Joan New Delhi : Age is just a number for those who believe in self and work hard to achieve the desired. Same is the case for Joan MacDonald, who was motivated to strengthen her body.
She was 70 when she decided to work on her fitness and now at 74, Joan is much in shape then many of us. Joan has gone viral for her incredible fitness journey, she has a following of more than 800,000 fans on Instagram.
Joan stared her training under her daughter’s guidance Michelle MacDonald, who is a professional trainer. On her Instagram, Joan posts videos from the gym doing impressive exercises which could surely bring shame to those half her age. From crushing bicep curls to doing hip thrusts, Joan does it all.
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Let’s talk about gym style, something I never would have considered to be important even just two years ago... When I first started out on my transformation journey, I hated trying on clothes, and in fact most of my clothes barely fit me any more so I had just a few bottoms and tops to choose from. Baggy shorts and over-sized t-shirts in boring colors were my go-to. I didn’t love myself back then and that’s how I dressed myself. I used to think 1) I didn’t deserve beautiful clothes and 2) nothing nice would fit me anyway, especially at my age. It wasn’t until my daughter insisted that I buy some new workout clothes and took me shopping at @forever21 that I understood that that mindset wasn’t working for me. When I saw myself in flattering clothes in cute colors, I could see that my inner dialogue had to go. I actually had muscles! I actually had a good shape taking form! I felt so good inside to see that in those new clothes. 💛Even though it might seem like something superficial like clothing can’t have a big impact on how we see ourselves it absolutely can my dears! If I can learn that lesson in my seventies you can too. Now you won’t catch me heading to the gym (or my living room as the case may be 😅) without taking the time to chose a favorite outfit. My daughter tells her clients, “you have to invest the same love and compassion for yourself at the START of your transformation that would to your own daughter if she was in your shoes. You would encourage her, compliment her on her successes no matter how small, and you would treat her to some workout clothes that were flattering, wouldn’t you? So learn to do that for yourself, and replace that negative inner dialogue with a positive one”. Now I’m sharing this with you. 💕 Please don’t wait til you’re “perfect” to take pride in yourself. You have to already see your perfection, your effort and your courage today. Love yourself enough to change, and show yourself that love daily. On the right I’m wearing one of my favorite outfits by @womensbest . If you have any questions please ask below, and share your favorite gym-wear brands with each other! With Love Joan 💗 . #womenbest #womensbestwear
A post shared by Joan MacDonald (@trainwithjoan) on Apr 30, 2020 at 5:17am PDT
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@womensbestwear bicycle shorts are now available in brand new colors! 🎉🥳🏋🏻♀️ Honest review: I LOVE THEM! Long enough to give my legs coverage with a comfortable seamless waist band and cuffs, and they come in these colors: charcoal, black, washed light grey, red, khaki, Camo green and Camo grey 🥰 — Here are a variety of lower body exercises that you can easily do at home with light weights or even body weight (just increase the number of reps) 💕 Slide 1: contra lateral step ups (by holding the weight on the opposite side that you step up you get more of that side Glute which gives you that coveted top Glute shelf 2) prone hamstring curl. You won’t need a lot of weight here, trust me. If you don’t have a full step to lie on, just prop your knees up on a rolled up a mat and you’ll still find these tough! 😅 3) contralateral single leg deadlifts: these are hard to do BUT they teach you how to get tight. I started out holding onto a wall and then graduated to doing these without support. 💕 4) sumo partial deadlifts: the trick to these is just pulsing around the midpoint, and really pushing the knees out wide to target the side glutes and inner thighs 5) banded fire hydrants: so good for the side glutes, do these with intension! 6) banded quadruped kickbacks: kick back and up with a bent knee, really squeezing the whole Glute 7) banded scissor kickbacks. These are one of my favorites for finishing off my glutes and I beg you to try them!! 🔥🔥 — You can do 3-4 sets of 10-12 each of the weighted exercises and sets of 12-16 reps of the banded exercises. Please give this lower body workout a try and let me know how it goes 🥰🥰 . @womensbest @womensbestwear
A post shared by Joan MacDonald (@trainwithjoan) on Jul 6, 2020 at 9:14am PDT
