Sam recently shared an article on the value of hobbies for supporting our mental health fitness. You can find it here with the catchy title, Why Knitting (and Hobbies Like It) Can Make You Calmer, Sharper, and Happier.

The article lists several more reasons why a hobby is good for you: a hobby can give you a sense of control (especially helpful if you are going through a period of great stress), you can focus on good enough instead of perfection (you are learning something new!), you are rewiring your brain with a different task (quilting requires a lot of math, a function that I avoid as much as possible), and you don’t have to create alone as you often can find a ready-made community of likeminded practitioners.

I have always found calmness when I am doing something with my hands, be it baking, quilting, crocheting, stitching or throwing clay. While I have not done much of the last two in recent years, I did a lot of the first three during the pandemic.

After losing a loved one last fall, I found great comfort in sewing. Watching the project come together when I felt so much in my heart had fallen apart proved to be key to providing clarity in my brain. There was something so soothing about planning a quilt, sorting the fabric, measuring the pieces, laying out the pattern, organizing the rows, choosing a backing, and then putting it all together.

A hobby offers the space to focus on something else, other than work or family, even if the two give great comfort and joy. It’s about balance, proportion, and attention, especially choosing a creative activity. It turns out it doesn’t matter if you aren’t any good at it in the beginning. It’s really about the process of learning and growing.

We know building fitness into our daily lives helps immeasurably with our mental health. I wrote about angry self care here and why it helps to have a good stomp. But making something, be it a loaf of bread or a pan of brownies, a good enough dishcloth, or a quilt with slightly crooked seams, also offers a sense of accomplishment you can share. There, you can say to yourself, I made that.

Making time for hobbies and physical activity means you are making time for yourself. And as the other Martha is fond of saying, that’s a good thing. The weeks where I have a good balance between work, play, quilting, and physical activity are also the ones where I feel most productive and energetic.

Prioritizing mental and physical well being offers you lots of other benefits:: You can improve your concentration and performance, you can acquire new skills, and you can reduce the levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. Doing a puzzle, planting a few herbs, or even deadheading a few flowers will get you away from phone/tablet, television and computer screens, reducing eye strain, doom scrolling and help you sleep better which matters more than we think when it comes to maintaining our brain and heart health.

So get out those crayons and a few index cards. Find a crochet hook and some yarn. Haul out a puzzle and see how much fun you will have. It’s time to get messy and be creative.

This post isn’t about mask-wearing. Now that the snow is long gone in my part of the world and the spring winds are blowing freely, there’s lots of garbage floating around. Part of it is because we don’t have enough garbage cans along our sidewalks, parks and trails. Part of it is just sheer rudeness by people who feel it’s okay to throw their refuse to the four winds.

A friend always takes a bag with her on her walks to collect garbage. She feels she is doing her part to make her neighbourhood cleaner and greener. If she was running, we would call it plogging. About a year ago, I wrote about plogging as my new activity: https://fitisafeministissue.com/2023/05/20/plogging-in-the-spring/

My partner gave me a garbage picker-upper after I saw how much he had cleaned up on his walks.

If you haven’t tried plogging, give it a go. I wrote about the origins here: https://fitisafeministissue.com/2018/11/16/plogging-your-way-to-health-and-fitness/

It’s always good to leave a space better than you found it.

I live on the island of Newfoundland, off the coast of the country we call Canada. It’s my annual spring clean exercise when I wonder why I have multiples of everything and then I remember the weather here.

The fact is you need something for different weather conditions. Take coats. I have a fall coat you can fling over a shirt. Then there’s the late fall jacket, which allows you to wear a second layer plus a tasteful scarf. Then there’s the raincoat with a zip-out liner, followed by the early winter jacket, the heavy winter jacket, the damp-cold-while-shoveling coat with breathable vents, and the bitter cold where even breathing causes frost in your lungs winter coat.

But I had not realized that in the journey to my 60s, I acquired a multitude of heavy-duty footwear including my favourite: bright red ice-walkng boots with built-in crampons. They all keep me warm and steady on my feet so I can ably meet the challenges raised by wet, snowy, rainy, ice conditions.

