Mighty.Fit: Aging in Motion

10/08/2026

Do You Like a Challenge as Much as I Do?

I love to challenge myself. I try new exercises, new classes, and new ideas.

I’m a firm believer in building strength through adaptation, and I love exploring new ways to ask more of my body.

An unfamiliar movement invites me to pay attention—to figure out the coordination, find my footing, and meet a different kind of effort.

There’s room for familiar exercises and steady progression. And there’s room to explore what else I can do.

Do you tend to stick with what you know, or do you enjoy trying something new?

10/05/2026

You can be active and still get weaker.

I know because I did it for decades.

I walked, biked, hiked, took yoga classes, and did all sorts of fun movement.

But I didn’t consistently train my strength.

I call it the Activity Trap.

When you’re active, you use the muscles required for those activities. But using a muscle isn’t the same as training it for strength.

Walking is a great example. I love it. I walk all the time.

But walking isn't going to progressively challenge my upper body.

And eventually, if I keep asking my muscles to do exactly what they already know how to do, they have little reason to adapt.

That's the difference.

Being active ain’t enough.

To build and maintain strength, you gotta strength train.

I'll be 69 in a week, and I'm still training for what I want to be able to do next.

Because the truth I'm training for is this:

Strength creates choices.

I wrote more about the Activity Trap and what to do about it here:

Wallking is great, but it ain’t enough. Read why I consider the need to strength train a life sentence, in a good way.

10/01/2026

Finding Your Off Switch

That may sound like a funny idea.
But I used to never stop when I was younger. I would go go go and didn't even want to go to sleep.
Now I appreciate taking a breather.

Here is a video about how your breath can bring you calm.

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09/23/2026

MYTH: Cardio is the best exercise for weight loss

We were taught to think that if we want to lose weight, we need to get breathless and sweaty on a treadmill, bike, rowing machine, or brisk walk.

Cardio is terrific for cardiovascular health—and yes, it burns calories.

But don’t overlook strength training.

When you’re losing weight, strength training helps you maintain—and potentially build—muscle rather than losing muscle along with fat.

Muscle also requires energy to maintain, so having more muscle contributes to a higher resting metabolic rate. That means your body is burning calories even when you’re sitting at your desk or watching a movie.

And strength training does something cardio alone can’t do nearly as well: it gives your muscles and bones the resistance they need to stay strong.

Cardio for your heart.

Strength training for your muscles, bones, and metabolism.

For overall health? Do both.

09/18/2026

What Muscles Are Your Second Heart?

I honestly only learned the answer recently, but the idea has been around for a while.

Your calf muscles—particularly the soleus and gastrocnemius— squeeze the deep veins in your legs as you move, helping push blood back up toward your heart.

This is known as the calf muscle pump, and it’s sometimes called your “second heart.”

And here’s the important part: movement activates that pump.

It’s another reason sitting still for long periods isn’t good for us. Even if you need to remain seated, moving your ankles and working your calves can help keep blood moving.

Here are three simple ways to get your calves working:
1. Calf raises.
Stand with your feet about hip-width apart. Your core will work too, helping you stay upright. If you need support, face a wall or place your hands on a chair.
Lift both heels as high as you comfortably can, then lower them back to the floor. Try 10–15 reps. You can repeat this several times throughout the day.

2. Take a walk.
Even a ten-minute walk after dinner gets your calf pump working—and walking after a meal can also help reduce the rise in blood sugar.

3. Heel-to-toe rocking.
Rock from your heels to the balls of your feet. You can do this seated or standing.

4. Walk up and down stairs.

Your calves do a lot more than help you walk and climb stairs.

What will you do for your second heart today?

09/17/2026

This morning, after class, I sat down with my friend and student, Debra, to talk about why Pilates.

Debra and I go way back. In my 20s, I took jazz dance with her. Debra is a professional dancer. Now in her 70s, Debra takes Mat Pilates with me.

We both do it all. Debra strength trains, spins, teaches cardio-dance and strength classes, and walks.

Listen to our conversation to hear how Pilates supports all our activities.

https://www.youtube.com/

👋 Let’s Connect!🌐 Check out my website for more info on how we ca...

09/16/2026

You don’t need to be in great shape to start strength training.

You don’t need to know what exercises to do.

And you definitely don’t need to walk into a gym and figure it all out by yourself.

You may be starting from zero.

You may already be active but know you need to get stronger.

You may have an achy knee, an old injury, osteoporosis, or simply a body that doesn’t move quite the way it did 20 years ago.

That’s where coaching comes in.

I coach you one-on-one.

I build your strength program around your body, your goals, your equipment, and your life. We meet weekly; I adjust your program as you progress, and you can message me when you have questions along the way.

Some of my clients work with me for a few months. Others have stayed with me for years.

One-on-one Mighty Fit coaching is $500/month.

If you want to talk about what you’d like to be stronger for and whether coaching with me makes sense, comment **COACHING** or send me a message.

Strength creates choices.

09/13/2026

Someone joined my Skool group this morning and said her biggest challenge was:

“Getting stronger without getting hurt.”

I suspect a lot of people feel exactly this way.

You know strength matters. You want to be stronger. But maybe you have an old injury, an achy knee, osteoporosis, back pain—or you simply haven’t strength trained in a long time or ever.

You may wonder if you are too old at 69 or 72 or 85. I've worked with new clients on up to 95.

So how do you get stronger without getting hurt?

You don’t start by proving how much you can do.

You start where your body is now.

You learn the movement. You choose an appropriate load. You pay attention to form. You progress gradually. You breathe. And you give your body time to adapt.

Strength training should be challenging. But challenging and unsafe are not the same thing.

In fact, getting stronger can help you feel more capable and confident in your body.

The goal isn’t to avoid challenge.

The goal is to build your capacity for it.

Is fear of getting hurt keeping you from strength training?

09/10/2026

Are you in the 17%?

I am.

That is the percentage of women over 65 who strength train in the United States.
If we count everyone, only 30% strength train.

These stats blow my mind because I know I feel as good as I do because I strength train.

Curious?

Message me.

09/09/2026

I went to yoga school for a practical reason. I had become a partner in a physical fitness studio that offered yoga. None of the partners were yoga teachers, so I decided to go.

Am I glad I did.

A year after finishing my 200 hours, I left the partnership over a management disagreement. What would yoga be for me now without the studio?

As it happened, this was the spring COVID began. I launched a free Beginner Yoga Class for my local Senior College and started on my 500 hours.

Seven years later, I completed my 500 hours and continue to study toward 1000 hours. The Beginner Yoga Class has continued three mornings a week. I’ve enjoyed teaching yoga to farmworkers on a robust vegetable farm and to hikers at an Acadia National Park resort.

As a strength coach, I value integrating yoga wisdom into my programming. Yoga has become part of how I think about strength, movement, breathing, and the body.

I went to yoga school because I wanted to better understand and manage the yoga side of our studio. The studio went away. Yoga stayed.

Has something ever set you in motion for one reason, only to become something much bigger than you expected?