Who Is the Reader?

Who am I writing Get Your Walk On for? I’m putting this in a public post to try and help you—random reader on the internet—decide if this site is worth your time and energy. Study after study seems to show that most of us consume information by reading approximately 1.2 seconds worth of headlines before hitting the delete button of the next tab. Yeah, I just made that number up, but the real stats are about that frightening if you’re somebody trying to make an impact with your writing.

So let’s cut to the chase. As I research topics, read study results, follow keyword searches to the tenth page, and write these posts, who exactly do I think cares? Here’s who I think will want to explore this world with me:

• You’re an adult somewhere between 20 and 80. I know. That is very broad. But a lot of this information will meet you where you are. Bodies that are younger are different and unless I were to say differently any studies I quote are not looking at those younger bodies. And yeah our bodies change as we get older. I want to help folks all along this spectrum with good, trustworthy information.

• You already understand that physical fitness is important and has benefits. You see some of the information that hits the mainstream press, you had a PE instructor once in high school, you’re curious about the new scientific findings and want to know more.

• You don’t want to waste your time. Hell, time you spend reading this is probably better spent out walking/playing/sweating. So I will do my best to give you good concise information.

• You also want some inspiration and support along this path. I will do my best to offer up some good humored stories along the way. We all love stories. Data is great, but it takes stories to connect. I’ll give you those in a good-humored, upbeat way. I know that if something is entertaining and funny, offers me some character or story to connect with, I am more likely to spend more than 1.2 seconds looking at it. I think you are the same.