I try and lift weights and jump rope regularly. Think jumping rope is for sissies, huh? Give it a whirl for 5 minutes and get back to me.

The goal is to get the heart pumping a bit because writing involves next to no physical effort. In fact, as I’ve come to understand it writing is mostly about sitting in a chair for long time and without blowing the day surfing the web, talking on the phone, cleaning the house and otherwise not writing.

Lately the fatigue has been so acute that the targeted body parts shake uncontrollably halfway through the workout. But I found a cure.

Eating a baked potato 30 minutes before the workout holds the tremors back. Who would have thought? And they say carbs are all bad.