Getting Stronger After 60 — What the Ageing Strong Program Is Really About

By the time someone comes to Ageing Strong, they usually already know exercise matters for bone health and ageing well. Nobody needs convincing of that anymore, it’s well known, and most people in this stage of life have heard it from a doctor, a friend or somewhere else long before they ever consider a class. What actually holds people back isn’t a lack of knowledge. It’s nerves. A worry about falling. A quiet fear of not being able to keep up, or of losing independence they’re not ready to give up.

That’s completely understandable, and it’s exactly why Ageing Strong exists as its own program rather than a gentler version of regular Pilates squeezed in around the edges.

How the program works

It runs Monday to Friday, with three streams woven through the week: Reformer for balance and mobility, Strength for bone density and muscle, and Stretch for flexibility. Most people end up doing a mix, depending on what their body needs that week, rather than locking into just one.

What I notice most isn’t the physical change, though that comes too. It’s the shift in confidence once someone starts seeing the benefit show up in their actual day to day life, carrying the shopping more easily, getting up off the floor without thinking about it, feeling steadier on a walk. That’s when the nervousness that brought them in the door starts to fade, because they’re not taking it on faith anymore. They’re feeling it.

Liz has been coming for a while and put it simply: “It’s a great environment to build strength and flexibility for those of us who aren’t quite as agile as we once were. It’s also a lot of fun!” Annette joined at 74 and found something she wasn’t expecting either: “I have met women around my age and have made new friends. Loving these classes and have a new outlook on life.”

That combination, real physical progress alongside real connection, is what the program is actually about. Not managing decline. Building strength deliberately, at a pace that respects where your body is right now and where your confidence is too.

If you’d like to understand more about how strength training supports bone density as we age, Osteoporosis Australia has good information worth a read.

Come and try a class, Monday to Friday, and see which stream feels right for you.