137: Stop Training to Shrink, Start Training for the Woman You'll Be at 70
Stop Training to Shrink, Start Training for the Woman You'll Be at 70
Here's a question that basically nobody in the fitness industry is asking you: How do you want to feel at 70?
Not look. Feel. Because the second that question becomes the lens you train through, everything shifts, and suddenly all those years of grinding toward a smaller body start to look like exactly what they were: the wrong goal.
In this episode of the Broads podcast, Tara delivers what might honestly be a permission slip you didn't know you needed. It's a reframe of what fitness is actually for, and a frank look at what longevity training really means for women. Spoiler: it's not cold plunges at 5am.
You Were Sold the Wrong Goal
Let's be real, most of us came into fitness through the lens of shrinking. Smaller waist, lower number on the scale, fitting into something we used to wear. And the industry handed us that goal on a silver platter because it kept us coming back, chasing something just out of reach.
Tara names this directly in the episode and doesn't sugarcoat it: women are tired. Tired of working hard and feeling like nothing is landing. But that exhaustion isn't a sign that your body is broken or stopped responding, it's a sign that the goal you were given was never designed to serve the woman you're becoming.
Shifting the question from "how do I look?" to "how do I want to function at 70?" isn't just motivational fluff. It's a fundamentally different framework that changes how you choose your workouts, what you eat, how much you rest, and what you celebrate as a win.
Strength Training Is Your Best Insurance Policy
If there's one non-negotiable for longevity, it's this: lifting weights. Muscle mass is the number one predictor of quality of life as you age, and that's not an opinion, it's the data. The ability to get up off the floor, carry your groceries, play with your grandkids, stay independent, all of it traces back to how much functional strength you've built and maintained.
One of the most striking things Tara brings up: women get nearly three times the cardiovascular benefit from strength training compared to men. That's not a reason to skip cardio, it's a reason to stop treating lifting like the thing you do after the "real" workout. For women, strength training IS the real workout.
And then there's the bone density conversation that nobody warns women about. Starting in your 30s, bone density begins to decline, quietly, invisibly, without symptoms. Strength training is one of the most effective tools we have to slow that process down. This isn't about aesthetics. This is about not fracturing a hip at 72.
Walking: The Most Underrated Longevity Tool You're Probably Skipping
Here's the humble hero of this episode: walking. Not as a warm-up. Not as a consolation prize when you can't make it to the gym. Walking is a genuine longevity tool, and Tara makes a compelling case that most women who are training hard are somehow also skipping it.
Daily movement, even just getting steps in, has a compounding effect on everything from cardiovascular health to metabolic function to stress regulation. It's low-impact, it's accessible, and it stacks beautifully alongside a strength training practice. Don't overthink it. Just walk.
Under-Fuelling Is Quietly Sabotaging Your Results
This one hits different. The women who are training the hardest are often the same women who are eating the least, and they can't figure out why they're exhausted, not recovering well, and not seeing the results they're working so hard for.
Tara is clear on this: under-fuelling is working against you. If you're training for a body that functions well for decades, you need to actually feed that body. Protein matters. Carbs matter. Eating enough matters. You cannot strength train your way to longevity on a caloric deficit that was designed for weight loss.
If you're not sure where to start with fuelling, Tara's free Balanced Plate Blueprint Macronutrient Guide is a solid, no-nonsense starting point.
Recovery Signals You Should Never Push Through
Training for longevity also means learning to read your body and actually respecting what it's telling you. Rest isn't weakness. Recovery isn't optional. Tara breaks down the signals, the ones that tell you to back off, and makes the case that ignoring them isn't grit. It's just short-sighted.
The Broads approach has always been about training smarter, not just harder. If you want to still be moving, lifting, and living fully at 70, you need to be making decisions today that protect that future. That means recovery is part of the program, not a break from it.
The Question to Sit With This Week
Tara ends the episode with one question, and it's genuinely worth letting it land: What would change about how you train today if you were training for the woman you want to be at 70?
Not skinnier. Not smaller. Strong. Capable. Independent. Still doing the things you love.
That's what longevity training is really about. And if this episode hit you somewhere deep, that's probably because it's the conversation you've been waiting for someone to have with you.
🎧 Listen to Episode 137 now and share it with a woman who needs to hear this. Then head to broads.app to explore BroadsCOACH and take your training somewhere that actually serves you, for decades to come.
What's one thing you'd do differently if you were training for your 70-year-old self? Drop it over on Instagram @broads.podcast, we want to hear from you.
