Category: cardio

a small drawing of the number 15 Making Space 2025: Day 15
ADHD · cardio · holiday fitness · mindfulness · self care

Making Space 2025: Day 15

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

Hey everyone!

Today, I want to invite you to add something fun to your day or plan something fun for your week, and to prioritize it like it was a vital meeting with a key client. (’cause it is but just not in a business-y way.)

It doesn’t have to be something huge but it does have to involve something you enjoy.

For example, I really wanted to dry orange slices to add to some decorations so the first thing on my to-do list today was slicing oranges and putting them in the oven on low heat.

And, yeah, that was a task, really but it was an enjoyable process

I even followed the mindfulness recommendations of using all my senses in the process – noticing the smell of the oranges, enjoying the variations in the colour, noting the texture and taste differences. (Oranges don’t offer much of an listening experience but I paid attention all the same.)

I hardly ever remember to do all that kind of stuff when I have a task at hand but because I knew I wanted to mention it here, I really tuned in to what I was doing and, I can, indeed report that it felt good to pay attention in that moment.

Does this mean I will remember to pay attention like that more often? Probably not but hopefully I will remember every now and then.

I get that this still doesn’t necessarily sound like something fun but consider it like this: I had decided that I wanted to dry oranges for decorations (a result I will enjoy), I decided to prioritize the process of creating them (prioritizing something I wanted to do felt good), I followed my plan without getting stressed about it (which for someone with ADHD is a definite victory), I was successful in mindfully slicing the oranges and managed to create fairly even slices (a HUGE challenge!), and I will be very happy with the finished decorations.

So, it’s not the same as having tea with a friend or drawing or dancing but I have enjoyed the process so far and I will get to enjoy the process of making the decorations once the orange slices are ready. (They are drying in the oven even as I type this!)

So, that was a lot of words to explain something fairly simple but that’s how my brain works a lot of the time and I am just rolling with it.

Anyway!

I hope that you can create some space for fun in your very near future, no matter what that fun looks like. And you don’t have to answer to anyone about that fun, either. If you find it fun, it is fun!

No matter how you choose to create space for yourself, I wish you ease in the process.

Here is a suggested movement video for today:

In the still image for this 10-Minute Low-Impact Bodyweight Cardio video from PS Fit three people are standing in a peach-coloured room. They are all wearing grey leggings, sports bras, and white sneakers and are demonstrating the cross-body elbow to knee movement, bringing their left knees up to meet their right elbows. They are all smiling and appear to be enjoying their workout.

And here is a mindfulness practice for you to try:

Mindful Drawing Studio In the still image of this Mindful Drawing Draw Along video, there is large text reading “Grab a gift card and draw with me! With Stacey Peters” in black on the left and an image of a sketchbook with overlapping rectangles filled with spirals, and a marker on the right. Overlapping the sketchbook is a person’s right hand (with several gold rings on the fingers) holding a red card (that says Gift Card on it) between their index finger and thumb.
a small drawing of the number 8 Making Space 2025: Day 8
cardio · meditation · self care

Making Space 2025: Day 8

Christine HenneburyLeave a comment

Hey everyone,

For my own amusement, I decided to choose today’s videos by searching ‘8 minute workout’ and ‘8 minute meditation’ to match the fact that today is the 8th.

It’s true that it doesn’t take a lot to amuse me but I consider that a good thing. 😉

In this section of the post, I usually add a little extra idea for your day. This time, I thought of all sorts of fun 8-themed activities for you to try today but eventually decided to offer this suggestion instead:

Today, please try to do just one thing that is for your own amusement. That might mean wearing your favourite hat, listening to a favourite song, dancing in the hallway, adding cinnamon to your hot chocolate, doodling in your notebook, shaping your pancakes like diamonds or sending heart emojis to all of your friends.

It really doesn’t matter what you decide, the important thing is that it is something fun for you* and that it doesn’t necessarily serve any other purpose besides amusing yourself.

As always, I wish you ease and self-kindness as you make your way through today.

Here is your movement practice for today:

Today’s video is from Silver Sneakers and the title ‘8-Minute Full Body Workout’ is shown on a blue overlay on the left side of the still image. On the right side is a slightly blurry photo of person in shorts and a long-sleeved shirt with their hair pinned up and their hands on their hips. They are mid-movement and there is a dark coloured couch and end table to their left.

