I Got Into the Best Shape of My Life at 50 by Following These 6 “Basics”

Liz Hilliard, 70, is living, breathing proof that age is just a number. The pilates instructor, who trains out of her studio Hilliard Studio Method, discovered the workout when she was 48, and completely transformed her approach to health. Over the years she has managed to learn a few things about longevity, revealing her secrets in an interview with Body Network.

Liz Used to Rely on Traditional Workouts

Liz Hilliard

Liz, who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, explains that she was athletic throughout her childhood and enjoyed playing basketball and other team sports. “Traditional workouts always felt boring and offered minimal results for the time and energy put into them, " she says. Until I was in my late 40s, I relied on tennis and walking as my main sources of exercise.

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She Discovered Pilates at Age 48

Liz Hilliard

“At age 48, I attended my first Pilates class and immediately felt incredibly challenged. I even had fun, which led me to become certified in Pilates,” she says. In 2002, she opened her first personal Pilates training studio. “It was a successful business, and my clients were seeing real results. However, at age 51, while going through menopause, I noticed despite my Pilates workout, my belly fat was increasing, and my overall strength was decreasing as well, aka flabby arms and sagging bottom."

Fusing Strength Training with Pilates Was a Game-Changer

Liz Hilliard

"Inspired by my daughter, who was getting married and sculpting up for her wedding, I began researching heavy resistance training and hired my own personal trainer to try to sculpt my 51-year-old, menopausal body. We implemented heavy weight training, and I was determined to debunk the ‘bulking’ myth that most women feel about weightlifting," Liz says.

"The short story is that adding heavier resistance training to my core-centric Pilates workout began to sculpt my body in ways I hadn’t seen before using only traditional Pilates. That’s when I devised my Method. By incorporating heavy resistance with the core-centric exercises of Pilates, the Hilliard Studio Method was born."

She Shaved Inches Off Her Waistline

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Hillard, who has since authored the book "Be Powerful: Find Your Strength at Any Age" and co-hosts the Be Powerful Podcast, has remained 135 pounds throughout most of her life. “Muscle weighs more than fat, so I was replacing adipose tissue with muscle. My body was sculpting and changing at a rapid rate, especially given that I was in the throes of menopause. I lost inches around my waist, my arms became strong and sculpted, my abs flattened, and my glutes lifted. My entire body changed over the course of a year or less,” she says.

She Works Out 4 to 5 Times a Week

Liz Hilliard

What are the most important things she learned about getting in shape? “Find a workout that you enjoy, or you won’t stick with it. Our lives are busy, so finding a workout that efficiently provides resistance combined with stretch and enough cardio is essential. I do my workout at Hilliard Studio Method 4 to 5 times a week because we change the workout daily, moving through compound exercising and utilizing different resistance tools like balls, gliders, and bands to continuously cause muscle confusion and avoid the dreadful plateau, both mentally and physically. We keep the work fun and evolving, low impact yet high intensity. The amazing side effect of getting in physical shape is that one’s mental and emotional outlook becomes far more positive. Strength training like I do at HSM is the fountain of youth,” she continues.

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Get Your Steps In

Liz Hilliard

Her top workout suggestions? “Walk every day and everywhere. Get outside as often as possible to walk in nature. Bonus points if you walk with a friend. It’s built-in mental and physical therapy, which will not only help keep you fit but also lift your mood and keep your mind creative,” she says.

Strength Train Four Times a Week

Liz Hilliard

Also, strength training 4 times per week. “Strength training is an absolute requirement for healthy aging and simply means load-bearing exercises that require your muscles to engage. This can include anything from hand weights, resistance bands, weighted balls or any weighted object that taxes and builds skeletal muscles. Skeletal muscle strength allows the body to burn calories and maintain a healthy weight while setting the body up for success when inevitable accidents happen, so you are far less likely to avoid falling and breaking bones,” she says.

It’s Never Too Late to Get in Shape

Liz Hilliard

What is her message for women out there who are struggling to get in shape? “It’s never too late, and you’re never too old or out of shape to start exercising. By simply getting out of your chair and going for a 20-minute walk, you’ll have the immediate feedback of feeling better physically, mentally, and emotionally,” she says.

Make Exercise Social

Liz Hilliard

She also recommends connecting with friends to walk, workout, “and just talk every day,” she says. “Walking and talking with a friend or acquaintance is the perfect combo for both physical and mental health! Add resistance training to your workout, which can be as simple as a plank for as long as you can hold it until you work for up to a minute. Then go for 2 minutes or more. This is resistance training and incredible for your core and overall fitness! Then add a pushup on your knees, which is basically a moving plank that strengthens your arms, back, and core, not to mention flattens your abs. Do as many as you can, and try to work up to 20 or more. Mostly, just keep moving every single day. Our bodies are designed to move. The fastest way to early aging is to stop moving. The move it or lose it cliché is true.”