I’ve always liked shoes of all kinds. As a rule, I wasn’t a high-heel-wearing person although I admired those who carried off the extra height with grace and style. Two summers ago, I rolled my ankle badly enough that I wore ankle supports for a month whenever I travelled and I ended up breaking my no-buy rule to buy a new pair of extremely sturdy walking shoes.

Then last summer I rolled my ankle again while wearing my favourite sandals. It didn’t hurt as much as it did the first time, but it got me thinking about the fragility of hips, knees, ankles and toes. Summer is coming and I know I will want to wear my sandals and light outdoor shoes again. So I started doing some research.

I always knew post menopausal people are at risk for osteoporosis so preventing fractures while working out is important as is increasing bone strength with weight-wearing exercises. What I didn’t know is how much our stability and balance also decline as we age. Your ankle strength plays a significant role in keeping you upright, maintaining your balance, and adapting to changes in walking surfaces. While we should keep our hips in alignment and protect our knees, we also need to take care of the little bones that connect your feet to your legs.

Weak ankles are a significant fall risk. According to this article on ankle strengthening exercises, the risk of continued or increasing weakness post-injury is greater than we think. “Every year, an estimated two million people sprain, strain, or fracture an ankle. Between 30% and 70% of them will be left with chronic ankle instability. That makes the joint weaker and more prone to injury.”

While I regularly iced and elevated my bruised and tender ankle when healing, I did not incorporate any specific exercises to make my ankle stronger. Focusing on building strength and improving balance, posture, and foot positioning will be a priority for me as I approach the summer.

How about you, blog readers? Have you noticed any differences in how your ankles are behaving the older you get? Let us know in the comments. And if you have any favourite ankle exercises, tell us about those too!

MarthaFitat55 is working on ankles of iron instead of buns of steel this summer.

My goal for being fit at 55 and beyond has been to build and maintain strength. I have been weightlifting since 2013. I don’t do competitions; I strive weekly to improve and move forward.

Over the past few years, especially with the pandemic, part of my daily activities involves providing support to senior family members. I became skilled at the one-trip grocery carry (look at all the bags!). I’ve packed and moved boxes, shifted furniture, rearranged pantries, and so on.

Usually, my people-assistance has been limited to providing a steadying hand for walking or helping them up out of couches or chairs determined to swallow them permanently. Recently though, I had to help a senior up from a position they could not stay in without causing harm.

It was a relief to look at the situation, figure out what needed doing, and then ensure I was aligned properly to lift without injury. Unless you are in a direct hands-on care role, most of us don’t think about our training to be something that can be applied in this way. I was glad I have spent the time ensuring I will have strength for now and the future.

If you want to know more about strength training for healthy aging, here’s a good overview from the National Insitute on Aging: https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/how-can-strength-training-build-healthier-bodies-we-age.

Here’s a quote to make you think: “Age-related mobility limitations are a fact of life for many older adults. Studies have shown that about 30% of adults over age 70 have trouble with walking, getting up out of a chair, or climbing stairs. In addition to making everyday tasks difficult, mobility limitations are also linked to higher rates of falls, chronic disease, nursing home admission, and mortality.“

The focus is on prevention, but my experiences over the last three years suggest building our strength also makes us better caregivers because we have the power and the skills to help safely and prevent injuries to others and ourselves.

MarthaFitat55 lives and lifts on an island off the coast of Eastern Canada.

by marthafitat55

I remember when I was an undergraduate — I thought reading breaks were the bee’s knees. What a concept — a period of time in the middle of a busy term with deadlines looming — where I could hit the pause button on classes and catch my breath, literally and figuratively.

I am a believer in vacations in the summer. I also try not to work on weekends, but I am busy nonetheless being an adult, catching up on laundry, engaging in meal preparation, and planning for the week ahead.

I’ve had an especially intense six months. So when one set of plans fell through for a mini-break, I immediately sought a back up. I noticed I was really excited by the thought of a few days away and it occurred to me that even if you aren’t a student, mid-term breaks are just the ticket. They are, in fact, the pause that refreshes.

While a full fledged vacation is very appealing, we can’t always disappear for three weeks as responsibilities, finances, time, and space aren’t always available or adjustable to meet our needs for respite.

