and my feet would barely have to touch pavement. By the way, my husband and I are gearing up to ride from DC to Pittsburgh soon, so hey! I’m putting my money where my mouth is.

Granted, I’m an outdoorsy gal, but for those who prefer to sweat indoors, there are fitness facilities galore. Try driving 10 miles in any direction and count how many gyms, yoga studios, martial arts and dance centers you see. There are even places where you can learn aerial arts, where you get tangled up in silk hanging from the ceiling to get your Cirque du Soleil on.

There are enough opportunities here in Western Pennsylvania to move Pittsburgh from the Middle of the Fit Pack closer to the top, but now Pittsburghers have to stop buying cigarettes and start walking, hiking, jogging and biking more. I don’t know where we rank in instances of chronic and mental health issues, but if every Pittsburgher kept a pair of sneakers handy and used them before work, after work, or on a lunch break, we’d all be in great shape.

Even if the T breaks down.

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