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August 5, 2026 / 9:09 AM EDT
/ CBS News
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Since I started working out with Kira Stokes 12 years ago, my knowledge about health has expanded, and my personal health and happiness have improved. She taught me to treat movement as medicine for both your body and mind. Kira has been in the fitness industry for three decades and has dozens of certifications. She is the founder of the Stoked Method with award-winning workouts.Here are some of the things I've learned from Kira:Lift heavierWhen I started working out with Kira at age 40, she encouraged me to lift heavier weights. I was resistant. I liked muscles but was more focused on being toned. That's when she taught me that muscle and strength training is an insurance policy for the future. I was stunned to learn that women lose between 3% and 8% of muscle mass per decade after the age of 30 if we don't challenge our muscles and build strength.It does get harder after 50, but it's also even more importantAt age 52, I've found that maintaining and building muscle has gotten harder. That's because of the hormonal shift and decrease of estrogen in menopause. Kira says that's why it's even more important to strength train as we get older.In addition to muscle loss, women lose up to 20% of their bone density in the five to seven years after they hit menopause. Muscle, however, provides hormone regulation and protection for your bones. Kira says it offers you the freedom of movement and will allow me to get on the ground to play with my future grandkids and keep putting my carry-on in the overhead bin on an airplane, without help!Bone loss is reversibleOne of the big wake-up calls in aging is reading the data about how devastating a bone break from a fall can be – it can even be deadly. That's why the exercises you do in your 50s and 60s can help make sure that if you fall, you're not going to break something that leaves you essentially immobile. Kira is big on reminding people that it's never too late to reverse that.
