Your body doesn’t have to go downhill in your 60s - I’m fitter and stronger than ever - Jacqueline Hooton

Who says you can’t lift heavy weights in your 60s? Photo / Getty Images

A fall six months ago resulted in a broken wrist, but now I’m lifting my heaviest weights and refuse to give into ageing.

Despite what you may have been led to believe, I honestly don’t think it has to be the case that things go downhill as we age. Sure we pick up some wrinkles and a few creaky joints over the decades, and I know from personal experience how our confidence can take a hit in our so-called twilight years.

Six months ago, while on holiday, I fell backward off a raised patio area next to a swimming pool. It was only half a metre off where I’d lost my balance and remember thinking, “I’m going to break my back or drown in the pool”. Luckily, I escaped with only a broken wrist from trying to break my fall.

We all know that injuries can be devastating though, particularly for us “oldies”. But what I learnt from my experience was that losing my confidence and halting workouts wasn’t the answer.

Because when it comes to accelerating ageing (which none of us want), one of the worst things we can do is stop moving. On the contrary, it’s time to up your efforts.

So I carried on my training, lifting as heavy as I could on my non-injured side. And I’m amazed and pleased to report that just last week I lifted 125kg, my personal best! Getting older may be a natural process, but just because you’re approaching pensionable age does not mean you need to retire your workout gear.

This is my life in fitness.

My 20s

I’ve always enjoyed being fit and having a fitness routine, but undoubtedly I’m stronger now than I ever was as a younger woman. I worked at M&S in my 20s and was on my feet all day. I also went to adult ballet and aerobics classes, or “Pop Mobility” as we called it in the early 1980s.

There wasn’t a goal, I was just moving my body and spending time with friends. Even after I had my first child aged 26 I swam twice a week during pregnancy.

I went on to have five children in total. Finding time to exercise wasn’t always easy so I used at-home Jane Fonda videos with running around with the kids. Diet culture was very different back then, I remember when M&S first introduced avocados and we all asked, “how on earth do you eat this thing?”

My 30s

When I think about my diet at this next stage in life, I was mostly making Annabel Karmel’s recipes for the children. Living in Marlborough in Wiltshire, I went to my local leisure centre for so-called Ladies’ Mornings twice a week, where I enjoyed badminton, aerobics, the gym and swimming. It makes me sound like a Victorian! Fitness for me was very much about friendships with other mums, and not being isolated. Back then I remember the focus around exercise was “how to drop a dress size”.

Women shouldn’t try to make themselves “less”. I’m glad that attitude has shifted. But it’s still very image-focused. For girls my daughter’s age it’s all about “how to get shapely glutes”. I’m not sure that’s necessarily a good thing.

My 40s

The children were mostly at school or nursery by now and we’d moved to the Sussex coast. This was when I started training at a gym with a personal trainer for the first time, and using free weights, and starting to understand the science behind developing strength and fitness. I entered my first 10k race at this age, and became aware that strength training would help injury-proof my body.

Realising that there were lots of women like me who wanted to be fit but didn’t have the right information made me want to become a personal trainer. One who, unlike the male ones, would understand all the physical changes of pregnancy and menopause.

I never could have run far in my 20s, but in my early 40s I ran two London Marathons. Training seriously then led me into bodybuilding competitions in my late 40s. I found the process of understanding how to strip body fat and build muscle in order to see definition fascinating.

It made me change how I ate too, running taught me to see food as fuel, and yes I did the whole chicken, broccoli and plain rice thing. Now I think that’s madness. Yes, it strips body fat but it’s not exactly a balanced diet.

My 50s

I gave up competitive bodybuilding as I entered this decade, but I carried on with weights, running and cycling and I was well aware of the importance of protein, including upping my intake of oily fish and taking creatine supplements. A niggly knee I’d noticed the marathons alas ended up being osteoarthritis. Flat running is okay, but uneven ground is not, so I can’t run as much as I’d like to now but I haven’t stopped.

