Rebuilding resilience.

Before Goodnick

Before joining Goodnick, Catherine felt herself slipping. "I felt a bit sluggish. I felt like my legs were getting weaker, and my arms and shoulders have always been a bit on the weak side, even when I was younger. I couldn't do press-ups or anything like that. I needed to do some exercise. I was walking, but that was it really."

Her biggest fear about ageing was shaped by people close to her. "I just want to stay as fit and active as long as I can. I've got several friends who have been very ill and sadly have gone now. I want to ensure that my body is as fit and healthy as it can be." Her mother was on her mind. "Her muscles just wasted away, and I don't want to go that way."

Her earlier fitness efforts had come and gone. "In the past I've been to gyms occasionally and then tailed off. I've been to Pilates classes for quite a while. I did Curves for a long time until it closed down." Online was new. "I haven't ever done anything online before."

Getting started

The four-times-a-week, 20-minute format flexed around her life. "It fits in really well. I don't do it religiously Monday, Wednesday, Friday. It depends on my week, because they vary so much." Setup was easy. "I already had a set of one-kilo dumbbells which I'd never used. Then we started, and I sent for a set of bands. Now I've got two-kilo and three-kilo weights."

The at-home format suited her perfectly. "I'd rather not do it with lots of other people in the room. It's not time constrained, I can do it whenever I want." And the coaching felt personal. "It feels like Emma's there in the room."

The results showed up early. "Soon after I started I thought, I can do this, and it's making me feel better."

What changed

The physical changes were real and noticed by others. "I feel my arms are more toned," she said, and her chiropractor agreed. "She can see my muscle tone, especially in my legs." Everyday movement got easier. "Just generally moving around and being out in the garden, I feel stronger. And if I'm down on the floor, it's much easier to get up. My legs are much stronger."

It shifted her whole outlook. "I can see that I've got the potential, the opportunity, to stay much fitter into my 70s than I thought." Her Garmin watch even put her physical age at 64.5, a nice confidence boost. And she found she mattered to the team. "I like that if I haven't done it for a while, I get an email saying we missed you. You feel as though you matter."

Her strength has carried into a remarkably active life. In her third year now, she and her husband trekked through the Amazon rainforest and climbed at Machu Picchu in Peru, hosted six grandchildren over the summer with the energy to keep up, and have New York on the horizon. "When I first started I looked on the sessions as something I just had to get done, but now I look forward to them and would really miss them if they weren't there."

What she'd say to someone thinking about it

Catherine's advice is gentle and clear. "Never too late to stop. Just take it slowly." For her, the biggest gift has been how it feels about what's ahead. "It's given me positivity for the future, for myself, for my fitness."