My dictionary defines respite as “a short period of rest or relief from something difficult or unpleasant.” To be relieved of something is often used negatively as one can be relieved of a responsibility or duty. And I like that. I want to be relieved of some of the emotional weight I have been carrying as I adult in my 60s.

But to be relieved, to gain a respite, also means to receive “a feeling of reassurance and relaxation following release from anxiety or distress.” We’ve all had a lot to deal with during the pandemic, what with global warming, full out wars, and ongoing/increasing experiences of racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia.

While I regularly take a week’s break in the summer to go offgrid (but not in tents — did that and got the badges in Girl Guides, lo those many years ago), I have not applied that same approach to other seasons of the year.

I’m looking forward to this mid-winter break and I have already started making plans for the mid-spring and midsummer ones as well. Whether I call them mid-term breaks or reading weekends, I am pretty sure they will become a regular part of my mental health practice in the future.

Because we all need time to catch our breath and return refreshed, relieved, and refocused.

How about you — what kinds of mini breaks do you engage in, especially those that do not require major infusions of cash?

This isn’t a post about new year’s resolutions. It’s not a post about becoming a new person by altering food choices or fitness activities. It is, instead, a post about looking at things differently and moving forward.

As much as the calendar marks a new year on January 1, and we are four days in as I write this, for me new year phases also take place in April and September. There’s something about the freshness of spring that embraces newness and there’s something about the fall that offers new adventures much like the first day of school heralded a new year of learning and exploration.

January though offers scope for reflection; an examination of what’s been accomplished and what might be waiting behind the horizon. A good friend often said, “Don’t look back; that’s not where you are going.” However, true reflection is not about regret but about assessing what’s worked, what hasn’t, what could be tried again, and what could be given a decent burial.

I have spent a lot of time in the past decade looking at strength training and cardiac health as my key paths to fitness. The pandemic brought a renewed focus on mental health as balancing work, life and family priorities came to the forefront when many began working from home.

As much as active movement is integral to achieving and maintaining fitness, there is something to be said for active resting too. This includes napping, meditating, yoga and stretching. I also include cloud watching, wave counting and picture studies in active resting. The first two are pretty obvious: the third involves looking at a painting and examining the lines, the brush strokes, the layers of colours.

All of these are tools in my mental fitness toolbox, with meditation being the newest. Learning how to quiet your mind is challenging when we have so many inputs and demands in our days. Giving ourselves more than five minutes of peace seems like an indulgence. In fact, creating space for quiet is critical.

A friend sent me a post that spoke deeply of this need for space and peace. Coach Molly Galbraith wrote: “Got an email from a woman declining a request for her time. She said: ‘Thanks for thinking of me, but right now I’m going to decline. My plate is as full as I like.'”

My plate is as full as I like.

Imagine what that looks like for you. Maybe it’s inviting. Maybe it’s a little scary. Maybe it is simply too big a concept to grasp.

And maybe it is simply the most radical choice you are going to make ever.

We don’t have to let other people’s priorities and expectations load up our plates. We don’t have to let social expectations pile on more than we can carry, no matter how much we lift in the gym. We can decide how big a plate we want and how much we want on there.

It is okay to have space on that plate. Because the space is not empty nor is it a vacuum. It is, in fact, full of potential, possibility, and opportunity.

MarthaFitat55 is looking forward to practicing joyful idleness in 2024 along with the lifting of heavy things.

Fall is my favourite time of the year. It could possibly be my favourite because my birthday and anniversary fall within the same week in September. Perhaps it’s because the temperatures are consistently cooler but still pleasant compared to the humidity of the summer.

Or maybe because the sky can be an incandescent blue that seems close to turquoise and the leaves are glowing orange while the wind swirls and eddies fallen leaves in a wild rhythmic dance.

Perhaps the reason fall will always be my favourite time of year is because it marks the first time I signed up with a trainer to put functional fitness first in my life. Over the years, I have encountered minor injuries with major impacts, variously affecting how well I could carry out the activities of daily life. Even with interruptions for illness, the pandemic, work and family responsibilities, I have now been training for ten years this month, challenging myself to do more so I can feel better.