And here’s your mindfulness practice:

In this ‘8 Minute Meditation You Can Do Anywhere’ from Yoga with Adriene, Adriene is wearing light coloured comfortable clothing and she is sitting somewhat cross-legged on some blankets to elevate her hips. Benji, her dog, is sleeping behind her and there is a window and greenery in the background. She has her eyes closed and her hands are resting on her upper legs. She looks quite peaceful.

* For the record, I am not advocating that you have fun at someone else’s expense nor am I suggesting that you do anything harmful. Just had to get that out there. (Yes, I overthink everything. Even this note.)

a small drawing of the number 2 Making Space 2025: Day 2
ADHD · cardio · fitness · meditation · self care

Making Space 2025: Day 2

Christine Hennebury2 Comments

Hey everyone!

Here we are at Day 2 and I already have a favour to ask you.

In the midst of your plan to make a bit more space for yourself this season, I’m wondering if you would consider scheduling two small things that are important to you in the weeks ahead.

This doesn’t have to be anything fancy – it could be reading a book or doing a puzzle or calling friend to catch up or dancing to specific song, or walking to look at lights or trees or the river.

It really doesn’t matter what the two small things are. What matters is that consider those things to be just as important as anything else you plan to do in the next few weeks.

Treat those plans like an appointment with a doctor or a meeting with a client – something that is pretty firmly scheduled but if something goes awry it will be rescheduled, not cancelled.

This is another way to create some space for yourself in December.

Because if you are like me, things that are just of interest to me tend to get shuffled aside for “when I get everything else done.”*

It’s never my plan to neglect my own fun but sometimes it just seems easier to put it aside for later.

So, my two definite plans for myself are: to go to the Santa Claus parade in my city on Saturday and to do a puzzle on the afternoon of the 21st.

If you’d like to tell me your plans in the comments, I’d love to read them!

So, with that said, here are two ways you can make a little space for yourself in your mind, your body, and your life today.

Wishing you ease, as always!

I chose some HIIT cardio for today’s movement practice but the instructor offers some modified movements if this is a bit much for you today. Remember, as always, that you are free to choose something else to do or to just do a small section. You are the boss of you!

This video is called”10 Minute Intense Cardio Party HIIT to the Beat” and it’s from the Fit by Mik channel. The still image shows the instructor in exercise clothes (blue leggings and a sports bra) with their hair in a ponytail doing an exercise where they are bringing their left elbow and right knee together. Their smile and the way their ponytail is flying out to the side gives a energetic feeling to the image. The title of the video is on the left side of the screen.

And here’s our mindfulness practice for today:

This video is “5 Minute Guided Meditation Quick Reset” from Meditate with Antonella and the still image is of several items on a brown table. Only two of the items can be clearly seen because the title text is covering part of the screen. The scene is dimly lit, there is a plant in a brown shallow dish in the upper right and in the center is a lit, light yellow, pillar candle in the same kind of round, brown, shallow dish.

*Yeah, there is no such time as “everything is done” – there is always more that “could” be done. We all end up just making decisions about when we are going to have to stop or when we have done “enough” so we might as well fit our own stuff in there now instead of hoping time will materialize at the end of our tasks.

Snow Choice In The Matter
cardio · fitness · winter

Snow Choice In The Matter

Christine Hennebury1 Comment

Sometimes you get to choose how you’ll exercise on a given day and other times your decision is made for you.

Today, after 38cm of snow arrived in blizzard conditions overnight, I had ‘snow’ other option – part of my exercise plan was definitely going to involve shoveling.

For the record, I didn’t have to shovel the whole driveway by myself – everyone chipped in to get it done.

deep snow on front steps and into a driveway where a car and a truck are parked
Yes, I *do* still have holiday lights on my front steps. These things happen. Oh, and yeah, that’s a fair bit of snow down. Image description: a photo looking down my front steps and into my driveway. The snow completely covers the actual risers of my steps and it has drifted halfway up the doors of my grey Mazda 3 and is part way up the tires of my husband’s white truck. The pile of snow plowed into the end of my driveway is level with the truck’s taillights.

From a physical, exercise perspective, I don’t mind shoveling all that much (it’s not a party or anything but it’s not a bad way to get moving) but I do sometimes find it boring.

Usually I will listen to a podcast or something to keep my mind busy while my body works but today I wasn’t really in a podcast-y mood so I relied on my other tricks to make shoveling a little less dull.

