Grit & Grace - International Women's Day
International Women's Day is coming up, and as an all female owned gym, we are jumping in on the celebrations!
Saturday 8th March - we will be exhibiting at the Barnstaple Pannier Market between 10am-4pm. Come and say hi and take advantage of an amazing offer we are introducing on this day only (all genders welcome!!)
At this event we'll be showing off our plans, and in particular introducing people to our STRENGTH 45+ CLASSES. These are classes that will run every Mon, Weds and Fri 10.30-11.30am and are designed to help women over the age of 45 build strength, learn about lifting technique and have a lot of fun doing it!
We've written a series of articles that will help women understand the benefits of strength training and how it helps your body to stay fit and healthy as you age. Enjoy!
No. 1: The Importance of Strength Training For Women
Strength 45+ at Grit & Grace is designed for women over 45 looking to build strength, confidence, and overall health in a supportive community. Led by experienced coaches Lottie & Estelle, these sessions run every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:30 AM. Just two classes a week can make a big difference—join us and feel stronger together!
No. 2: A Woman's Body Through the Decades: Why Strength Training Matters
Your body changes as you age—declining muscle mass, decreasing bone density, and shifting hormones can impact your strength and mobility. But it doesn't have to be this way. Our Strength 45+ classes at Grit & Grace Fitness are specifically designed to counteract these changes, helping women maintain muscle, strengthen bones, improve balance, and boost metabolism at any age. Reclaim your strength and vitality with us.
No. 3: The Power of Community in Fitness: Why Working Out Together Works
Exercise is always better with friends! Our Strength 45+ classes create a supportive community where women motivate each other, celebrate progress, and make fitness fun. With coaches Estelle and Lottie guiding you with expert technique and creative workouts, you'll stay consistent and accountable. At Grit & Grace, we're not just building stronger bodies—we're building lasting connections that keep you coming back.
No. 4: The Science of Strength: How Resistance Training Transforms Your Body
Strength training works magic beneath the surface! It triggers muscle hypertrophy and stimulates bone growth through mechanotransduction—benefits cardio alone can't match. At Grit & Grace, our Strength 45+ classes focus on compound movements that engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously, creating greater hormonal response and functional strength. This scientifically-backed approach helps combat age-related muscle and bone loss, keeping you stronger for longer.
No. 5: Functional Fitness for Life: Taking Strength Beyond the Gym
Grit & Grace Fitness’s Strength 45+ classes focus on building functional fitness, enhancing daily movements like lifting, bending, and balancing. Designed for women over 45, the program strengthens muscles, improves coordination, and prevents falls. By using compound exercises, balance training, and progressive loading, participants gain confidence, independence, and improved mobility for a more active, fulfilling life.
1. Why Strength Training is Important for Women
3rd March 2025
Why Building Strength After 45 is Essential for Women
With International Women’s Day around the corner, it’s the perfect time to focus on something that empowers women in every way—building strength. Strength training is especially important for women over 45, as it plays a crucial role in maintaining overall health, mobility, and confidence as we transition into, and through menopause.
Why Strength Training Matters
As we age, we naturally lose muscle mass, which can lead to reduced strength, slower metabolism, and increased risk of osteoporosis. Strength training helps counteract these effects, improving bone density, joint health, and overall body composition. It also enhances energy levels, mental well-being, and body confidence, making everyday activities easier and reducing the risk of injury.
Strength 45+ at Grit & Grace—A Community for Women
Strength training is even more effective and enjoyable when done in a supportive, like-minded community. That’s exactly what our Strength 45+ classes at Grit & Grace Fitness offer. These sessions are specifically designed for women over 45 who want to build strength in a safe, encouraging, and fun environment.
The classes run every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:30-11:30 am, providing a structured yet welcoming space to develop strength and confidence alongside other women who share the same goals. Attending just two of these sessions per week can lead to significant improvements in strength, mobility, and overall well-being.
Knowledgeable Coaching from Lottie & Estelle
Our expert coaches, Lottie and Estelle, bring years of experience in training women to build strength and improve their health. They have helped countless women boost their confidence, increase their energy, and feel stronger in their bodies. Their supportive and knowledgeable approach ensures that every woman, no matter her starting point, feels capable and empowered.
Take this opportunity to invest in yourself. Join us at Strength 45+ and experience the benefits of strength training in a community that lifts each other up!
