Lol to the patriarchy for spinning me that yarn.
I literally spent years fearing turning 40. Trying to get ‘milestones’ ticked off because that felt like the end of the road. Especially physically.
It never occurred to me that I could START resistance training in my 40s and actually see real gains. Or that I could change how my body looks and feels.
And sure, my knees ache when it rains and some days my shifting hormones defeat me. But I’m improving – not deteriorating – as I go through my 40s (wtf).
Being fit at 40+
I can’t believe that I almost didn’t step into this version of me just because of something as irrelevant as age. Because I believed that over 40 I would lose value, power and choices.
There’s a reason why so many of us have this limiting belief:
But your chronological age (the one on your birth certificate) means nothing. Literally nothing. Why don’t you take your pick from a different age instead:
Biological age
Mental age
Emotional age
Or select other ways to define yourself that aren’t so generic and tied up in social conditioning and misogyny.
Today there is only one way that I will accept that I can’t do something: if I’ve actually tried it. Otherwise, anything is possible.
Anyone can be fit post-40
When I hit 40 I kind of thought that was it for me fitness wise. That I’d just stay the shape, size and level of fitness I was at that point. And then go downhill.
There are a lot of “can’ts” for women over the age of 40. It’s been really useful being a mindset coach because I know that those limits aren’t true unless you believe them.
There are women taking up calisthenics in their late 40s and being able to do a human flag by 52. There are women in their 70s squatting lower than you. There are women in their 90s still doing yoga and track sports. Nothing is simply physically impossible because of age.
It’s challenging when hormones shift and those hormones are affecting everything, from weight to brain function. Sudden joint pain, inexplicable rage, exhaustion and brain fog definitely don’t make life easier. But a lot of the physical shifts that come at this time are not deterioration – that’s just how they’ve been framed by a misogynist media that we believe because research into perimenopause and menopause has been embarrassingly non-existent until recently.
I coach so many women who feel so lost and hopeless at 40+. Believing what society says about women’s value dropping with age, being on the shelf etc. But here’s the thing: I’ve never felt so powerful or capable. Despite the achey knees.
If you want to feel like that too then it doesn’t start with physical change. It begins by looking at the limiting beliefs you have around age and then putting them in the bin. Defining your own reality by experimenting with what you can do instead of believing in what you can’t. Ready to do that too? Book a free intro call and let’s chat.
