Getting Fit for Retirement

On a bright afternoon, as her granddaughter bounced happily in the garden, Lourda stood watching from the edge.

Come in Granny!,” the little girl called.

Lourda smiled — and, almost without thinking, stepped forward.

At 64, she hadn’t expected to find herself on a trampoline again. Not because she felt old, she says, but because over time she had become more considered in how she moved. Like many people, she had developed a quiet awareness of balance, strength and stability — particularly as she embraced the joyful, and sometimes physical, role of grandmother.

“It wasn’t fear exactly,” she explains. “Just an understanding that your body changes, and that you need to mind it.”

Choosing to feel stronger — for the years ahead

Lourda’s decision to begin Pilates wasn’t prompted by injury or difficulty.

“I actually felt quite well at the time,” she says. “But I was very aware that strength doesn’t stay with you unless you look after it.”

Rather than waiting until movement became harder, she wanted to build strength while she still felt strong — with the hope that it would sustain her in the decades ahead.

“I kept thinking about my seventies, and even my eighties,” she says. “I didn’t want to wait until I felt unsteady or unsure.”

The focus, she explains, was sustainability.

Pilates offered a way to develop strength gradually, with attention to posture, balance and control — qualities that tend to matter more with time.

“It felt like something I could continue,” she says. “Not a phase, or a programme you push through, but something that could carry me forward.”

For Lourda, the motivation wasn’t short-term improvement.

It was continuity.

“I wanted to still feel confident moving when I’m older — not to suddenly realise I’ve lost it.”

By investing in strength now, she feels she is giving her future self something solid to rely on.

“Hopefully,” she says, “it’s something I’ll be grateful for in years to come.”

Learning to move with awareness

Through Pilates, Lourda began to notice subtle changes — not dramatic shifts, but a growing sense of ease in everyday movement.

“I became more aware of how I stand, how I lift, how I move through the day,” she says.

Alongside the classes, she began using the BackAware Belt — a wearable device that provides gentle feedback on posture and movement.

“It’s not something you’re constantly thinking about,” she explains. “But it quietly reminds you when your body drifts out of position.”

For Lourda, the reassurance mattered most when exercising at home.

“I liked knowing I was doing things properly,” she says. “It gave me confidence to keep going on my own.”

Rather than replacing instruction, she felt it reinforced what she had learned — helping new habits form gradually and naturally.

A return to simple joys

When Lourda eventually stepped onto the trampoline beside her granddaughter, it wasn’t a dramatic moment.

“There was no big jumping,” she laughs. “Just holding hands and bouncing gently.”

But it stayed with her.

“It reminded me that strength isn’t about pushing yourself,” she reflects. “It’s about being able to say yes when the moment comes.”

For Lourda, Pilates and strength training didn’t transform her life overnight.

Instead, they offered something quieter — a sense of readiness.

Ready to lift.
Ready to play.
Ready to be present.

“It’s not about turning back the clock,” she says. “It’s about feeling comfortable in the body you have.”

And sometimes, that comfort is enough to step forward — even onto a trampoline.