A fitness influencer who found fame during the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed how she’s feeling more confident in her body at 53 than ever before.
Personal trainer Caroline Idiens from Berkshire, England, who soared to online renown with her energising lockdown workouts, has said ‘midlife’ has not slowed her down in the slightest as she credited strength training for her unstoppable confidence – and urged young women to start early.
She became an inspiration for women in their 40s and 50s, with more than two million Instagram followers thanks to the success of her 30-minute routines – which can easily be done at home.
And now the social media sensation has opened up about how lifting weights transformed more than just her body in a new interview with Women’s Health UK.
‘I’m definitely more confident in my shape now than ever before,’ she shared. ‘And I noticed that when I was on holiday – because on a holiday, you’re always quite critical about how you look, aren’t you?
‘And I think, actually, I just feel, at this age, probably the best I’ve felt.’
Caroline said she still remembers the exact moment everything clicked for her – in the class that sparked a lifelong passion with fitness in her late twenties.
‘It was Les Mills Body Pump, which was 45 minutes of lifting weights, led by an instructor and I absolutely loved it,’ she recalled.
Fitness influencer Caroline Idiens, from Berkshire, England, has revealed how she’s feeling more confident in her body at 53 than ever before in a new interview with Women’s Health UK
Caroline still remembers the exact moment everything clicked, the class that sparked a lifelong passion with fitness in her late twenties
‘It was the first time I’d lifted weights and the thing I loved wasn’t just how it changed my physique, but the feeling that I got from being stronger – the sheer confidence it gives you in what your body is capable of. It’s your posture, the way that you walk, the way you carry yourself.’
And when it comes to her own programme and audiences, Caroline said she knows exactly where their concerns lie. Her community, made up largely of midlife women, aren’t chasing six-packs.
Instead, she explained, they are hoping to ‘preserve muscle, look after joints’ and take in ‘the balance of cardio versus strength training’.
The people who do Caroline’s workout are ‘thinking about bones and osteoporosis [a condition characterised by the thinning and weakening of bone, often caused by the loss of oestrogen during menopause]’.
‘A lot of them are hugely frustrated by weight gain in menopause,’ she continued. ‘So, we’ll talk about the fact that they’re not alone, that the decline in oestrogen means the body holds on to fat around the middle and the value of strength training at this time.’
Elsewhere Caroline admitted she is excited to see younger women ‘future proofing their bodies’ with strength training.
‘I think what’s exciting is that this conversation about preserving healthy skeletal muscle and building up your muscle as a kind of armour as you age is now being had by younger women who are thinking, “Why wait?”,’ she said.
‘I’ll go and watch my daughter play hockey at school and they’ll be doing strength and conditioning sessions before their matches – squats, planks, press-ups.
The personal trainer, who found viral fame for her energising online workouts during the Covid-19 lockdown , is proving once and for all that midlife is anything but a slowdown as she credits strength training for her unstoppable confidence
Dressed in form-fitting activewear that shows off her enviable physique, Caroline beams with pride as she opens up about how lifting weights transformed more than just her body in a new interview with Women’s Health UK
When it comes to what her audience wants, Caroline admitted she knows exactly where their concerns lie. Her community, made up largely of midlife women, aren’t chasing six-packs
When the pandemic hit and gyms shut their doors, Caroline revealed she didn’t just pivot, she was forced into the unknown as she had to take her fitness sessions online
‘They’re 17 or 18 and they’re all lifting weights – I just love that because we weren’t thinking about this stuff at all back then.’
When the pandemic hit and gyms shut their doors, Caroline didn’t just pivot, she was forced into the unknown as she had to take her fitness sessions online.
She explained: ‘I had one session with Instagram where it was like: what’s a hashtag? But then I was completely self-taught.
‘I’d worked in advertising, of course, but we didn’t do social media marketing back in 1995, so I had to learn very quickly what works and what doesn’t.’
So what’s the secret behind the roaring success of Caroline’s Circuits? According to the fitness guru, it’s not just the workouts, it’s the connection with her audience.
Her classes aren’t filmed in glossy studios with staged lighting and intimidating gym gear.
Instead, they take place in her own family living room, with her dog often snoozing in the background.
She explained: ‘The fact that it’s at home. People say it feels like [having] a PT in their sitting room. They may be someone who’s too intimidated to go to a gym, so they really want to do this online, at home.
‘And not only am I doing the classes with them, I’m there as support. So it’s about creating that connection – and I’ve been doing that for 20 years…
‘It comes back to the fact that I’m 53. I really am of this demographic…I’m not 20 years old and doing these workouts in a studio. I’m in my family living room, doing it with them – and I’m telling them when it’s hard.’
The full interview is available in the October issue of Women’s Health UK on sale now.