Long time readers of this blog will know that the biggest joy of the last year for me has been fully embracing my creative writing self — and finding an amazing learning space, writing coach and community of writing women I meet with almost every day to co-write for a while. And I’m so thrilled that Heidi, the coach who has taught me so much, is launching her second novel.
Sam and I were talking about why telling stories about writing belongs on a fitness blog. “It’s the same process,” she said. We need goals, intentional plans, persistence, discipline, community — and celebrating our accomplishments.
I asked Heidi if her characters do anything fitness-y as well. “They do go swimming! And canoeing. Albeit a bit badly.”
Hi readers– starting this month, I’ll be posting a research roundup– a selection of information about new studies out that may be of interest to us (or not), of relevance to us (or not), and whether we should pay attention to them (or not).
Usually I’ll be posting on the third Wednesday of the month, but this is a special Friday edition. Woo-hoo! So here goes…
We get this message from time to time, but luckily for us (well, me, at least), science is still saying that:
Messaging saying “thick thighs actually do save lives”. Yay!
Large population studies have consistently found that lower-body strength is one of the strongest predictors of mortality ever identified in human health research.
And the relationship holds even when researchers control for: • age • body weight • cardiovascular fitness • physical activity
In other words: strength itself matters
We know that there are lots of simpler tests and functions that can serve as proxies for more complicated physiological tests and body functions; lower-body strength seems to be one of those.
We hear debates about intensity vs volume in exercise, and some recent reseearch suggests that intensity has more impact than volume. This 2026 article says so, in fact.
But, consistency matters, too. At least in resistance training, says this guy (who seems really happy, maybe because he got on the news?)
“The best resistance training program is the one you’ll actually stick with,” says Stuart Phillips, distinguished professor in the Department of Kinesiology and an author on the Position Stand. “Training all major muscle groups at least twice a week matters far more than chasing the idea of a ‘perfect’ or complex training plan. Whether it’s barbells, bands, or bodyweight, consistency and effort drive results.”
We already sort-of-knew that science believes that exercise helps our brains in a bunch of ways– maybe it helps stave off cognitive decline, boost memory and reasoning, and loads of other things. You can read a CDC overview about brain benefits of exercise if you want a deeper dive.
But what about the other way around?
Which way does the causal arrow go? Maybe both ways! Thanks Ian Taylor of Unsplash for the pic.
In a recently published study, researchers found a connection between a group of neurons in the hypothalamus and capacity for boosting physical endurance in workouts over time.
IN MICE.
What? Well, here are some of the details:
[Researchers] worked with mice that underwent a rigorous exercise training program. They ran five days a week on a [teeny] tiny treadmill, with a single weekly long run that increased in speed. This training significantly raised their endurance, which peaked about three weeks into the program.
The researchers found that some SF1-producing neurons had an uptick in activity. As the training program continued, these neurons became increasingly active, seemingly forming a kind of “memory” of past exercise.
When these neurons were blocked from firing in mice after their exercise programs, their endurance capacity did not rise. Taking the opposite tack, artificially increasing the firing of SF1-producing neurons after their exercise programs led to continued endurance improvement even at the three-week mark, when it typically plateaued in mice with normal SF1-neuron firing rates.
Apparently the brain does something. And the brain stuff happens as the mouse is on the teeny-tiny treadmill. That’s all I got.
All this is very well and good, BUT: is anyone actually lacing up the sneaks and getting out there? Turns out, yes.
A CDC report released April 7 finds that nearly half of all US adults get the recommended level of physical activity. Here are some details:
In 2024, 47.2% of adults age 18 and older met the federal guidelines for aerobic physical activity, with men being more likely to meet the guidelines (52.3%) than women (42.4%).
The prevalence of meeting the federal guidelines for aerobic physical activity increased with increasing education level.
Adults living in the West were more likely to meet the federal guidelines for aerobic physical activity compared with those in other regions.
Aerobic physical activity was higher among adults without disabilities (49.8%), those with healthy weight (54.8%), and those with excellent or very good health (57.8%).
This is good news, as it shows an uptick in levels of physical activity, which (as we know) is good for a lot of things. Now, the fact that prevalence was lower among higher-weight folks and adults with disabilities shows (in my view) that we need more programs and more access and fewer structural barriers to physical activity for all of us. Don’t you agree?