2. A Woman's Body Through the Decades: Why Strength Training Matters
4th March 2025
As women age, their bodies undergo significant physiological changes that impact strength, mobility, and overall wellness. Beginning in their 40s, women typically experience a 3-5% decrease in muscle mass per decade, a process called sarcopenia. This natural decline accelerates after menopause, with accompanying reductions in metabolism and strength.
Bone density also begins decreasing, with women losing up to 20% of bone mass in the five to seven years following menopause. This puts women at increased risk for osteoporosis, fractures, and postural changes. By their 60s and 70s, these effects can significantly impact balance, coordination, and the ability to perform daily activities independently.
Hormonal shifts further compound these changes. Decreasing oestrogen levels affect fat distribution, often resulting in increased abdominal fat, which raises the risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders.
The good news? Targeted strength training can dramatically counteract these age-related changes. The Strength 45+ classes at Grit & Grace Fitness specifically address these concerns through resistance exercises that:
- Preserve and even build muscle mass at any age
- Increase bone density, reducing fracture risk
- Improve metabolic function and weight management
- Enhance balance and coordination to prevent falls
- Boost functional movement for everyday activities
Research shows women who strength train consistently experience up to 40% less age-related muscle loss and maintain significantly better bone health than their inactive counterparts.
At Grit & Grace Fitness, our specialised approach helps women reclaim their strength and vitality, proving that ageing doesn't have to mean slowing down.
3. The Power of Community in Fitness: Why Working Out Together Works
5th March 2025
In the journey to better health and fitness, particularly as we age, one factor stands out as a powerful predictor of success: community. We've seen firsthand from our previous work how Strength 45+ classes create more than just physical strength—they forge bonds that keep women coming back week after week.
More Than Motivation: The Accountability Factor
When you commit to exercising alone, it's easy to negotiate with yourself. "Maybe I'll skip today" or "I can always do it tomorrow" become common thoughts when motivation wanes. But being part of a community changes this dynamic entirely.
Our class participants tell us that knowing familiar faces are expecting them in class creates a positive pressure that turns exercise from an option into a commitment. This accountability translates directly into consistency—the single most important factor in seeing long-term results from any fitness programme.
Shared Journeys, Shared Triumphs
There's something uniquely powerful about working alongside women who understand your specific challenges. Whether it's navigating menopausal symptoms, managing joint concerns, or simply balancing busy lives with self-care, our community members provide support that goes beyond exercise.
The encouragement that comes from seeing others at similar life stages making progress creates a contagious positive atmosphere. When someone in class achieves their first unassisted push-up or increases their weights, the collective celebration amplifies individual success.
The Expertise Advantage
Our coaches Estelle and Lottie bring more than just technical knowledge to our Strength 45+ sessions—they create an environment where safety meets enjoyment. Their attention to proper form ensures that every participant exercises appropriately for their body, while their creativity keeps classes fresh and engaging.
Members frequently comment on how time flies during our sessions, a stark contrast to the clock-watching that often accompanies solo gym visits. The variety in programming not only prevents boredom but also ensures comprehensive fitness development that addresses the specific needs of women over 45.
Beyond the Gym: Community That Extends
What begins in our gym will extend beyond it. From spontaneous coffee meet-ups after class to sharing resources about women's health, the Grit & Grace community will create connections that enrich lives holistically.
In a world where isolation has become increasingly common, particularly as we age, this sense of belonging provides benefits that transcend physical fitness, positively impacting mental and emotional wellbeing too.
For women navigating midlife and beyond, finding strength isn't just about lifting weights—it's about lifting each other. And at Grit & Grace Fitness, that's exactly what our Strength 45+ community is all about.
4. The Science of Strength: How Resistance Training Transforms Your Body
6th March 2025
When we talk about the benefits of strength training, particularly for women over 45, we're often discussing visible results—toned muscles, improved posture, and increased energy. But what's happening beneath the surface is even more remarkable. Let's dig into the fascinating science behind how programmes like our Strength 45+ classes at Grit & Grace Fitness create lasting physiological changes.
Muscle Development: The Microscopic Miracle
Strength training works through a process scientists call "muscle hypertrophy." When you perform resistance exercises—whether using dumbbells, resistance bands, or your own body weight—you create microscopic damage to muscle fibres. This might sound concerning, but it's actually the catalyst for positive change.