I won’t forget the first day I walked into the gym to get assessed by a trainer. I was petrified: what if I couldn’t do any of things? And yes, there was a pile of stuff I couldn’t do, and some I could but with the poorest form imaginable. I’m lucky I connected with two trainers who believed and still believe I could do all the things. While there are things that may scare me when I walk into a gym, I’ve learned I am strong enough to try the new things and keep going.

SamB has been sharing three good things daily these past few months. When I think of it, I jot down good things in my calendar to remind me that while the world sometimes looks like a dumpster on fire, there are some truly lovely things for which I am grateful.

In honour of my ten years of hard work, I offer five really good things that keep me going, inside and outside of the gym:

1. I can pick up heavy things and put them down.
2. I can bend my knees and not fall over with a weight on my back.
3. I can feel my breath fill my body when I ease into a yoga stretch.
4. I can stretch a theraband, pleat fabric, slice tomatoes, and pick up pretty beach rocks, even with arthritis knotting my fingers.
5. I will always stand up.

What are the good things you find with embracing fitness? Tell us in the comments. And have a wonderful weekend Canadian readers.

Two weeks ago I wrote a post summarizing the debacle that followed Spain’s World Cup football championship win. A week later Luis Rubiales, the Spanish football federation president, finally resigned and six days ago he was in court being served with a restraining order keeping him away from Jenni Hermoso, the footballer he forcibly kissed on the gold medal podium.

Members of the Spanish team are continuing their strike and are refusing to play until further changes are made to address systemic sexism in the Spanish federation even with the departures of Rubiales and Jorge Vilda, the coach of the World Cup winning team.

You have to admire the team’s resolve. Fresh off their global win, which caps a stellar season across all age groups in women’s soccer, the team is leveraging the power they have to make sure real change is coming. The resignation of Rubiales following the firing of Vilda amidst mounting global pressure is not just window dressing. The team has the backing of the Spanish government’s labour minister, which is also significant.

Treating the harassment of Hermoso, from the kiss to the intimidation tactics, as a workplace issue shows the seriousness of the situation. The locker room, the soccer pitch, the training ground, and even the winner’s podium are their offices and meeting rooms. The women work hard on the field representing their sport and their country.

In the first global survey of workplace harassment, the results showed only half of victims reported their experiences, and often this only took place after repeated experiences of harassment. The study also reported “Young women were twice as likely as young men to have faced sexual violence and harassment.”

The International Labour Organization has developed a set of international standards that offer “a common framework to prevent, remedy and eliminate violence and harassment in the world of work, including gender-based violence and harassment. The Convention includes the specific recognition, for the first time in international law, of the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment, and sets out the obligation to respect, promote and realize this.”

As more workplaces in Canada and around the world recognize the impact of psychological violence, sexual harassment, and discrimination, we should also ensure it is not just conventional workplaces that make the changes necessary. The work Hermoso and the Spanish women’s soccer team are engaged in will have an impact in Spain and around the world. We should all take notice listen up and start asking questions at our local and regional levels to ensure everyone, especially those at risk including girls, young women, and nonbinary persons can all engage safely in their chosen sports without harassment and violence.

Regardless of what team you hoped you would win the World Cup, the 2023 women’s football competition was clear evidence (as if you had any doubt!) that it didn’t matter what gender played, all hands could kick a ball with skill, elegance and a fair bit of ferocity.

The passion on the field in the gold medal final was amazing. Both England and Spain played a beautiful game with all the players displaying some fabulous footwork, amazing saves and wicked strategy.

You would think that we could celebrate in high style, but no. Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales just had to go all in and plant a full mouth kiss on Spanish medalist Jenni Hermoso. In fact, just to make sure his aim was true, Rubiales grabbed the shocked player in a headlock.

While Europeans are accustomed to the double and triple cheek kiss, this was not a social act. On September 6, Hermoso filed a legal complaint, which could result in criminal charges against Rubialies. Her complaint followed the opening of an investigation by Spain’s top criminal court.

It’s been interesting to watch the drama unfold since August 17, the day of the game.

Not long after the medal presentation, Hermoso said she was uncomfortable and further, she did not consent to the intimate embrace. Rubiales tried to apologize and then walked the statement back the next day, August 18. That same day, the Spanish soccer federation tried to downplay the event, describing the kiss as consensual and providing photos it said showed Hermoso was not affected by the kiss.

