Pamela Anderson, 59: “I have always trained my body, I have joint hypermobility and I need to maintain my strength”

At 59, Pamela Anderson says joint hypermobility has reshaped how she trains, trading Hollywood workouts for walks and work in her Vancouver Island garden. How far can such a gentle routine go in keeping her strong?

Pamela Anderson built a career running in slow motion. At 59, the former Baywatch star is still instantly recognizable, even if the red swimsuit has been traded for rubber boots and gardening gloves on Vancouver Island. The surprise is not that she looks strong. It is how quietly, almost stubbornly simple, she keeps herself that way.

In a recent interview, Anderson shared the line that makes trainers everywhere sit up a little straighter: she has joint hypermobility and has “always trained” her body because she needs to maintain her strength. Translation: the woman long branded as a human stretch band is no longer impressed by flexibility alone. Strength is the non-negotiable.

From Baywatch To The Garden: How Pamela Anderson Moves Now

Forget a neon-lit gym and punishing boot camps. Anderson’s real workout routine at 59 looks more like a life well designed than a schedule of classes.

A Non Negotiable Morning Walk

Her day starts early, quietly. Reading, maybe some writing, skincare. Then she heads outside. “I walk every morning; I have to get fresh air, no matter the weather,” Anderson says. It is part exercise, part ritual. The point is not a perfect step count but a reset for her nervous system before the emails, headlines and family group chats kick in.

If you have ever noticed your jaw unclench three minutes into a walk around the block, you know the feeling. For someone with hypermobile joints, that low impact rhythm also keeps muscles awake without jarring her knees, hips or spine.

Gardening As Her Better Than The Gym Workout

The other star of the Pamela Anderson workout routine at 59 is her garden. She has called gardening a good workout and happily suggests it can be better than going to the gym. Think less “cute hobby,” more full body functional training: hauling soil, squatting to weed, reaching, twisting, carrying watering cans.

Trainers have a dry term for all of this non-gym movement: NEAT, non-exercise activity thermogenesis. Anderson just calls it living. The calories burned are a bonus. What really matters is that her day is dotted with small strength and mobility challenges, not confined to a one hour session that leaves her joints feeling wrecked.

Lifelong Stretching And Resistance

Anderson says she has always stretched and trained her body using resistance. She admits she is “more flexible than strong,” which is why strength work is the priority, with cardio and stretching playing supporting roles. Think resistance bands, body weight, maybe Pilates sessions that ask her to move slowly and with control.

She also keeps regular medical check ins in the mix. For a hypermobile body, that combination of awareness, gentle strength and professional oversight is not indulgent. It is strategy.

What Joint Hypermobility Really Means

Double Jointed, Explained

Joint hypermobility means your joints move further than most people’s. The party trick version is the friend who can fold their thumb to their wrist or drop into the splits after brunch. Behind that, though, are ligaments that are more lax than average. For some, it is harmless. For others, it can show up as aching joints, frequent sprains, muscle fatigue or a sense that things feel wobbly.

Health services in the UK describe it as a spectrum. Many hypermobile people never get a formal label; others are diagnosed with a specific hypermobility spectrum disorder. Across that spectrum, one message is consistent: avoiding movement entirely usually makes things worse. The goal is smart, regular activity, not wrapping yourself in bubble wrap.

When To Talk To A Professional

If your joints often give way, you are constantly injured, or pain and exhaustion linger for days after light activity, that is your cue to see a doctor or physical therapist before copying a celebrity routine. For most people with mild hypermobility, though, supportive muscles plus sensible, low impact cardio are the frontline treatment.

Why Strength Training Is Non Negotiable When Youre So Flexible

Muscles As Your Built In Braces

In a typical body, ligaments and joint capsules do a lot of passive stabilizing. In a hypermobile body, those tissues are looser, so muscles have to pick up the slack. That is why Anderson’s line hits so hard: “I have joint hypermobility and I need to maintain my strength,” Anderson says.

Experts who work with hypermobile patients say the same thing in clinical language. Progressive resistance training helps muscles become better joint stabilizers. It improves balance and proprioception, and over time can mean fewer slips, fewer flare ups, fewer “I just twisted funny and now my knee is out for a week” moments.

Low Impact Does Not Mean Low Power

Guidelines for hypermobility and for older adults align neatly with what she already does: walking, cycling, swimming, strength work where you control the range instead of flinging your limbs around. Heavy jumping, deep end range stretches and high contact sports can be fantastic for some people, but if you are very bendy, they are the spicy margarita of fitness. Proceed with caution and support.

Inside Pamela Andersons Hypermobility Friendly Routine

Daily Movement Wrapped In Pleasure

What Pamela Anderson hypermobility strength training looks like in real life is deceptively soft. There is the morning walk. Time in the garden. Beach strolls. Chores that keep her house and property running. All of it adds up to a steady stream of low impact movement, which research shows can rival structured workouts for health when done consistently.

Strength With Control Not Chaos

On top of that baseline, she layers resistance. Think squats or hip bridges to build glute and thigh strength, wall pushups and light pulling work for the upper body, core exercises that favor control over crunch marathons. For hypermobile joints, the rule is simple: no locking, no flinging, and if your form collapses, the weight is too heavy or the range is too big.

Stretching Without Overstretching

Anderson has always stretched, but with joints that already move a lot, the goal is not to chase circus-level flexibility. Short, gentle stretches, dynamic warm ups and positions where muscles, not ligaments, are holding you are safest. If your elbow or knee looks like a boomerang in the mirror, pull it back a notch.

How To Borrow Her Approach In Your Forties Fifties And Beyond

Start Small But Start Daily

If you are hypermobile or simply feeling every birthday more acutely, think like Pamela, not like a fitness app. Start with a daily walk, even 10 minutes around the block. Add in gardening, housework, or any physical hobby that keeps you moving without terrifying your joints.

Add Two Or Three Strength Dates A Week

Then block off two or three short strength sessions. Ten to 20 minutes is enough at first. Use body weight, a chair, a wall, maybe a pair of light dumbbells or a band. Move slowly, stop before your joints feel like they are hanging on their end range, and focus on how stable you feel, not how sore.

Listen For Red Flags

Persistent pain, joints that keep slipping or a deep, bone tired exhaustion after gentle sessions are not badges of honor. They are reasons to loop in a doctor or physical therapist, ideally one familiar with joint hypermobility, before you progress.

Build A Softer Body Philosophy

Part of what makes the Pamela Anderson hypermobility strength training story compelling is that it sits alongside her broader shift to a softer, more natural life. The no makeup red carpet moments, the retreat to nature, the garden that doubles as gym and sanctuary. It is a reminder that at 59, the real flex is not how far you can bend. It is building a body strong enough to let you live exactly the life you want.