‘Lifting Weights Helped Me Regain Strength And Confidence After Having A Baby At 42’

I had my first child at 42. Like most women, my body changed after my son was born. He’s my greatest accomplishment, but I no longer felt confident in my body and didn’t love what I saw in the mirror. I also wanted to be healthy for my son as long as possible, so I decided to seriously focus on my fitness.

As a former collegiate track and field athlete, I was familiar with working out and training toward a goal wasn’t foreign to me. But I took a complete exercise hiatus after college. I was used to having a coach push me and program my workouts, and after I graduated, I took a total break.

I did the occasional workout in my 30s, and trained with a personal trainer when I was 35, but I wasn't all in. In my 40s, I didn’t love or necessarily want to be in the gym, so I decided to start running. With my marathon-running fiancé as my inspiration, I trained for several half marathons and ran my first full marathon in 2021. Running was a way to get my body back into the swing of things, but my routine was mostly cardio with no real structure in the gym.

It wasn't until I saw my best friend undergo a health transformation that I realized I needed to change my strategy to see results.

My best friend, Sarah Soliman, introduced me to The Wonder Women, which was founded by 70-something fitness influencer Joan MacDonald's daughter Michelle. I was so impressed with Sarah’s own strength transformation and was in awe of her mindset. She talked about the program with such confidence and I saw her dropping weight and gaining major muscle. I applied to the program and never looked back.

Due to the limited coaches and many applicants, I wasn't sure I would be accepted. I applied in June 2022 and got accepted the following December. Sarah motivated me to invest in holistic training. It was the first time I was dedicated to my physical fitness, nutrition, and mindset.

I wanted to be strong. I wanted to look strong. I wanted to be the girl you looked at and just knew you’d find her in the gym.

When I started working with a personal trainer, I identified specific muscle-building goals and had a plan to achieve them.

I started virtual personal training with my coach, Melissa McKenzie, in January 2023 with the goal to build muscle. I was already in great cardiovascular shape thanks to marathon training, but I wanted to tone my body and specifically grow my legs and glutes.

At first, switching from running to resistance training was hard on my knees. I had run them into the ground from all the mileage (literally), and they were stiff and swollen. After a month of less running and more strength training for building my lower body, my knee pain totally subsided.

I started training in my garage with just a set of adjustable dumbbells and resistance bands. I typically used between five and 30 pounds and focused on form and simple dumbbell workouts. I was instantly hooked. I felt strong and loved how my body was building muscle. I finally saw significant changes.

After about six months, I joined a commercial gym. In addition to having access to more equipment, I felt motivated by the people around me.

Now, I train four days a week—three for lower body and one for upper body.

I’ve always been able to quickly build my upper body, but lower body strength is my weaker link. I had rotator cuff surgery in December, so I’m currently in the recovery process.

For lower-body workouts: I do a hamstring and calf day, quad and glute day, and a day solely focused on glutes. My workouts are between an hour and an hour and a half, and I do five moves per session. I usually do three to four sets of squats, hip thrusts, leg extensions, leg curls, and leg presses, with 20 to 60 seconds of rest in between depending on the exercise.

For my upper-body workout: I primarily focus on shoulders and biceps. I do six moves a session ranging from banded external rotations, biceps curls, front raises, triceps extensions, and pull-ups, with three to four sets of each and recovery in between. I’ve scaled back on running, but I aim for 10,000 steps a day.

On my off days: I incorporate a lot of stretching and mobility because I have stiff knees and hips.

Shoulders are my favorite muscle to train (which makes my injury that much more challenging). I love the variety of moves to sculpt my upper arm. Hip thrusts are by far my least favorite exercise. Not only is it an awkward move to nail, but it’s extremely taxing on my body. TBH, I feel like I should be done with my entire workout after one rep!

All that said, I started my strength journey thrusting 135 pounds, and in less than a year, I can now thrust 310 pounds. Even though hip thrusts are uncomfortable and challenging, I’m so proud that I continue to push myself. Seeing progress is my motivation.

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I learned to count macros and realized the close connection between the kitchen and gains.

I knew the importance of a balanced diet, but a huge part of The Wonder Women program is focused on understanding nutrition labels, paying attention to portion size, and counting macros. At first, it was extremely overwhelming. It took time to fully understand how to create a macro-based meal and stick to it. There were a lot of numbers (and I’ve never loved math), but once I learned to actually read nutrition labels and understand serving size, things started to click and become second nature.

I eat five times a day, with three hours between each meal. I focus on protein, carbs, and fats. Pre-injury, I increased carbs on my training days. While recovering, I’ve scaled back on carbs and added more protein . Chicken, rice, cereal, Fairlife milk, and vegetables are some of my go-to foods.

After all, gains don’t just come from the gym. They also happen in the kitchen. I've seen it in my own routine and body.

These three things were key to my strength transformation success.

1. I valued the importance of holistic training to nail my goals.

After my first workout with The Wonder Women, I realized the power of following a program tailored to my goals. It’s one thing to train on your own, but I’ve learned how to properly and effectively set myself up for success and results I can see.

Whether it’s progressively overloading in the gym, targeting a certain body part for muscle hypertrophy, or understanding when and how to eat to support my training, I have a newfound appreciation for training holistically to crush my goals.

2. I cultivated self-discipline to stay motivated and stick to my routine.

Balancing my workouts with my job and being a mom isn’t always easy, but I’m willing to put in the effort. There are days when I don’t want to train, but I can't give into that feeling in the moment. I know it takes more than just motivation. It takes discipline to stick to a routine and create long-term healthy habits and see changes.

3. My son inspired me to take on new challenges and to be an example of a healthy lifestyle.

As a mom, I love knowing my little one is watching and learning the importance of taking care of your body at any age. Life doesn’t end when you turn 40, and it’s never too late to set new goals and embrace a challenge. I’ve achieved my greatest accomplishments in my 40s, and as I approach 50, I’m excited to get stronger than ever.

I decided to compete in my first bodybuilding competition and am training for it now.

Bodybuilding was never on my radar until I joined The Wonder Women. I went to a few shows one shortly after I applied to watch my now coach. Since then, I have had the opportunity to watch more teammates compete.

The thought of participating in a show is outside my comfort zone, but I was motivated to conquer something I wouldn’t normally do. I also recognized my work ethic and the amount of progress I made while consistently training in such a short amount of time, so I committed to competing in my first show.

My original plan was to compete in July 2024, but due to shoulder surgery, I’m giving myself more time and now targeting for November. I’m not letting my injury deter me. In fact, my goal to compete has kept me motivated throughout the recovery process. Instead of sitting on the couch waiting for my body to heal, I’m still in the gym four days a week.

My lower-body days now primarily consist of leg extensions, leg curls, and leg presses. I focus on high volume and use the "stair step" model doing 50 reps, 40 reps, 30 reps, 20 reps, and 10 reps of each move, lowering the weight as needed to make sure I get all reps. In terms of upper body, I work with my physical therapist and coach to focus on mobility, stretching, and very light resistance training as I regain my range of motion and build back muscle.

My training looks considerably different right now, but I’m focused to get on the stage this fall and I’m so proud I’ve continued steadfast on my goal.

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