After each workout, your body initiates a repair response, releasing inflammatory molecules and activating satellite cells that rush to the damaged areas. These cells fuse with muscle fibres, contributing their nuclei to the muscle cells. With these additional nuclei, the muscle can generate more proteins and grow stronger.
For women over 45 experiencing natural muscle loss (sarcopenia), this process is particularly crucial. Research shows that even modest resistance training can reverse age-related muscle decline by activating these same growth mechanisms regardless of age.
Beyond Muscles: The Bone Connection
Perhaps even more important than muscle development is the effect of strength training on bone density. As we age, bone mineral density naturally decreases, with women experiencing accelerated loss during and after menopause due to declining oestrogen levels.
Strength training counters this through a process called mechanotransduction—the conversion of mechanical force into cellular responses. When muscles pull against bones during resistance exercises, they create stress that signals bone-forming cells (osteoblasts) to increase activity while suppressing bone-resorbing cells (osteoclasts).
This is why the Strength 45+ classes at Grit & Grace specifically include weight-bearing and resistance exercises. Studies show that women who engage in regular strength training can increase bone mineral density by 1-3% per year—significantly offsetting the typical 1-2% annual loss experienced after menopause.
Why Cardio Isn't Enough
While cardiovascular exercise offers tremendous benefits for heart health and endurance, it simply doesn't provide the mechanical loading necessary to stimulate bone growth or muscle development to the same degree as strength training.
Walking, cycling, or swimming—while excellent for overall health—don't create the resistance needed to trigger significant muscle hypertrophy or bone formation. Research comparing exclusively cardio-focused exercisers with strength trainers consistently shows greater preservation of muscle mass and bone density in the latter group.
At Grit & Grace, we include cardiovascular elements in our programming for their important health benefits, but we prioritise progressive resistance training as the foundation of our Strength 45+ classes because of its unique capacity to address the specific physiological challenges women face as they age.
The Power of Compound Movements
A cornerstone of our Strength 45+ programme is the emphasis on compound exercises—movements that engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously. Exercises like squats, deadlifts, rows, and presses aren't just efficient; they're biomechanically superior for creating functional strength.
When you perform a squat, you're not just working your quadriceps; you're engaging your glutes, hamstrings, core, and even upper back. This integrated approach offers several scientific advantages:
- Hormonal Response: Compound movements stimulate greater release of anabolic hormones that support muscle development and metabolic health.
- Neuromuscular Coordination: These exercises improve communication between your nervous system and muscles, enhancing balance and reducing fall risk—a critical benefit for women over 45.
- Functional Carryover: By mimicking real-life movement patterns, compound exercises translate directly to improved performance in daily activities.
- Greater Mechanical Load: Complex movements allow for heavier loads, creating stronger stimuli for both muscle and bone development.
Personalised Progression: The Science of Adaptation
Perhaps the most important scientific principle we apply at Grit & Grace is that of progressive overload—gradually increasing the demand placed on the body to continue stimulating adaptation.
Our Strength 45+ coaches carefully monitor your form and progress, ensuring that exercises are challenging enough to promote growth while remaining safe and appropriate for your individual needs. This personalised approach allows women of varying fitness levels and with different health considerations to benefit equally from our science-backed programming.
Understanding these mechanisms helps explain why our members see such meaningful improvements in strength, mobility, and overall wellbeing. It's not just about looking better—it's about creating fundamental physiological changes that improve quality of life and help maintain independence through every decade.
Join us at Grit & Grace Fitness to experience how the science of strength training can transform your body from the inside out.
5. Functional Fitness for Life: Taking Strength Beyond the Gym
7th March 2025
When we talk about strength training at Grit & Grace Fitness, particularly in our Strength 45+ classes, we're not just focused on how much weight you can lift or how toned your arms look. We're building something far more valuable: functional fitness that translates directly to quality of life.
What Exactly Is Functional Fitness?
Functional fitness centres on training your body for the activities you perform daily—reaching, bending, lifting, carrying, climbing stairs, and maintaining balance. Unlike isolated exercises that target specific muscles in artificial movements, functional training develops strength in ways that directly enhance your ability to navigate real-world physical challenges.
For women over 45, this approach becomes increasingly crucial. As natural age-related changes occur, maintaining the strength, flexibility, and coordination needed for everyday tasks becomes vital for continued independence and injury prevention.