These don’t exactly make it exciting but they do break up the monotony a little.

Here’s what I do:

1. Lift with my legs

Yes, that’s standard snow-shoveling advice but in this case I am reeeeeaaaaaalllllly concentrating on it. I am VERY focused on using my leg muscles, pushing down with my feet, drawing strength through my quads…you get the idea.

2. Count shovelfuls

This involves me trying to guess how many shovelfuls of snow are between me and some specific point. ‘I think it will take me 20 shovelfuls to clear my way to the tree.’ There’s no reward except for the fun of being right but it divides the work into a series of tasks instead of the all-or-nothing of the whole driveway.

3. Switch sides

Don’t worry, I’m not siding with evil here! I noticed years ago that, unless I pay attention, I default to shoveling in one particular way and throwing the snow to one particular side. (Perhaps everyone does this? I don’t know, I’ve only ever been me.)

This results in my muscles getting tired in uneven ways and it sometimes makes my back cranky.

So for part of my shoveling process, I will do ten shovelfuls with my right hand on the handle and my left hand closer to the scoop of the shovel, throwing to my right. Then I will move to another position and switch to my left hand on the handle, right hand near the scoop, and start throwing to the left for ten shovelfuls.

This makes me pay attention to which muscles I am using, helps keep me from pushing myself too hard in one direction, and it also helps to make the project feel more manageable.

*****

Even though I had ‘snow’ choice in the matter, as exercise goes, there’s a lot to be said for shoveling.

There’s an external motivator (for safety’s sake, you need at least a path to the street), it really works a lot of muscles, it gets me out into the fresh air, and there is actual tangible evidence of the work that I did.

Sure, it can be monotonous but I can counter that by either listening to a podcast or by working my way through the techniques described above.

Those practices even make the shoveling process a bit more mindful, which is never a bad thing.

I’m still glad that I don’t have to do the whole rigamarole every day though.

PS – Since I didn’t want to get out of my snow clothes while taking a shoveling break, I invited Khalee out in the back yard to goof around for a while. Check out this photo of her in full frolic mode:

a dog frolicking in the snow
Khalee did not get involved in the shoveling process but she *did* zoom around the yard at a ridiculous speed sending snow flying everywhere so her contribution to the process was making me laugh while I took a break. Image description: Khalee, a light-haired dog, zipping along in the deep snow in our yard. She is in the upper left part of the image and the rest of the shot is snow that has been churned up with footprints and her antics. She is mid-gallop here so her front paws are curled and her body is curved and we can mostly see the right side of her face. She looks like she is having fun.
advice · cardio · holiday fitness · holidays · meditation · mindfulness · self care

Making Space 2024: December 12

Christine Hennebury

Hey Space Makers,

I’m feeling rather scattered today.

I’ve had two migraines this week so I had to adjust my plans accordingly and now I have ended up with a day full of loose tasks, open loops, and a lot of waiting on bits of information so I can complete some of those tasks and close some of those loops.

This is not a fun feeling for anyone, I’m sure. For someone with ADHD, this kind of day can feel really out of control and bring up all kinds of bad feelings from before I knew why I had to work differently.

In the first few posts for this week, I was referring to managing expectations of future events but today, I am going to give myself what I need (in post form) and remind myself (and you) that it is a good idea to manage expectations in the moment (or at least in the short term), too.

What does that mean for me today?

It means acknowledging that my day is kind of a game of pick-up-sticks but that I don’t have to win the game, I just have to play it.

It means accepting that my plans for the day may shift around and some sticks may fall.

It means I may have to be strategic about which sticks I pick up – either going for the easy ones at the edges or being really careful with the ones that are worth the most points.

It means that I may have to lift up all the sticks and drop them again to get a different layout.

It means that each stick I can move matters, even if I can’t pick them all up.

And to step away from the analogy a little, it means that I have to add some extra fun elements into my day, I have to take lots of short breaks, and I have to pay attention to my progress* rather than focusing on finishing anything in particular.

Perhaps your day is less brain-scattering than mine but it is still a good idea to be kind to yourself about your expectations of yourself today.

Make whatever allowances and accommodations you need to in order to do the tasks that are most important to you and to your well-being.

And no matter what metaphorical game you are playing today, I wish you ease and peace of mind.