What we didn’t find out until later was that the federation was pressuring Hermoso to make a joint statement dismissing the depiction of the kiss as an assault. The organization even went so far as to target family members and other team players. In response, the women’s team stood steadfast behind Hermoso and said they would not play until Spain’s soccer leadership addressed the issue.

It took more than a week for the world governing body to take action by finally suspending Rubiales from his role as president as a result of the Spanish federation’s failure to act. The following week saw Rubiales accusing his detractors of abuse and even his own mother locked herself in a church on his behalf to protest the suspension. This article provides a really good summary of the key events leading to the suspension.

The commentary in the week that followed the suspension has been positive. The Washington Post offered insight with a damning headline: “Strong women gave us a compelling World Cup. Weak men obscured it.” The Spanish men’s team came out swinging as well calling Rubiales’ behaviour unacceptable. The team’s statement read: “It’s a historic milestone filled with significance that will mark a before and after in Spanish women’s football, inspiring countless women with an invaluable triumph. Therefore, we want to express our regret and solidarity with the players whose success has been tarnished.”

But there’s more. On Tuesday September 5, the coach of the gold medal-winning team was given the boot partly because of his continuing support of Rubiales but also due to long standing issues raised by the players in the last three years.

The national and global protests are riding a wave of anger on the continued downplaying of sexism in this sport as well as others. Even Spain’s labour minister Yolanda Diaz said “male chauvinism was ‘systemic’ in the country’s sports institutions and had been shown in its worst form in the incident involving Rubiales.”

The fact is the women, like the men who play soccer, are working. We don’t accept such behaviour in any other workplace so why should the soccer field be any different? La Liga F is the highest level of football competition for women in Spain. Their statement was damning: “One of the greatest feats in the history of Spanish sport has been tainted by the embarrassing behaviour of the highest representative of Spanish football … A boss grabbing his employee by the head and kissing her on the mouth simply cannot be tolerated. It’s not just about the kiss. Celebrating the triumph on the presidential balcony while holding his genitals next to the queen is unacceptable and disgusting.”

We know the stakes are high when it comes to salaries, prize purses, sponsorships, team acquisitions. Given the monumental success of this World Cup and the advancement in skill and excellence by all teams, not just the finalists, this is an issue that will continue to face public scrutiny.

When I learned to type, I had to practice this sentence: The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

It wasn’t meant to disparage a human’s best friend; just teach people how to find all the letters in the alphabet on the keyboard. However, foxes still come off better with the implication that their quickness means they are industrious, speedy, productive, go-getting little beasts, unlike their indolent, relaxed, unproductive unfocused canine brethren.

I thought about the lazy dogs and the quick brown foxes because August 10 was National Lazy Day. Not sure if it is truly a holiday but the article promoted all the ways one could be lazy. Now the dictionary definition of lazy is unwillingness to work or expend energy. The article I linked to said lazy was simply doing nothing all day: none of the work, none of the stress, none of the musts, shoulds or have-tos in our lives.

Sounds ideal. And for the two weeks that was my vacation I lived every day as if it was National Lazy Day. I got up when I wanted, I napped when I felt like, I ate lots of yummy food, and didn’t make a single decision outside of what I would eat, read or do to have fun.

This was the first vacation ever that I have not brought a laptop or tablet on which to do work. I came back home rested, relaxed, refreshed and rejuvenated. It was the perfect vacation.

I made a resolution to be lazy more often. I think taking time to truly rest for a period longer than a weekend contributes to health and well being. Recently a number of people in my networks shared this post:

Back in the day people with means would send their female offspring and partners to the seaside or the country to recover from whatever ailed them (I imagine it was living with the effects of patriarchy that was at the root of their illness). We don’t do that anymore, but what if we could create that space where we could be absent from our responsibilities and explore what rest and recovery mean to us?

High-performance athletes build in rest days. While my own goals are more modest, there is value in building in a time where you do nothing but rest. I know we often hear “a change is as good as a rest” but let me tell you, having engaged in active rest for two weeks, you need more than a simple change, you need to practice resting.

Over the next couple of weeks, I am going to explore how I can add periods of active rest in my day and how I can be more effective in my recovery periods.

MarthaFitat55 is looking forward to being fit at every age.