The Real-Life Applications You Might Not Have Considered
Consider these everyday scenarios that require functional strength:
- Lifting and carrying shopping bags from the car to the kitchen
- Getting up from low chairs or sofas without using your hands for support
- Reaching overhead to place items on high shelves
- Bending and lifting to pick up grandchildren or pets
- Maintaining balance when walking on uneven surfaces or navigating crowds
- Twisting and turning while performing household chores
- Climbing stairs without fatigue or joint pain
- Quick reaction to prevent falls when you stumble
Each of these activities requires a complex coordination of multiple muscle groups working together—exactly what we train at Grit & Grace.
How Our Strength 45+ Classes Build Functional Fitness
At Grit & Grace, our approach to functional fitness is methodical and comprehensive:
1. Compound Movements Mirror Real Life
When Coach Estelle guides you through a squat, you're not just strengthening your quadriceps; you're rehearsing the same movement pattern used when sitting down and standing up from a chair. Similarly, our deadlift variations train the proper mechanics for safely picking things up from the floor—a movement many women perform dozens of times daily.
2. Balance Training Prevents Falls
Balance deteriorates naturally with age, with women experiencing a significant decline after menopause. Our classes incorporate unilateral (single-sided) exercises and stability challenges that directly improve proprioception—your body's awareness of its position in space—reducing fall risk substantially.
Research shows women who engage in balance-focused strength training reduce their fall risk by up to 50%, a statistic that becomes increasingly important considering one in three women over 50 will experience an osteoporotic fracture.
3. Core Strength Supports Everything
When Coach Lottie emphasises proper core engagement during exercises, she's helping you develop the foundation that supports virtually every movement in daily life. A strong core doesn't just mean defined abdominals—it means a stable spine, improved posture, reduced back pain, and better overall movement efficiency.
4. Progressive Loading Prepares for Life's Demands
Life doesn't always give us predictable challenges. By gradually increasing the weight and complexity of exercises in our Strength 45+ programme, we prepare your body to handle unexpected physical demands—like quickly catching yourself before a fall or lifting a heavy suitcase into an overhead compartment.
The Science Behind Transfer of Training
Research consistently demonstrates that properly designed strength training programmes produce what exercise scientists call "transfer of training"—improvements in untrained tasks based on strengthening the underlying movement patterns and muscle groups.
A 2022 study published in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity found that women over 50 who participated in functional strength training twice weekly for 12 weeks improved not only their measured strength but also showed significant improvements in:
- 27% faster time getting up from the floor
- 34% improvement in stair-climbing power
- 21% better performance in simulated household tasks
- 18% increased walking speed
- 40% reduction in perceived exertion during daily activities
These improvements occur because functional training develops not just isolated strength but also the neurological connections that coordinate efficient movement patterns.
Beyond Physical Independence: The Confidence Factor
Perhaps the most transformative aspect of functional fitness is the confidence it creates. When you know your body is capable and reliable, you approach life differently. Our Strength 45+ members frequently report feeling empowered to:
- Try new physical activities they previously avoided
- Travel more adventurously, knowing they can handle luggage and navigation
- Engage more actively with children and grandchildren
- Take on home projects independently
- Pursue hobbies that require physical stamina and dexterity
This confidence creates a positive cycle—increased activity leads to maintained strength, which encourages more activity, and so on.
Bringing Functional Fitness Home
While our Strength 45+ classes provide structured, progressive training, we also encourage members to recognise everyday opportunities to reinforce functional movement patterns:
- Practice proper squat form when sitting down and standing up
- Engage your core when carrying shopping bags
- Think about your posture while waiting in queues
- Take stairs when possible, focusing on proper foot placement
- Carry heavy items close to your body using hip hinge technique
By bringing awareness to these daily movements, you're essentially turning life into additional training sessions, further enhancing the benefits gained in class.
Join Us for Strength That Serves You
At Grit & Grace Fitness, we believe the true measure of fitness isn't how you look in workout clothes—it's how confidently and comfortably you move through life. Our Strength 45+ classes are specifically designed to build the kind of practical, functional strength that serves you in everything you do.
Whether you're currently active or haven't exercised in years, our coaches create a supportive environment where you'll develop not just stronger muscles, but a stronger approach to life itself. Because functional fitness isn't just about adding years to your life—it's about adding life to your years.
"Join the best in the Southwest!"
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