A doctor’s warning, a trip to Mexico and the strength she never knew she had. Many of us know the feeling. Another checkup, another higher number, another prescription. At some point, it starts to feel like aging is simply a list of pills that keeps getting longer. That is exactly where Joan MacDonald was in early 2017.
In January 2017, a few weeks before turning 71, the Canadian grandmother flew to Tulum, Mexico, where her daughter, Michelle MacDonald, a fitness coach, and her son-in-law ran a gym. Joan was taking medication for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and acid reflux, and her doctor had told her that her blood pressure was rising and she would need to increase her medication again. “I was sick and tired of being sick and tired,” she said.
The First Steps
Michelle designed a plan built on five balanced meals a day, with fats, carbohydrates and protein at each, instead of random snacking. For the first time in her life, Joan trained in a gym. She lost about 10 pounds in the first month, and within a few months she had cut her medications in half.
Back home in Canada, she kept going, tracking her food with an app and training five days a week, two of them focused on cardio. Over the next four years, she stopped taking her medications for blood pressure, cholesterol and acid reflux, and lost more than 60 pounds, Good Morning America reported in 2022.
Lifting Heavy After 70
Joan did not just lose weight; she got strong. At 79, she described a routine that included deadlifts, weighted planks, kettlebell swings and heavy dumbbells lifted overhead. “Trainers and coaches dumb down everything for older people, but old people are capable of more than they think,” she said. She also admitted she once worried lifting would make her look “manly,” then dismissed the idea: “But that’s just brainwashing.”
Today, at 80, she has become one of the best-known faces of strength training later in life, with an audience of more than a million followers on Instagram. Her story fits with what many women discover in their 70s and 80s: strength is not a young person’s privilege. Helen Mirren, 81, has her own approach, with a 12-minute routine she has done for decades.
How to Start Strength Training at Any Age
Talk to your doctor first, especially if you take medication for blood pressure or other conditions, and never stop a prescription on your own. Start with body-weight moves, such as sit-to-stands from a chair, wall push-ups and step-ups, two or three times a week. Add light dumbbells once the movements feel easy, and increase the weight gradually. Work with a qualified trainer at first if you can, to learn safe form. Pair training with regular, balanced meals that include protein. And give it time: Joan’s change took years, not weeks. Staying active can also shape how we live later on, as psychologists note about adults over 55 who help more when it is hard. The lesson worth borrowing is that it is never too late to get stronger.
The Bottom Line
In 2017, Joan MacDonald’s doctor wanted to increase her medication. She chose to start training instead, eventually came off her medications and lost more than 60 pounds. Nine years later, at 80, she is still one of the most inspiring faces of lifting weights after 70.