With that said, let’s have a look at today’s suggested videos:

Today’s movement practice is a 7 Minute Feel Good Workout at Home – Full Body Low Cardio Boost Energy video from Lucy Wyndham-Read. In this video, she’s adding a fun VR style element that shows her doing all the movements in virtual natural spaces. It’s a bit of a ‘real person in a cartoon world’ type of thing but very enjoyable.

Still image description: The instructor, a woman with white skin and light brown hair wearing black leggings, sneakers, and a pink t-shirt, is walking with her elbows bent and her hands clasped near her face. The rest of the image is a field of virtual flowers and there are mountains in the background. The title of the video is overlaid on the image at the top and to the right.

Our mindfulness practice for today is a 3 Minute Breathing Meditation from Medistate Mind – I especially liked watching the (animated, I presume?) water in this one.

Still image description: a person sitting with their back to the camera on a dock surrounded with calm water at sunset. The title of the video is overlaid on the right hand side of the image.

*On days like this I usually find a way to create a visual record of my progress in addition to crossing things off my list. Usually I draw a series of circles (or stars!) on my notebook and colour in one circle/star for every work session I complete. I use an app called Repeat Timer that lets me set a recurring cycle of 13 minutes work and 2 minutes rest for set periods of time. I like 13 minute sessions because 10 mins is too short and 15 is too long and because 13 has always been a lucky number for me.

advice · cardio · fitness · holiday fitness · holidays · meditation · mindfulness · self care

Making Space 2024: December 10

Christine Hennebury

Hey Space Creators!

For today, I would like to invite you to remove something from your list of December/End of Year tasks.

I can only assume that, like me, you have a few tasks on your tangible or mental lists that you are planning to do if you have time.

I’m hoping that you will consider removing one of them today.

Now, I am NOT suggesting that you remove something you really enjoy and that you are hoping will be able to get done in a spare moment. I think those kinds of joyful things can stay on your list.

Instead, I am talking about those tasks that it would be nice if they got done but you also don’t have a lot invested in them. Or tasks that someone else has pushed off on to you. Or tasks that take more effort than the value they add.

Those kinds of tasks take up mental space and they keep an open loop in our brains and are generally annoying but they aren’t all that important to get done right now.

Try to take a few moments today to evaluate those tasks that are hanging around in the back of your brain or at the bottom of your list and pick one that you are NOT going to do. Something that you can just release entirely.

(If you feel weird about deciding not to do them at all, try scheduling them for sometime in late January and see how your brain feels about that.)

Making that kind of decision in advance will help reduce that ‘gotta do ALL OF THE THINGS” feeling and it will free up some mental space.

Taking that item (or items! Go ahead and pick more if you can) off your list will be a step toward realistic expectations for yourself AND it will remove a little bit of the ‘December deadline’ feeling that we often get caught up in this time of the year.

And not only will current you get some space, future you can also feel good about the decision because when a little window of time opens up for them they won’t feel like they *should* (blech! I hate that word!) be doing that thing.

You will have already made the decision for them and they can do something fun instead. That’s a great gift for future you.

So, with all of that said, let’s have a look at our practice suggestions for Tuesday, December 10:

Today’s movement practice is Express Cardio Routine| 10 Minute At-Home Low Impact Workout from the channel for the SWEAT app – remember that you can just do part of it if 10 minutes is too much for you today.

Still image description: The instructor – a woman with white skin, her brown hair in a ponytail- is wearing a sports bra, shorts, and white sneakers, while doing Mountain Climbers on a blue mat in a studio with light brown laminate flooring, white walls, and plants in the corner. The title of the video is overlaid on the background of the image and the name of the channel is overlaid in white on the bottom left.

And for our meditation today, we have 5 Minutes to Calm Your Overthinking Mind (Guided Meditation) from 5 Minutes by Great Meditation.

Still image is a cartoon drawing of a woman with light brown skin and long black hair in black leggings and a cropped tank top is seated with her legs crossed and her arms bent at the elbows and extended towards her knees. Her hands are lightly curled so her thumb and first finger are almost touching. She looks serene. The title of the video is in the upper right of the image.

If these videos don’t appeal to you or don’t meet your needs at the moment, then please do something else that helps your day (and your brain) feel more spacious.

I just want you to have room for yourself in your day-to-day life.

Wishing you ease, as always.

A chart for tracking seven workouts in seven days. 10 more minutes a day? I can totally do that, right?
ADHD · cardio · fitness · habits

10 more minutes a day? I can totally do that, right?

