By Gabrielle Chavalier

Getting fit is about much more than simply hitting the gym, if you ask Erlanger physician Dr. Steve Cromer.

It's a lifestyle — and a holistic approach — that can sometimes be difficult to maintain in today's society.

"I just tell people they have to do the best they can. I think most people underestimate how hard change is," he says. "What makes these types of change so hard on people is the world in which we live is not structured in a way to make these choices easy. It takes a daily effort on the person's part to continue until it becomes habitual."

Cromer will be one of five Erlanger physicians working with contestants for the 2015 Erlanger Live Fit Challenge, a seven-month contest which will begin and end with fitness assessments to judge the contestants' progress and select a winner based on improvement.

The initial fitness assessment will encompass the elements of a routine physical — blood pressure reading, body fat evaluation, etc. — but will also gauge the contestants' ability to do pushups and other exercises.

Although strength and exercise will be a main component of the challenge, Cromer says he will advocate for a shift in approach to overall body awareness, including the many environmental and dietary factors.

"I think that is partially what this stuff is aimed at — making people aware that healthcare or medicine or whatever you want to call it should be a broader form of getting people where they want to be in life," he says.

Although the prospect of committing to a healthy lifestyle can be daunting, Cromer says the idea of someone being too far gone to change is a myth.

"Studies do show that patients that start working out in their 40s and 50s that have never worked out before get the same cardiovascular benefit and long term mortality reduction as patients that have worked out their whole life," he says. "It's worth it."