A bunch of people playing with hula hoops, doing gymmastics in a gym. Looks like fun.
That’s it on the blurbs for now. See you all next month. If you have a request for comments or blurbs on any new research you come across, post it on our social media pages or add a comment down below.
🌞 Look, all of a sudden, I’m well over the recommended number of minutes of intense exercise.
🌞 On the not-so-good side of things, it’s tick season. I got my first tick bite of the season. It was a tick on my shoulder at the farm and I discovered it a few days later. Luckily, pharmacists can now dispense antibiotics, and the campus pharmacy is close at hand.
🌞 It’s also skunk season. So far no bad dog-skunk interactions.
🌞 Thunderstorms. Another of Cheddar’s not fave things. The weather is wild and dramatic. Spring storms are here.
I recently came across this article comparing the dementia risks for people using different forms of active and passive transit. Cyclists came out on top, with significantly lower rates of various forms of dementia.
“Previous studies have found a link between spatial navigational abilities and brain volume, which fits in with what the researchers found here: that cyclists ended up with higher hippocampal volumes.
“It could be the level of physical activity cycling demands that is largely responsible lowering the dementia risk, or having to negotiate routes and directions, or the need to stay alert, or perhaps being more exposed to fresh air.”
The study was careful to note that it was a link, but not necessarily a causal relationship. That makes me happy; I’m always suspicious of studies that aren’t clear about what they don’t know or didn’t examine.
I have written about the positive impacts of dance in fighting off dementia before, and more recent research backs it up. The London Taxi Driver Study researched a much more sedentary population, but one that relies on negotiating routes and directions, and where significantly larger hippocampus was found in study participants.
I’m happy to have another incentive to ride my bike.
Whee! A woman wearing an orange vest and raincoat rides a green bicycle. she has a big smile and one arm is up, as in celebration.
Hi, dear readers! This is the first installment of my spring tulip share from Five Fork Farms, a local and sibling-owned-and-run farm and CSA. This was half of my birthday gift to myself. The other half is their fall dahlia share (which of course I will share with y’all when it comes out).
Nothing says spring to me more than tulips– these are delicate yellow-and-pink parrot tulips on my dining room table.
A simple blue vase with lovely, frilly butter-yellow and pale pink parrot tulips. Ain’t nature grand? And yes, that’s my robot T shirt hanging on a chair. Well, nature is complex and varied in its beauties, I guess…
There are two promises of more:
I’ll share my weekly spring tulips with all of you– it would be selfish to keep them all to myself.
I’ll share my new monthly regular Research Roundup post this afternoon. Stay tuned…
It was sunny here last Friday so my husband spend a bit of time shoveling snow off of our patio – mostly to have something to do outside.
When it was sunny and spring-ish on Saturday, we wanted to have the patio door open so I dug the screen door out of the shed and had the brilliant idea (if I do say so myself) to drag a few patio chairs out at the same time.
Now it was sunny and relatively warm and we had chairs on the patio so it suddenly felt like our outdoor space was available to us again.
Obviously, my next step was to drag out a mat and do some yoga outdoors.
Did it feel strange to be doing yoga outside with snowshovels in the background? I’ll let you interpret that for yourself.
Image description: a selfie of me (a middle-aged white woman with a round face and light brown hair that is pulled back by a cloth band that happens to contain earphones) in a dark pink hoodie with the sun shining on my face, smirking at the fact that I am doing yoga outdoors while there are still necessary snow shovels propped against my house.
Was it weird to be lying on my mat in the sunshine while the grass in my backyard was still mostly covered in snow?
Well, it felt weird enough to take a photo of it at least…
Image description: a photo of my legs with the backyard full of snow visible in the background while propping myself up a little as I was lying on my mat on the patio. In the photo, I am lying on the ground with my right leg bent so the knee is toward the sky and the foot is on the ground. My left leg is bent so the outside of my foot is resting on the top of my right knee and my left knee is pointing to the left. You can see my blue yoga mat and part of the patio through the triangle formed by my legs. On my right is our patio mats, and more patio slats and beyond them you can see the railings, a whole bunch of snow, some leafless trees, the blue sky and our faded wooden fence.
