Alice Jordan, 52, is a personal trainer specialising in menopause. And while her day job now revolves around fitness, things looked very different for her five years ago.
In her late 40s, Alice was made redundant from her corporate job before falling pregnant with her third child soon afterwards. ‘It was an unexpected and emotional time, and when covid hit while my baby was only nine months old, I felt completely overwhelmed, isolated and out of control,’ she says. ‘By the time my son was 18 months old, I was exhausted, struggling with my confidence and carrying extra weight. Like many women navigating perimenopause alongside young children and career uncertainty, I had put my own health at the bottom of the list.’
While lockdown was tough for Alice, it was also during this time that she started exercising ‘to feel better and regain some energy.’ She found a personal trainer who ran sessions outside in a car park, and before long, she was hooked. These five habits helped Alice stay committed – and see consistent results.
1. She found something she genuinely enjoyed
If you find an activity that you enjoy, says Alice, you’re much more likely to stick with it. For her, that involved a move away from ‘punishing’ cardio towards strength-based, but still high-energy workouts. ‘The activities I enjoyed most were circuit/strength training group classes that incorporated strength training and cardio – although keeping the cardio quite limited,’ says Alice. ‘As I started to see my body change, becoming more toned and building muscle – that was a huge motivator to keep going.’
2. She focuses on compound movements
Alice says compound movements – exercises that work more than one muscle group at once and support functional strength – have become the foundation of most of her workouts. ‘I typically train 3-4 times a week and my sessions are full body, combining both upper- and lower-body exercises in one workout,’ she says. ‘I’ll normally start with one or two compound lifts such as squats, lunges or presses, because they work multiple muscle groups at once and are incredibly effective for building overall strength.’
Isolation exercises such as tricep dips and bicep curls feature, too, as does core work and ‘short bursts of cardio’, but Alice says the focus remains on compound movements because ‘they make workouts far more efficient and deliver great results.’
3. She tracks her progress
Alice has also found tracking her progress rewarding, and says ‘Making a note of weights lifted, reps or even energy levels helped me see real change over time and kept me motivated.’
Alice Jordan / Sportograf
On track: Alice has found it useful to keep a record of her progress over time
4. She prioritises short workouts
Another reason Alice was able to stay consistent with her workouts was because she started to prioritise short sessions over long, punishing hours in the gym. ‘One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that workouts don’t need to be long to be effective,’ she says. ‘I’ve found the optimal length to be 45 minutes – this gives me enough time to include a warm-up and stretch/cool-down at the end.’
5. She dedicates time to recovery
On the topic of recovery, it’s something Alice has ‘come to prioritise much more over the years.’ After every workout, she spends ‘5-10 minutes stretching, focusing on the muscles I’ve just trained, particularly the quads, hamstrings, glutes and shoulders. I practice static stretching for muscle lengthening and flexibility, and I hold each stretch for 15-30 seconds.’
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Hannah Bradfield is a Senior Health and Fitness Writer for Women’s Health UK. An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Hannah graduated from Loughborough University with a BA in English and Sport Science and an MA in Media and Cultural Analysis. She has been covering sports, health and fitness for the last five years and has created content for outlets including BBC Sport, BBC Sounds, Runner’s World and Stylist. She especially enjoys interviewing those working within the community to improve access to sport, exercise and wellness. Hannah is a 2024 John Schofield Trust Fellow and was also named a 2022 Rising Star in Journalism by The Printing Charity. A keen runner, Hannah was firmly a sprinter growing up (also dabbling in long jump) but has since transitioned to longer-distance running. While 10K is her favoured race distance, she loves running or volunteering at parkrun every Saturday, followed, of course, by pastries. She’s always looking for fun new runs and races to do and brunch spots to try.