We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
I've visited Scotland a couple of times, and we are headed there again this year. May I say that Scotland (England too) is not known for cuisine?
OK, they do cook good fresh fish, and mutton. Clootie pudding is ok with ice cream, and kippers are fine but too big. Haggis is not terrible as part of a breakfast, but it's not the greatest.
Haggis Recipe. A chef friend recommends barley instead of oatmeal. Where do you buy a cow or sheep stomach?
It's Bobbie Burns' birthday. What's the Highland Fling?
An athletic friend who is around my age was saying that he ought to begin weight training. He never has tried it, but nobody likes the effects (or the sight) of lost muscle mass.
Experienced trainers can work with you on endurance, agility, balance, strength, cardio, general conditioning - whatever you want. So the first question he or she should ask you, on a first meeting, is your goals. You can even mention weight loss if that is a goal, in which case a trainer will offer advice on a nutritional plan. (An honest trainer, though, will tell you that exercise is only an adjunct to appropriate nutrition, not a substitute.)
Second thing the new trainer should run through is medical history and active medical issues. You might be asked to get a cardiac stress test, or other check-ups.
The third thing a new trainer will do is to run you through a number of exercises to assess your condition. They like to get a baseline. These exercises will check your endurance, cardio fitness, upper and lower body strength, balance, etc. You just do your best, no matter how lame it is.
The fourth thing a trainer will do is to recommend a plan for you. In my case, it has been 2 days of weights with him, 2 days or calisthenics recommended by him, and 2 days of HIIT cardio. One of these days I will cut him back to 1 day/wk for the weights I am not comfortable doing alone, like barbell squats, bench press. Even if you exercise on your own, it is a good idea to learn the right technique for everything. There is even a right and wrong way to do something as simple as Jump Rope, or Farmers' Walk:
4:12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.
4:13 He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,
4:14 so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
4:15 "Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles
4:16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."
4:17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
4:18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen.
4:19 And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people."
4:20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
4:21 As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them.
4:22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.
Made it to L'eliser d'amore (1836) today with buddies. The ultimate opera buffa with the silliest story ever, based on Tristan and Isolde. It's just about a platform for Donizetti's divine music. He wields a light hand in this opera, so the cast can do their thing. This is pop music
When Toscanini first heard Caruso sing this aria, it is told that he commented "If this Neapolitan keeps this up, he will become famous." Here's Pavarotti with Una furtiva lagrima:
We've written about this topic in the past, but it's worth reviewing the misconceptions about cardio fitness and cardio exercise. (Remember, in our view, "cardio" should be only 1/3 of your exercise program beacuse it does little for muscle and bone strength, and little for athleticism.)
Any exercise, from walking to weight-lifting, makes more demand on heart function than sitting or lying down. So cardio exercise has a spectrum from very light to maximum intensity. Simply put, the core purpose of "cardio" exercise is to maintain or upgrade heart function (cardiac condition is measured by things like a Cardiac Stress Test with Echo, Stroke Volume, Cardiac Output, cardiac vasculature, and left ventricle size to some extent). Like weight-lifting for skeletal muscle, it requires stress, relative to your conditioning and medical condition.
With lighter stresses (eg non-sprint, endurance-oriented swimming laps, jogging, rowing, stair machine, elliptical, etc) we are putting our hearts to some use, but we are working more on general time endurance than cardio. (Lots of people do those things thinking that they involve fat-burning, but don't count on that to work if you do 1 hour/day.) For people who are not training for specific goals, building endurance is great for life. Nobody wants to slow down or feel tired during ordinary recreational activities like sports or hiking. These non-sprint exercises aim for around 70% of one's max heart rate to make it worth your precious time.
The higher the physical demand - the intensity of an exertion for your level of fitness - the more you are training your heart rather than just using it. The highest levels of exertion (say, with sets of deadlifts near 80% of your max, or with 30-second sprints) are anaerobic and can push your heart rate to 90% of your max. That heart-pounding rest time or slow time is to catch up on oxygen.
For endurance, an hour of lap swimming, cycling, jogging, elliptical, stair machine, ski machine, rower, etc at around 70% of your max heart rate is where you ought to be, if in decent health. Over time, you will need to raise the speed to get to those heart rates. These exercises do nothing much to build muscle or bone strength.
For maximum cardiac fitness (with bonus endurance benefits as well), mixing in sprints which get your HR to 80-90% of your max should be included. Bursts of intensity. In the Maggie's Fitness for Life program, the other good sources of intense cardiac stress are the powerlifts and calisthenics. Ideally, some of all of those because there is more to fitness than cardiac fitness. Fitness is a package deal.
An interesting detail is that to up your game in any area of exertion, it's always a good idea to do what you do not usually do. Explosive linebackers get better with distance running, distance runners get better with weights and sprints, heavy lifters get better with calisthenics. Balance.
"If diversity trainings have no impact whatsoever, that would mean that perhaps billions of dollars are being wasted annually.... But there’s a darker possibility..."
Venison:
The Sullivan brothers - 
It really only sort-of worked with Pheasants in some areas, and with Huns out West.
We've written about this topic in the past, but it's worth reviewing the misconceptions about cardio fitness and cardio exercise. (Remember, in our view, "cardio" should be only 1/3 of your exercise program beacuse it does little for muscle and bone strength, and little for athleticism.)