'I'm 70 and In the Best Shape of My Life—Here Are the 5 Workout Moves I Swear By'
Liz Hilliard, who is 70, has always been active. In school, she was an athlete, and she’s enjoyed all the fitness trends that have come and gone over the decades. (Anyone else take step-aerobics in the ‘80s?) In her 40s, Hilliard fell in love with Pilates, known for improving balance, flexibility and core strength. She enjoyed it so much that she became a certified Pilates instructor.
But in her 50s, she noticed that she was carrying a little more weight around her midsection than she used to. As with many women in menopause, she saw an increase in belly fat and a decrease in muscle. But when she started working out differently, all of that changed.
Curious as to what worked for her? Here, Hilliard gives the low-down and shares the exact workout moves she does regularly.
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The Workout That Transformed Her Body After Menopause
Hilliard was no longer getting everything she wanted out of Pilates, so she decided to start strength training in addition to her Pilates workouts, which she didn’t want to abandon completely. “I had never weight-trained, so I decided to hire a professional bodybuilder to teach me,” she says.
Her trainer taught her how to use weights, including dumbbells weighing 30 pounds. “Being a Pilates instructor, I understood the core-centric aspect of how to move and hold my body correctly to prevent getting injured while lifting the weights,” Hilliard says.
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In just a few weeks, she started noticing her waistline trim down. “My body was changing on the outside, but what was happening on the inside was even better. I had more energy and my emotional health improved,” Hilliard says. Inspired by the benefits of strength training, she started incorporating it into her Pilates routine. The combination was magic.
At the time, Hilliard’s daughter was trying to lose weight for her upcoming wedding. Doing the Pilates-strength training classes alongside her mom transformed her body, helping her lose the stubborn weight she was having trouble shedding before. “My daughter dropped two sizes in about three or four months,” Hilliard says.
Now, Hilliard teaches classes that combine Pilates and strength training at her studio in North Carolina as well as virtually online and through an app.
Related: 'I'm 80 and In the Best Shape of My Life—This Is the Exact Workout Routine I Swear By'
5 Workout Moves That Combine Pilates and Strength Training To Try At Home
Hilliard says she works out for one hour a day between four and five days a week and her workout is a mix of Pilates and strength training moves. Though she used heavy weights when working with her trainer, now she typically uses eight to 10-pound weights, focusing on more reps over heavier weights. Want to experience first-hand the workout moves Hilliard herself does regularly? Here, she shares her five favorites.
1. Squat
1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Send your hips back, sticking your butt out slightly, as if you are going to sit in a chair.
2. Bend your knees and lower down while keeping your chest lifted.
3. Stand back up and repeat. Do two sets of 15 reps.
“If you really want to make sure you’re doing a full squat correctly, bring a chair behind you and lower down until your bottom is grazing the chair each time you lower your hips,” Hilliard says.
Want to level up? Hold a five, eight or 10-pound dumbbell in each hand and do a bicep curl each time you come up from your squat.
2. Push-ups
As part of her workout routine, Hilliard spends 10 minutes doing push-ups and planks, which are a total body workout and help tone the core.
1. Get down on the floor on your hands and toes. Your hands should be slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your feet should be slightly apart. You can lower down onto your knees to modify this move and make it easier.
2. Bend your elbows to lower to the ground, pausing just above it.
3. Press back up. Do 15 reps.
3. Planks
1. Get down on the floor on your hands and toes as if you are doing a push-up.
2. Engage your core and hold the plank for as long as you can.
3. You’re not done yet! Now, it’s time for side planks. Lie on your side with your legs out straight and feet stacked on top of each other. Put your forearm on the ground, under your shoulder.
4. Use your feet and forearm to push up and lift your hips up toward the ceiling. Extend your top arm straight toward the ceiling.
5. Hold the side plank for as long as you can. Then, come down and repeat on the other side.
4. Lunge with overhead press
1. Stand up straight with your feet together. Hold a weight in each hand and bring your arms to “goal post position,” bending your elbows to 90 degrees.
2. Step one leg out in front of you. As you do so, extend your arms straight up.
3. Step back to the starting position and bring your arms back to “goal post position.” Do 15 reps and then repeat, stepping out with the opposite leg.
5. Wall sit
1. Stand slightly in front of a wall, with your back to it. Get into a squat position, with your back straight against the wall. Your knees should be bent to 90 degrees.
2. Hold the position for as long as you can while engaging your core and slowly come out of the position when you’re done.
Hilliard says that it’s important to continue to challenge your body as you do this workout. If the reps become easy, grab heavier weights. Doing more reps is another way to make it harder.
“We have ultimate control over our health,” Hilliard says. “We can’t control the cards we’re dealt—there is a history of heart attacks and strokes in my family, for example—but we can control what we do with the cards we’ve got. Just get up and move!”
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