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I thought I’d share with you how my coach actually trains me. 😅 I think a lot of women my age get really pacified at the gym. I see a lot of chit-chat going on in general between trainers and their older female clients, and not much effort. I imagine Trainer’s must think we can’t be pushed and we are there to mark time, and not accomplish much. 🤷🏼♀️. If I can advise you on one thing: find a trainer who really knows their stuff and can teach you good form and really push you. 🏋🏻♀️ I would NEVER have even thought to learn how to hip thrust or deadlift on my own. I used to just go and sit on the machines and do circuits. But that all changed when I started working with a proper coach. @yourhealthyhedonista just puts me through my paces like a drill sergeant and shows me videos of my form and also does a lot of demonstrations and hands on corrections. This has really helped me learn how to lift properly. I only get to work with her a few times throughout the year but every time I do I seem to make huge improvements. She always tells me: whether you’re young or old, all bodies respond to the same technique of proper exercise selection, proper volume, and progressive overload (making the workouts harder each week). If you dumb it down just because you’re older you won’t get the results you are looking for. Don’t be taken advantage of my dears. If you really want to make changes, decide to become strong and decide that you’re worth the effort. 🏋🏻♀️ I don’t know about you all but I am ITCHING to get back in the gym. I am eagerly watching people in other provinces and states and countries returning to the gym. How exciting! I can’t wait to start hip thrusting again and getting my pull up strength back. What about you? When is your gym reopening or are you already back? What do you want to train? Let’s all make the rest of 2020 something truly amazing. 💪 stay strong, love your neighbour, and work hard for your goals! With love, Joan ❤️ . @anytimefitnesscobourg
A post shared by Joan MacDonald (@trainwithjoan) on Jun 9, 2020 at 5:52am PDT
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You can do these at home, so give them a go! Warning though they are hard. 💪💪 Reverse hip lifts... Like all exercises they key to doing getting the benefits comes down to good form and great effort. If I had just done these on my own with no coaching I would have done these all wrong to be honest. Having someone coach me through the technical parts of the exercise have made all the difference over the last three years. One thing my coach tells me is that I really listen and give it my all. I hope I can pass that intention along to you. Always remember, if a little old lady like me can learn to do these things, So. Can. You! 👵🏼👵🏼👵🏼 First off, use a medicine ball or anything with some weight, and hold it over your head so your arms are with your ears. You can see this was a tough one for me. 😅 Next get your legs nice and tight, and I like to cross mine at the ankles so they don’t flop around on me. Now pull your tummy in , keep your head off the floor, and slowly roll your hips up off the ground. SO HARD 😭 Finally think of touching the ceiling with your feet. Really lift the legs up high! Don’t bring the legs to your tummy ✖️✖️ Do the opposite even though it’s much harder. The legs need to go up and the hips need to lift up too. Now, the last nail in the coffin is to slowly roll the hips back down to the ground without tucking those knees in. In fact, try to avoid any swinging movement with the legs. Your abs will burn like 🔥 , I promise you. As my coach keeps telling me, slow and controlled is alway going to be better for beginners. I hope you give these a try and please tag me if you do these today and I’ll reshare it in my story 💕💕 Let’s all stay healthy and strong together! We are not giving up no matter what!! With love Joan 💕💕
A post shared by Joan MacDonald (@trainwithjoan) on May 8, 2020 at 6:12am PDT
According to Joan self styling is often seen as insignificant, but it’s actually a great motivational tool and has a powerful impact on self-worth. When you feel you look good, you start to treat yourself with more kindness.
“If I can learn that lesson in my seventies you can too,” she writes in one of her post. “Now you won’t catch me heading to the gym (or my living room, as the case may be) without taking the time to chose a favorite outfit. My daughter tells her clients, ‘You have to invest the same love and compassion for yourself at the start of your transformation that would to your own daughter if she was in your shoes."
“Please don’t wait til you’re ‘perfect’ to take pride in yourself,” Joan writes. “You have to already see your perfection, your effort and your courage today. Love yourself enough to change and show yourself that love daily,” added the 74-year-old fitness freak.