Christine Hennebury1 Comment

I’m trying (again?) to add more cardio to my daily routine.

I get plenty of low key to moderate exercise but I have trouble getting around to the kind of intense workouts that would really improve my fitness levels.

And I do actually want to improve my fitness.

I do want to be able do more intense exercise.

And I always enjoy more intense exercises sessions – once I’m actually doing them.

The thing is, though, I hate the *idea* of them.

And like anything that I hate the idea of, I end up greatly overestimating the energy required to do it.

And once I’ve overestimated, I end up, trying to optimize the situation so it’ll be the least amount of hassle.

For example, I’ll overthink the *right* exercise to do and the perfect time to do it. Or I’ll try to take something I already do and make it a little harder, a plan that almost always takes the fun out of the original activity and makes me less likely to even do that.

So, I know that all of this overthinking is a ‘feature’ of how my ADHD brain operates, but knowing the issue doesn’t make it easy to overcome.

But I’m trying again all the same.

Here’s the plan:

For the next 7 days, – including today! – I’m going to do a 10 minute kickboxing workout on Apple Fitness + and then I am going to colour in a star on my chart.

At the end of the 7 days, if I have done all my workouts, I’ll get to buy a new book.

Straightforward. Simple. Clear.

But not necessarily easy – especially with all the obstacles my brain is probably going to invent for me.

But I’m hoping the small amount of time and the minimal decisions involved will work for me.

I can totally do this…

Right?

PS – Yes, I do know that 10 minutes a day for 7 days won’t move the needle but I also know that it might be enough to get me to the next step.

cardio · Dancing · fitness · strength training · tbt · weight lifting · weight loss

Ozempic butt, ballerina bodies, and near-impossible beauty ideals

Sam B

What a day in the world of fitness-focused social media. Two new phrases passed my way. Two new impossible-to-achieve body types. First, being thin without a thin butt, that is, avoiding Ozempic butt. Second, the ballerina body.

See Ozempic is transforming your gym? for my introduction to the phrase “Ozempic butt.”

Talking about the pressure gyms are facing to move to strength training instead of cardio as their main focus, Brooke Masters writes, “Weight-loss drugs will exacerbate the pressure. As the drugs gain acceptance, fewer people are likely to rely on exercise as their primary weight loss tool and the drugs’ side effects, nausea and intestinal distress, can make high-impact cardio activities uncomfortable. However, GLP-1 users still need the gym. Studies suggest that the drugs cause significant muscle loss along with fat, leading to problems with balance and mobility as well as saggy skin sometimes dubbed “Ozempic butt”. Strength training seems to be the answer not just for GLP-1 users but everyone else. A growing body of medical literature suggests strength training cuts mortality, particularly for women, while also helping to prevent osteoporosis and relieving the symptoms of depression. “It’s gone from being health and fitness to health and wellness, which is a lot more holistic” says Eleanor Scott, a partner on PwC’s leisure strategy team.”

(Two quick comments from the peanut gallery over here. I think any method of rapid weight loss, indeed any method of weight loss without strength training, has this problem. And I think, in general the move to strength training makes sense for gyms because the pandemic taught me that while I can run and bike at home, I really like having a bench, a squat rack, and lots of heavy weights and benches at the gym. Also, we’re learning how much strength training matters for older people.)

And then the She’s a Beast blog introduced to me to the ballerina body as an ideal, which is just about as silly and unreachable as it sounds. See What is so wrong with wanting a ‘ballerina body’?

Casey Johnston writes,”It feels important to note that not every body aesthetic is unrealistic or expressive of patriarchal oppression. But, “ballerina body,” I mean…… come on. And this is not even to say that ballerinas are per se unhealthy! (Though the industry certainly has its issues). Ballet dancers do lift weights! But the body of a ballet dancer, just as with the elusive “swimmer’s body” for men, is inversely selective to what we perceive from the outside: They are ballet dancers because they have a particular body; they don’t develop a particular body from being ballet dancers. It has so little to do with training and so much to do with genetics that it’s nothing but an illusion, in terms of attainability.”

We’ve written a bit about the role of genetics too. See Tracy’s Is It True that Endurance Training Won’t Make You Thin and Lean Anymore Than Playing Basketball Will Make You Tall and Lanky?

Is It True that Endurance Training Won’t Make You Thin and Lean Anymore Than Playing Basketball Will Make You Tall and Lanky?

