If you're dealing with unexplained aches and pains, stubborn weight gain, tight joints, or a constant lack of energy, chances are you've blamed one thing: your age.
We’ve all heard it.“You’re not 25 anymore.”“Wait until you hit menopause.”“It’s normal to slow down as you get older.”
These messages are everywhere — from doctors, media, friends, and even ourselves. The idea that aging automatically equals decline is so common, it’s almost unquestioned. But what if this entire narrative is wrong?
Age Is Not the Enemy
But what if this is true: Your age is not the problem.
Your age is not the reason you’ve gained weight.It’s not why your back hurts, why you feel tired, or why stairs feel harder than they used to.
What is the real issue?Inactivity — or not moving enough in the right way.
Most of the decline people attribute to aging is actually the result of a lack of muscle mass, poor movement patterns, and a sedentary lifestyle. In other words, it’s not age that’s causing the issue — it’s what we’re not doing — or not doing — as we age.
The good news? You have far more control than you think.
Challenging the Conditioning Around Aging
We’ve been conditioned to expect decline with age — to believe that feeling stiff, tired, or weak is inevitable. This belief is so deeply ingrained that even when people see living proof that it doesn’t have to be this way, they often can’t believe it.
One of my clients, now 51, started strength training three years ago. Today, she says she feels better than she did in her 30s. She swims, hikes, chases her kids around, and gets off the floor with ease — no hands needed. She’s full of energy and gratitude. She doesn’t “feel old” at all. Check out the message she sent me a few days ago:
How is she able to do all that? Because she built strength. Because she moved with intention.
A few months ago I had a conversation with two of my family members, one of them is 69 and the other 71. I shared with them the story of another client — a man who had never worked out a day in his life until his early 70s. He signed up to work with me when he was in his early 70s, because his wife told her he has to (smart woman!)
Five years later, this client who has continued to lift weights with me throughout all these years, is exploring the world on foot, biking and skiing with his granddaughter, and going on birdwatching trips to places like Japan and New Zealand.
And yet, after hearing this, one of my relatives simply said, “That’s a nice story… but I’m already 71.”
That’s the power of conditioning. It convinces us decline is inevitable — even when the evidence says otherwise.
But here’s the truth: there are people in their 80s, 90s, and even 100s still hiking, dancing, and lifting weights. Not because they got lucky, but because they never stopped moving.
Strength Training Is the Key to Vitality
If the problem is inactivity and muscle loss, the solution is obvious: strength training.
This doesn’t mean hours in the gym or lifting the heaviest weights possible. Just 2–3 short workouts per week can drastically change your energy, mobility, and long-term health.
Let’s break down what strength training actually does for you.
