The Athletes I Coach

Don’t tell anyone, but one of the quiet perks of specialising in strength and mobility for menopausal women is this:

I get to train athletes.

My clients laugh when I tell them I coach them the same way elite sporting strength and conditioning coaches train their teams.

But I’m not joking.

Elite coaches might be preparing athletes for a 45-minute game played on a field with rules, referees and clearly marked boundaries.

I’m preparing my athletes for life.

And life, as we’ve all discovered by midlife, has very few rules, no umpires, and absolutely no hesitation in throwing an unexpected punch when you’re least prepared for it.

So we train accordingly.

We work on strength, balance, mobility, power and endurance. We practise getting up off the floor, carrying heavy things, moving well and staying resilient. Not because there’s a trophy waiting at the end, but because there’s a life waiting to be lived.

And what a life it is !

As the European summer approaches, we’re entering peak competition season for the Wonder Woman athletes.

One client is preparing for an international Masters swimming championship.

Another is training for an epic hiking adventure with her family.

One is counting down to a ski trip later in the year in Japan and wants confidence that her body can handle two weeks of powder snow, long runs and even longer après-ski stories.

These women may not all come home with medals (although the swimmer very well might), but they return with something equally valuable: pride, confidence and proof that their bodies are capable of extraordinary things.

Isn’t that the point?

Isn’t that why we lift the weights, eat the protein and show up on the days we don’t particularly feel like it?

Not to become smaller. Not to chase a number on a scale.

But to live.

To say yes to adventures.

To keep up with our children and grandchildren.

To travel, hike, swim, ski, dance and carry our own suitcases.

To remain capable, independent and strong for as long as possible.

While some young trainers dream of coaching the WAFL or the AFL, I’m already living my dream.

Every day I coach women who step onto podiums of their own making.

The woman who hikes the mountain she’d been doubting for years.

The woman who gets through an overseas holiday without her back holding her hostage.

The woman who discovers at 58 that she’s stronger than she was at 38.

Those are gold-medal performances in my book.

And if helping women achieve them is my job, then I may just be the luckiest coach in the world.