But even though it felt kinda weird, it also felt great to be doing that slow, steady, focused movement in the bright sunlight and the fresh air.
Despite the snow, it felt like warm weather and more outdoor fun might be just around the (very long!) corner.
And if you saw this when you opened your eyes after Savasana, you might have believed it, too.
A photo of my view upwards from my yoga mat. Image description: a photo of bare tree branches with just a hint of growth on them with the bright blue sky in the background.
PS – Thanks to Steve for shoveling off the patio and setting this whole thing in motion.
I’m adding an island to my cycling list! This weekend I rode on Pelee Island. I joked that since I’m not riding in the United States these days, I needed to seek out the southernmost island in Canada.
I’ve got a bit of a thing about island bike rides. Bora Bora was the most exotic. Big Island is the one I ride around most often. And I love riding in Newfoundland. I’ve also biked on Fakarava, an atoll, a special kind of an island.
Why do I like biking on islands? First, there are very few cars on the small islands. Most people get there by ferry and locals appreciate the visitors. Also, I love riding within sight of the water.
I booked this trip the day Parks Canada opened up reservations for the national parks. I wanted to do an early trip and so searched for “roofed accommodation” as Parks Canada calls it. I reserved an Otentik in Camp Henry in Point Pelee National Park.
It’s a bit early for biking, brrr, and for seasonal migratory birds. But it was sunny and beautiful and not at all crowded. The temperature was 10 in the middle of the day, but it went down to 2 overnight. Most importantly, no rain. It was brilliantly sunny all day.
We’re at the time of year when the weather is either sunny and cool, or warm and wet. Here’s next week in Guelph. Warm and wet days ahead.
What’s an Otentik? They’re platform tents, kind of like yurts. Lux camping, but I think not quite glamping. The otentik had lights and heat and sleeping for six. But no bathroom and no water on the site.
They come with BBQs, and food is supposed to be prepared and eaten outside. There’s animal proof food storage locks on each site. That’s not for bear protection. Instead, the campground is home to many well-fed happy raccoons. One kept joining us at our table and looked like he expected his own plate. He wasn’t a scruffy urban raccon. He looked like a plump, happy cartoon raccoon.
Pretty much everyone staying in Camp Henry was up early in the morning with either binoculars, bikes or both. We had both, but to be clear we’re not birders, though our friend Rob, who visited is a retired mathematician and beginning birder.
We were definitely not Camp Henry’s usual demographic, though. We were very outnumbered by families with small children. That makes sense given that Otentiks sleep 6 with bunk beds. They’re not cheap, the Otentiks. I think we paid about $150/night. My adult kid Mallory was going to join us, but she got a better offer involving handbells in Mississauga.
It’s 15 km from the campground to the ferry to Pelee Island, about half of it on a gravel trail through the woods, which is about perfect as these things go. The trail is just hilly and curvy enough to feel exciting without really requiring any technical riding skills. The point is skinny enough that, though we were riding in the woods, we could see the lake almost the entire time.
The ferry to the island is about an hour and a half long. And yes, it serves coffee and sandwiches. We needed both.
The island itself is interesting. There’s a ferry from Ohio and one from Ontario. There are three bike routes around the island. The longest is 30 km. We opted for 20 km.
The island’s year-round population is about 230 people, and in summer, more than a thousand. It’s less developed than I thought it would be. The place we had lunch, The Dog & Goat Restaurant, is open year-round, but only on weekends until tourist season. We enjoyed a patio lunch along with some of the ferry staff.
There’s a school on the island. The internet says that they have two teachers and about nine pupils across all grades.
And when the ferry stops for the winter, and the lake freezes, as it did this year, residents rely on daily plane service to get on and off the island.
What else to tell you about biking there? It’s flat. Almost no traffic. Roads are a mix of pavement and gravel, but the pavement is pretty rough. Locals seemed pretty happy to see us. I think there’s a bike rental shop there in tourist season, but we’re early for that.
Total distance: 50 km (30 km to and from the ferry plus the medium route around the island)
That was likely too much riding for our first outdoor ride of the year (other than bike commuting and Zwifting). There was a lot of soreness and complaining when we were through. Sarah did make excellent BBQ grilled mushroom and spinach risotto for a recovery dinner. Yum!