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Try the Hilliard Studio Method at Home

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She says she “takes working out to the next level to produce results that are nothing short of a total mind-body transformation for women and men of all ages and stages,” she says. “Hilliard Studio Method group classes are designed to be taken on a regular basis. Each class is different from the day before. Our energetic and encouraging trainers utilize a variety of powerful movements and workout tools in a high intensity, low impact method driven by empowering, beat-driven music; think personal training in a group setting.” Her classes can also be done virtually via an online streaming platform and live Zoom classes. And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 20 Superfoods for People Over 50.

YouTube health and lifestyle influencer Candi Randolph (Inspire My Style) is in her mid-60s and in the best shape of her life—and she says you can do it, too. Randolph is passionate about women in their 50s and 60s thriving, not just health and fitness-wise but in overall wellness and quality of life. “Fitness after 60 is a commitment,” she says. “It doesn't happen by chance, nor does it happen automatically. You have to make it happen for yourself, my friend. Work within any limitations that you may have. Make sure you follow any doctor's instructions that you are under the care of, and be wise and smart about what you do. But just remember, you are never too old to stay in shape.” Here’s how she does it.

The Joy of Walking Every Day

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Randolph loves getting her steps outdoors. “Walking outdoors is always my first choice when it's possible. And I aim to walk about 7,500 steps just about every day, more if I can. It's a daily activity for me, and it really is part of my self-care because it helps me to feel like, well, me.”

Walking Inside Home

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Staying active throughout the day is crucial, and that’s aside from any structured exercise routine. “I manage to get in 7-10,000 steps almost every day without leaving my home,” Randolph says. “There's a lot of places you can walk inside your home, even if it's small. I don't live in a big home, but I managed to do that. So getting steps in and keeping your body active are important.”

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Healthy Diet

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Randolph makes a point to eat a healthy, balanced diet that adequately fuels her workouts—but admits it takes discipline. “If in my sixties I allowed myself to indulge every time I felt like it, I probably wouldn't fit behind this desk,” she says. “So there is discipline involved for sure. I don't deprive myself of any of the foods and things that I like, but I am careful to balance proteins, fats, and carbs pretty much every day. It's the way I eat.”

Positive Routines

Taking care of your mind is also important. “How we feed our mind and our spirit and how we go through our day makes a difference as well,” she says. “Having routines that keep us moving forward in a positive direction, like a morning routine or even evening routine before we go to bed, things like that, that we make a part of our life are all essential components of fitness and a healthy lifestyle as we get older.”

Low-Impact Exercises

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Randolph recommends low-impact exercises to stay strong and independent. “There are plenty of low impact aerobics type exercises that can be done that a relatively healthy person in their sixties and seventies can accomplish,” she says. “You can accomplish so much towards keeping your body strong without using any weights at all. You use your own body weight. My focus is not on seeing how big my muscles can get, but keeping them firm and strong so that I can do the daily tasks that I want to do.”

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Functional Fitness

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Randolph’s goals are to be able to lift and play with her grandchildren with ease, so she focuses on functional fitness and balance. “Functional fitness is doing exercises that include several different body movements that would mimic things like bending down to pick up a bag of groceries off the floor or picking something up off the floor and then putting it up on a shelf or into a cabinet, maybe bending down to tie a shoe,” she says.

Stationary Bike

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Getting your heart rate up is important, Randolph says. “Other types of similar exercise would be biking, whether it's a stationary bike or a bicycle outside strength training, keeping our muscles strong, low impact aerobics, getting our heart rate moving without jumping all around. And then as part of strength training exercises that include functional fitness and balance so that we can move around as we need to in our daily activities without hurting ourselves.”

Crunches and Glute Bridges

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“Moving floor exercises are one type of strength training that we can do, and I aim to get in my strength training exercises several times a week,” Randolph says. “So here's just a couple of examples. I've been doing crunches and glute bridges for years, and they really help me stay strong and relatively fit. It really is amazing what you can accomplish by using just your body weight.”

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Inspirational Words

Randolph emphasizes how important it is to take charge of your health. My commitment to living a healthy lifestyle really is at the top or the forefront of my daily activities because if I don't take care of myself, no one else is going to do it for me,” she says. “There are several essentials to a healthy lifestyle. Exercise is one of them. Certainly eating well, eating balanced meals, getting the right nutrients for our bodies that are getting older, self-care, giving our body, mind, and heart the regular care they need to keep us positive and motivated every day.” And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 20 Superfoods for People Over 50.