Everybody in the fitness biz talks about hitting plateaus in your workout regimen, times when you don’t seem to be progressing toward your goals and, thus, need to change your routine. I manage to avoid plateaus not by changing my…

Two interesting questions lodged themselves in my pea brain after last night’s workout: 1.) Do certain foods make you stronger? and 2.) How hard should my heart really be beating when I’m busting my butt at the gym? But, first,…

After my Crapmobile episode on Monday, I was anxious to get back on my regular workout schedule, so last night I hit the gym after work and went through my regular routine — except I built in some time between…

I trekked through the beginnings of a classic March blizzard yesterday morning, workout gear in my backpack, fully intending to hit the gym after work. Really I did. Then, about 3 p.m., my lovely wife called me on my cell…

Jeeze, has it been 11 days since I last posted something here? You’re going to assume, of course, that I’ve also been derelict in my fitness regimen and simply didn’t want to pen one more pathetic post about how hard…

The great thing about Minnesota is that the weather is always pretty reliable. It’ll be mercilessly frigid for three months every winter and then insufferably sweltering (with mosquitoes) for two months every summer. It’s never a surprise — just an…

True to form, when I finally got to the gym on Friday I completely overdid things — piled on the poundage and lifted to failure, just as I had promised myself. By Monday, my upper body — especially my arms…

It was kind of slow going this morning, due to the patches of glare ice hidden beneath a couple of inches of new snow. Lots of slipping and sliding on the sidewalks. At one point I could envision catastrophe —…

I’m learning more about how the muscles in my body work, which is a good thing, since a lot of them are still sore today from my Wednesday workout. The most surprising news? It’s the period between workouts when your…

After about a 10-day hiatus, I'm finally feeling back in the swing of things. Winter is (very, very gradually) turning into spring, so I've been able to resume my walking commute, and last night I hit the gym for the first time in what feels this morning like a long, long time (I'm a little sore).

A nasty cold/flu bug has put me off my game this past week, plus it’s been too cold for my normal walking commute, so I’m beginning to feel a little out of sorts, fitness-wise. It’s fascinating to see how easily…

I’ve never been particularly obsessed about my age, partly because I’ve always looked younger than I really am (which was a huge disadvantage when trying to buy liquor as a teenager).

With the mercury shooting up toward the teens this morning and a piddly southern breeze at my back, I could come out of my turtle-like posture of recent days and really enjoy the landscape. A fellow carrying a couple of…

It's a bracing zero degrees this morning as I set off for work, but -- mercifully -- there's no wind to speak of, which makes for a splendid amble through the park. I even took a moment to stretch my calves at the foot of the stairs that take me to 46th Street and the Ford Bridge.

I mentioned earlier that I'd never set foot in a health club before about a year ago, so it's almost goes without saying that the whole strength training routine remains pretty foreign to me (that is not me in the photo).

Of course I didn’t do any stretching to speak of last night at the gym (see previous post). I mean, I did sort of stretch my calves and hamstrings before I revved up the treadmill, but you’re supposed to do…

In the fall of 1998, I blew out my right knee playing basketball. I remember the occasion because it happened around the same time that Minnesota Vikings quarterback Randall Cunningham sustained a similar injury. Cunningham was back in the lineup…

That nasty northwest wind I mentioned yesterday was out in force this morning, knifing through my corduroys like a hundred icy daggers. Of course, like a good Minnesotan, I just put my head down and pushed on through. Not a…

I've been a pretty faithful bicycle commuter for the past 30-some years. But, when the first big snow falls here in the Twin Cities, I typically park my bicycle in the garage and rely on the automobile to get to work. I've taken enough spills on the ice over the years to convince me that it's the most prudent approach. Usually, I'm back on the road by April.

For most of my 56 years, I’ve considered myself to be a pretty fit guy — athletic even. I played seven years of Little League baseball; ran cross-country in junior high, where I also made the baseball, basketball, football, and…