I used to wonder why people had to work up to 100 km, why a century was a big deal. Back when I was riding regularly with a bike club, we started the season at 60 km, and then the next week 80 and then soon after that 100 km. Easy peasy. Now I don’t have that kind of mileage in the tank, and it’s also harder on the body when you’re not drafting, and you’re riding on gravel trails.
Anyway, I’ll end this rambly post by saying that we want to go back. Soon! We want to canoe in the marshes and explore the park more purposefully. This trip focused on the island, and next time we’ll focus on the point.
Trees over our campgroundOur otentik porchThe ferrySarah, Sam, Rob selfieSo sunny! Patio lunch on Pelee IslandStudying the bike mapsWe made it to the point Pelee island home of the lighthouseA bird approved bike stopSam and SarahThe island roadBike pathThe lookoutMy favourite treeThe wagons for getting stuff to your siteWant! It’s a LOLO bike rack.Bye Camp Henry! We’ll be back.
It was a busy week on the blog! Fourteen posts from nine writers, covering cycling, skating, swimming, volleyball, powerlifting, retirement, birthdays, diet culture, and the psychology of aging.
Here’s everything you may have missed:
Monday, April 6
The week opened with three posts. Cate kicked things off with Springing off the Couch, a reflection on a heavy winter, a cancelled gym membership, and the question of what your fitness identity is when you’ve slowed down — and whether following a five-year-old outside to blow bubbles counts as a start. It does. Then Sam posted Monday Morning Zwift, #30DaysOfBiking. And then Sam and Sarah co-wrote You’re Never Too Old! Sam and Sarah Take a Learn-to-Skate Lesson — about signing up for CanSkate, the joy of being a complete beginner, and leaning hard into EXPAND as a word of the year.
Tuesday, April 7
Nicole’s Musings about Menopausal Diet Culture is a post about diet culture and her mother’s lifelong relationship with her body. Christine’s Go Team 2026: Pare It Down offered warm, practical encouragement for anyone whose ADHD brain isn’t cooperating: scale down, meet yourself where you are, do the smaller version of things, and earn that gold star.
Wednesday, April 8
Mina wrote No Surrender: Dancing with Resistance and Acceptance as I Approach a New Decade — connecting “cognitive surrender” (giving in uncritically to AI reasoning) with the parallel temptation to accept aging’s limitations passively. Mina, turning 60 this year, is running a half-marathon every month in response. Also on Wednesday: Becoming a Raisin, written by Mal. That’s a post about discovering queer indoor beach volleyball in London, Ontario, joining a team called “Raisin Hell,” and finding that the right people make all the difference to team sports.
Thursday, April 9
Diane celebrated the reopening of her pool after nearly a year of renovations in My Pool (and My Community) Are Back!. Sam also checked in with Skating Lesson #2: a little less time clinging to the boards, some forward and backward skating, a lot of work still to do on stopping, and more stickers for the helmet.
Friday, April 10
Two posts on training and transitions. Martha wrote What Retirement Might Mean for Training — a thoughtful reflection on how work structure shapes fitness habits, and what it takes to build that structure yourself when it disappears. Diane checked in with Checking in on Bike Month — an honest first-week #30DaysOfBiking update.
Saturday, April 11
Nat’s What Buoys Nat When Navigating Mid-Life Chaos was a moving, practical post written from a hotel room during a family medical emergency — running through the strategies keeping her grounded: avoiding alcohol, pool time, crochet, her partner Michel, and looking hard truths directly in the eye.
Sunday, April 12
Catherine closed the week with Catherine’s Birthday Week in Review — she turned 64, celebrated with swim parties, three cakes, Pass the Parcel, and four dogs, and made an enthusiastic case for taking birthdays seriously at every age.
Themes of the week: Aging and identity ran as a thread through nearly every post this week — what it means to slow down, start over, resist, adapt, or celebrate where you are. Diet culture’s persistence surfaced alongside new joy in movement. Water appeared everywhere: pools reopening, lifeguard recertifications, swim parties, Zwift rides substituting for icy roads. And the #30DaysOfBiking challenge gave the week its cycling spine.
(Thanks, Claude for helping compile the “week in review.”)
