I was born in the mid-1960s, which means I grew up during the era when women were told that being skinny would solve… everything.
Tired? Be thinner.
Unhappy? Lose weight.
Want to be loved, successful, or taken seriously? Obviously, smaller was the answer.
They started us off with diet culture dressed up as “science.” First it was Phen, then Phen-Phen, which we later learned was basically legal speed. When people started having heart attacks and, you know, expiring, they quietly pulled that off the shelves and moved on to the next miracle.
Then came the named diets. Atkins. South Beach. Fat was the enemy. No, wait. Carbs were the enemy. No, actually fat was fine again, but only certain fats, on Tuesdays, during a full moon... sigh.
What nobody talked about during all of this was strength.
Not real-life strength.
Not functional strength.
Not the kind of strength you need when gravity wins!
The Moments That Changed How I Think About Fitness
My mother-in-law fell and broke her ankle in her mid-60s. Not elderly. Not frail. Just… unprepared. She didn’t have the arm strength, leg strength, or core stability to get herself off the floor.
Thank goodness my husband is 6'6", because he was able to help her up. But that moment stuck with me. What happens when there isn’t someone tall and strong nearby?
Then there was my Dad. He didn’t fall down the stairs or trip over something dramatic. He simply slipped off a chair. Chairs, it turns out, are a recurring theme in how independence quietly erodes. He couldn’t get himself back up.
And then there was the firefighter.
He was my daughter’s boyfriend at the time, and I spent a lot of time around him. He was genuinely kind, thoughtful, and exactly the sort of person who becomes a firefighter because he actually wants to help people.
One day, he mentioned that 70–80% of their calls were just helping people get off the ground.
Not fires.
Not rescues from burning buildings.
Just people who couldn’t get back up on their own.
That’s when it clicked for me.
This isn’t about emergencies.
It’s about independence!
This Is Not a Fitness Series About Weight Loss
Let me be very clear about what this series is not.
This is not about:
- Shrinking your body
- Chasing a number on a scale
- Gym culture
- Pushing through pain
- Pretending we’re 25 again
We’ve had decades of that messaging, and frankly, it didn’t do us any favors.
This series is about something far more practical and far more important.
It’s about being able to:
- Stand up from a chair without rocking
- Catch yourself when you lose your balance
- Get down to the floor and back up again
- Carry your groceries
- Reach overhead without fear
- Stay in your own home longer
This is fitness for real life after 50!
Why Balance, Chair Exercises, and Gentle Strength Matter
Balance isn’t something you’re born with and magically keep forever. It’s a skill, and like any skill, it fades if you don’t use it. The good news is that it can also be rebuilt, gently and safely.
Chair exercises are often treated like a consolation prize, but they’re actually one of the smartest places to start. Chairs give us support while we build strength in the legs, arms, and core, which are exactly the muscles we rely on every single day.
And core strength doesn’t mean crunches or sit-ups. It means stability. It means being able to brace yourself when life surprises you. It’s the difference between a wobble that turns into a fall and a wobble you recover from.
This kind of movement helps you trust your body again. And trust is everything!
Fitness for Staying Independent After 50
I believe we deserve fitness advice that respects aging bodies instead of fighting them.
Advice that acknowledges fear without feeding it.
Advice that focuses on function instead of appearance.
Advice that doesn’t assume we want to spend hours at the gym or risk injury to prove a point.
That’s what this series is about.
I’m not here as a trainer or an expert shouting instructions. I’m here as a friend who has watched parents, in-laws, and loved ones struggle with things no one warned us about.
Every Sunday, I’ll be sharing:
- Gentle exercises
- Chair workouts
- Balance and stability movements
- Simple routines you can do at home
- Honest conversations about strength and independence
Not to make us younger.
But to help us stay us.
Strong enough to get back up!
Confident enough to keep going!
Here are some fun articles you might love:
- 9 Simple Exercises to Improve Stability & Coordination For Older Women
- 10 Simple At-Home Exercises for Older Women (No Equipment Needed!)
- 8 No-Floor Exercises for Older Women Who Don’t Want to Get Down (Literally)
