This month I’ve started something new. Or perhaps more accurately — something I should have prioritised earlier. I’ve joined the gym again and started a strength programme designed to help fix a few niggling injuries and build the kind of strength that supports my body as I get older. For years I’ve walked, stayed active, and generally kept moving. But recently it dawned on me that I haven’t been doing enough intentional strength work.

This week my personal trainer introduced me to something called an Assault Bike. Now, if you’ve never seen one before, it looks innocent enough — a stationary bike with some moving handles. Haha don’t be fooled. It is not your friend!

The idea is that the harder you push, the harder the bike pushes back. Arms and legs going at the same time. At the end of my session my trainer casually suggested we finish with 30-second sprints for five minutes. Five minutes didn’t sound like much. Thirty seconds of effort… then a little recovery… repeat. Easy, right? Well let me tell you the real truth :-) 

By the third sprint my legs were burning, my arms were not on the bars, and I was starting to think five minutes might actually be a unit of time invented purely for torture. But here’s the funny thing. When I walked out of the gym afterwards, I felt fantastic although a little wobbly. Tired… but strong.

And it made me realise something strength is probably the one thing I haven’t prioritised enough in the past few years. And strength, it turns out, matters more than we realise. Not for aesthetics or
for chasing a younger body. But for aging well.

From our 40s onward we naturally begin to lose muscle mass. It’s a process called sarcopenia, and if we don’t actively counter it, our strength declines year by year. The good news is that our bodies respond incredibly well when we start training them again.

Strength training helps us:

• Protect our bones and joints
• Improve balance and reduce falls
• Support metabolism and energy levels
• Reduce aches and injuries – my main reason for starting this journey
• Maintain independence as we age

In other words, strength isn’t about lifting heavy weights for the sake of it. It’s about future-proofing your body.

What I’m doing differently

My focus right now isn’t intensity. It’s consistency. Just three sessions each week that focus on:

• strengthening the muscles that support my joints because I want these to be stronger

• improving stability

• building back muscle that quietly disappears over time

I’m also approaching this with a slightly different mindset than when I was younger.

Instead of asking: "How hard can I push?"

I’m asking: "What will help my body feel stronger and more capable in the years ahead?"

I want to make this part of real life because one thing I often see with women I work with is the belief that fitness must be all or nothing. This is not helpful to believe this and it doesn’t have to be this way at all.

Strength can look like:

·       two to three gym sessions per week

·       resistance bands in the living room in the evenings to help with stretching

·       a yoga class or maybe a reformer class too

·       walking the doggy when I have her

Small, regular actions compound beautifully over time. You don’t need perfection. And my old saying is that you just need progress.

And finally, I have a question for you? What is one small way you could add strength into your week? Is it exploring a gym for the first time in years like I have. Or is it maybe lifting a few weights at home. Or is it simply deciding that your body deserves the same care and attention you give everyone else.

Because the truth is this: The strongest women I know in their 60s and 70s didn’t get there by accident. They built that strength gradually — one small step at a time.

And it’s never too late to begin.