Back to original content tomorrow, when #tbt comes to an end!

women s dancing ballet
Ballerinas, in white, against a blue floor. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Christine and the small challenge
ADHD · cardio · challenge · fitness · walking

Christine and the small challenge

Christine Hennebury

I’m setting a little challenge for myself!

I always enjoy my walks with Khalee but they are usually better for my mental health than my physical health.

I have a tendency to fall into an ambling pace rather than putting much cardio effort in. And that’s fine on days when I need the mental break more that the physical exertion but on busy day when I won’t get a lot of other exercise, it would be swell if my walk did double duty.*

A photo of a dog on a sidewalk on a sunny day
A sunny day photo of my dog Khalee standing on some muddy grass next to the sidewalk. She is a light-brown, medium sized dog and she is pointed away from the camera but she is looking back over her left shoulder because I called out to her. The shadow of my upper body and my hand holding my phone can be seen on the sidewalk.

So, I’ve decided that I am going to try doing a 5 minute warm-up before heading out the door.

My thought here is that by warming up beforehand, I won’t be spending any of my walk warming up. Instead, I’ll be spending my walk already in a good heart rate zone.

And, since I am already in that mental and physical space, I’ll be more likely to stay in exercise mode instead of amble mode.

I’m writing this on Monday afternoon and my wrist spy reports that my heart rate average was a few points higher during our walk than it usually is. And, I felt really good about the extra effort.

One day, one reading, and a subjective report is hardly scientific but it is encouraging enough to tell me to keep trying.

I’m going to do a warmup before every walk for the next week and see how it affects my heart rate and my overall feelings about walking.

Updates as events warrant.

A photo of a sidewalk on a sunny day
A sunny day photo of one of the sidewalks that Khalee and I travel on during an average walk. There is a road on the left and a line of trees with a little snow underneath on the right. People’s backyard fences are just behind the trees but they aren’t visible in the photo. A blue sky with some fluffy clouds can be seen above.

*This isn’t the first time I have noticed this. I wrote about it in this post about my two-speed dog back in February 2023.

At that point, I came up with a couple of things to try but my focus was more on alleviating boredom than on trying to add more of a cardio element to my walk.

I still do those things sometimes on my walk but that requires me to a) remember b) start a new ‘task.’ And if ai have already slipped into amble mode, I may not have the spare energy to initiate a new task. ADHD strikes again!

cardio · fitness · injury · strength training

You can’t do everything and that’s okay

Sam B
Turtles

Saturday I posted in the 223 workouts in 2023 group, “One lap of the Beach Island Loop with the Thundering Turtles, 30 minutes. My goal is to up my time consistently through fall and winter to get my cardio fitness and endurance back. Obviously, that fell through the wayside while I was recuperating from knee surgery, and the focus was all mobility, strength, and balance.”

It’s important to acknowledge this. While I’m a physio and knee replacement surgery success story, not all of my areas of fitness survived equally. I got back to strength training pretty early in. Physio focuses a lot on mobility and balance. But cardio fitness? I lost that pretty quickly. Here’s what Triathlete magazine has to say about losing cycling fitness. They estimate the time to get back to where you were is about 2/3 of the time you were off. So, for me, it’s been a year. That makes getting back to where I was last summer a reasonable winter goal.

Getting my cardio fitness back is going to be a focus of my fall and winter training. I’m not beating myself up about it. I’m not feeling bad about it. But it does feel urgent to get it back. Here’s my fall and winter plan.

It also feels good to know I’m not alone. A fit feminist friend on Facebook commented on my Beach Island Loop post, saying, “I will follow your model. My cardio fell off the wagon (but was slipping anyway) with the pacemaker. I’ve been all strength, mobility and balance too. Having trouble getting going as my sleep apnea has been horrid (just had a study) and I’ve lacked motivation. Will walk, starting at 15 minutes (that’s where I am), try to be consistent and gradually work up. Thanks. You are always an inspiration to me.”

It also helps me to remember that it’s true for serious athletes, too. You can’t do everything. You can train for explosive power but not also for peak endurance. You can train for strength and muscle development, but that will make it hard to train for running marathons. That’s just because different sports have different demands.

In my case, without strength, I couldn’t tax my cardiovascular system. I needed to rebuild strength first. But strength is back, and this winter’s focus will be cardio endurance. Wish me luck, folks!