Recently, I celebrated a birthday! I won’t tell you exactly which one, but suffice to say, I am confidently past the age of 30 (it took a few years actually to sink in). The day after my birthday, I spent 6 hours in a swimming pool to recertify my National Lifeguard certification.
Age-wise, I recognize that I am still young. But in lifeguarding, being in your thirties almost always puts you near or at the top age-wise. Not always, there are some excellent adult lifeguards (hi Diane!). Still, many people don’t keep their certifications once they are no longer working in aquatics and in my experience, there are very few adults working in aquatics. That’s a much longer blog post, one I am happy to write about if there is interest at a later date!
So what’s required to recertify or maintain your lifeguard certification? Every two years you need to complete a one-day recertification which includes showing that you can still meet the physical standards as well as completing practice situations of emergencies that may happen in an aquatic environment. If you are curious about what the standards are, you can view them online here.
For me, the challenge is the dreaded 400m timed swim. I hate it with a vengeance. I have failed recertifications previously due to this requirement. I have spent a lot of time complaining about it and debating its usefulness with other lifeguards. The requirement: swim 400m continuously using recognizable swimming strokes within 10 minutes. The standard pool is 25m so that’s 16 times across the pool for non-swimmers.
To be fair, I have always disliked it even as a young teenager. One of my earliest lifeguarding memories is failing my Bronze Star (very first course towards becoming a lifeguard) due to the endurance swim. I have lost out on job opportunities where they require you to complete it prior to even completing an interview. I have had staff training where we complete it, usually followed by my boss or supervisor making some sort of comment about how close I was to the time. As a teenager, my fastest ever time was just past the nine minute mark. As an adult, my fastest time in recent memory was 9:17.
Other people don’t mind the timed swim (hi again Diane!), possibly because they regularly swim longer distances or spend more time regularly lane swimming. For them, the physical challenge they likely hate is the 20-lb brick. In contrast, I love the brick and actually have my very own lifeguard brick sitting on my bookshelf at home! In case you are curious, the brick is used to practice retrieving a heavy object (i.e., a person) off the bottom of the pool and being able to carry it to the closest safe exit (side of the pool).
Anyway, I passed my recertification so I can now successfully call myself a lifeguard for another two years! Yay! As I said to Samantha “Successful NL recert! Even a year older I can still swim…”.
Last Tuesday, I tuned 64, a pretty innocuous age to become, but I celebrated it with gusto. Here are the numbers:
64 years old
19 adults at a total of 3 celebrations
4 dogs in attendance
3 cakes (lemon pound, chocolate mousse, chantilly cream with berries)
1 swim party at a local pool
1 game of Pass-the-Parcel
1 senior discount admission to aforementioned pool (savings of $2)
unknown number of candles on cakes
infinite fun
I love birthdays– mine, other peoples’, the general concept– I’m all in. I mean, what’s not to love? There are cakes, cards, sometimes presents, often games, people, often interesting food, and generally more hugs than usual.
Some of my favorite birthdays have involved activities. I’ve had skating parties, bowling parties, outdoor games parties, beach parties, and several swim parties. I’m now bullish on swim parties because it’s fun for all ages. My friend Rachel brought her 3-year-old Teagan, and my friend Roz brought her daughter Roxie. Because we spent all our swim time in the kiddie pool area, children and pool toys were swirling all around us. I personally enjoyed both to the maximum extent.
I’m also bullish on a birthday party game that’s new to me but a standard in lots of other places: Pass the Parcel. It involves wrapping one regular present, then adding layers of wrapping, with little gifts or sweets or messages in between the layers. You pass the parcel around with music playing, and when the music stops, the person with the parcel unwraps a layer. It’s a standard kids’ party game in the UK, but (like the swim party), I think it’s good for all ages. I plan to implement it at my nephews’ birthdays in June.
The addition of dogs at my birthday celebrations was new but most welcome. I met a new dog (hi Bindi!) and got to reunite with the others (Dixie, Ruby and Wylie). They patrolled the area for dropped food items, came over for pets, and looked very happy to celebrate with me.
Seriously, I think we underplay our birthdays in adulthood. It’s so nice to plan a fun break from the usual routines (or let others plan for you) and focus on the pleasures of the moment, enjoying the sweetness in all its forms.
So, in case I forget, dear readers– Happy Birthday to you all (in advance or after the fact unless it’s today).