Movement that is side from side such as dancing is really good for me. Dancing is brilliant for balance, coordination and agility, all essential things to retain as we age. Remembering sequences is also really good for cognitive health too, and it’s so fun!

Now, in my 60s…

As a woman in my 60s I am very aware of sarcopenia, which is (alas) the age-related progressive loss of muscle mass and strength. But it’s not a losing battle. It does mean that diet and weight-bearing exercise are super important and know that if we try to lose body fat, we risk losing muscles as well, and that can become a real problem for us. So now I follow a varied diet, including varied fresh fruits and veg, protein, healthy fats and unrefined whole grains to get all my vitamins and minerals. I’m still taking my creatine supplements to improve my bone mineral density (helpful post-menopause).

I still run 5-10k a couple of times a week, or I cycle or walk for 30-60 minutes as well as strength training four to five times a week. Always followed by stretching.

Since those early shared videos on Instagram I’m delighted to say I’ve built a following on social media, and my main message to people is that it’s never too late to start from scratch! Lots of research shows that people in their 70s and 80s can get stronger and improve cardiovascular fitness. I love the fact people say I inspire them.

Five steps to fitness after 60

1. Get moving

While I advocate weight-lifting, don’t neglect your cardiovascular fitness – it’s crucial for heart health. NHS guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate (or 70 minutes of vigorous) activity a week. Increasing our V02 max (our body’s ability to utilise oxygen) is important and pushing our hearts to work a bit harder makes a difference.

Beginners first need to establish a baseline, and if you don’t have any mobility issues I’d suggest brisk walking for 20 minutes every other day, building up to walking briskly daily if possible.

Sprint intervals are a great way to increase VO2 max, but don’t be terrified! You don’t have to jog – using a static bike, or doing mountain climbers for 30 seconds and then pausing works as well.

Depending on your mobility, try modified star jumps or walkouts from plank. Doing several of those together has a cardio effect.

There are lots of functional ways to move your body that will also have cardiovascular training effects.

2. Strength training

Don’t assume it’s all about weights. Body weight exercises or using resistance bands also work. Try sit to stand from a chair without using your hands and repeat 10 times. Try a couple of sets on alternate days as a strength exercise for the lower body.

For the upper body, countertop push-ups while you’re waiting for the kettle to boil is perfect! Do 10-12 reps and a couple of sets on alternate days. Strength training can easily be done at home without equipment and in snatched moments, it all counts.

3. Prioritise mobility

Reaching up to a cupboard, bending down to tie your shoelaces, or getting out of a car. All of this needs mobility. Ageing well requires flexibility, too.

Thinking about how joints are supposed to move. For example, if we windmill our arms in big circles, we’re taking the shoulder joint through a range of movement that we might not be doing in our day-to-day life.

Consider all the parts of the body – your hips, knees, ankles – and get them similarly mobilised.

As children we run, duck and dive, but then we get sedentary as we get older and the muscles and joints become restricted. Think back to basics about joint movement and how you can promote that mobility.

4. Balance

Visual disturbance and hearing loss as we age can make our balance more challenging. But we can work on this at any age to prevent trips and falls.

Things to try include brushing teeth on one leg, with the other foot hovering, then swap. Walking on an imaginary tightrope will also test your balance, place your arms out to the side and toe heel one foot in front of the other.

I often get my own 80-something parents to hold on to a high-backed chair with one or two hands and then lift one foot, then the other. It all helps.

5. Explosive power

If you’ve got all the previous steps in place then you’re ready to think about “explosive power”. Along with strength training, this is something we need.

What is it? Well, imagine you were about to step in a great big puddle: you’d want to jump out of the way. That requires explosive power, it’s the ability to move quickly.

That doesn’t mean attempting box jumps which would terrify most people, but something like throwing a slam bag is also a good example of explosive power. Fast footwork is good too, so anything like skipping is brilliant, you don’t have to put on ice skates!

As told to Boudicca Fox-Leonard