The Blog

I may be a personal trainer, but I'm not immune to the hormonal changes that every woman goes through. I know my Instagram page is full of workout videos, but that's only a snapshot. Like every woman, I have seasons where I feel stronger, leaner and more comfortable in my own skin, and other times when life is busy, stress is higher, sleep is patchy or my hormones seem to have a mind of their own. My body changes too.

Every summer I end up giving exactly the same piece of advice, quite simply because it works. Get up, stay in your bra and knickers, and do your workout before you've had chance to talk yourself out of it or head out for the day. It isn't glamorous, and you certainly won't see it anywhere on my Instagram feed, but it works. Holidays knock us all out of our routine, as they should. They're a time to rest, slow down and enjoy ourselves.

If you spend any time on social media, you'd be forgiven for thinking women's fitness hasn't really moved on. Women are still being sold six-pack abs, rounded glutes and toned arms, as though we're all chasing the same body we were twenty years ago.

I don't think many of us fully appreciate the sheer amount our brains and nervous systems are being asked to manage every single day.

At 50, I am increasingly aware that the choices I make now are shaping a future version of me. The woman I become at 60, 70 and beyond isn't going to appear out of nowhere. She's being created every day through the habits I keep, the things I prioritise and the way I choose to look after myself. And the more I thought about it, the more I realised that most of us have been asking the wrong question about ageing.