Instead of starting with intense workouts immediately, try walking every day instead – it’s easy enough for almost anyone regardless of age or current physical condition as well as free (unless you want to buy
Since hard maple grows slower than soft maple, the growth rings on hard maple will generally be closer together than those of soft maple. Since a lot depends on growing conditions for each individual tree, this is not a foolproof way of distinguishing the two, but is a good reference point...