Oprah Winfrey reminded the world that it’s always a good time to prioritise your fitness – even on your birthday. The talk-show host ushered in her 72nd year with an aptly timed 72-minute workout and an accompanying strength session.
‘I never thought I’d spend my birthday doing a workout, let alone a 72-minute one!’ she wrote. ‘But as I get older, I am fully aware that it’s a privilege to have a body that can do the treadmill, the bike, the climber, the ski machine, and every machine Trainer Peter throws my way. Thank you all for the birthday wishes – now let me go find a book to read!’
The workout was indeed heavy on the cardio, testing Oprah’s endurance and aerobic efficiency through treadmill runs and walks, a session on the assault bike, a round on the Versaclimber, and some SkiErg work to finish off.
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Another clip saw her doing an impressive number of reps of the trap-bar deadlift, a full-body exercise that engages your quads, glutes, lower back, core, traps and upper back, and grip.
‘Life at 72 is looking different than every other decade,’ the media mogul shared, before referencing her knee surgery in 2021. ‘Two summers and two new knees ago, I decided to add strength training to my workouts because we all need to maintain muscle as we get older.’ Research agrees, as resistance training has been shown in many studies to increase muscle strength and size in older adults.
At the end, Oprah revealed that just a few years earlier, she hadn’t even heard of the movement. ‘I didn’t know what a deadlift was. I remember Adele told me she was deadlifting and…I pretended to know what she was talking about,’ she said wryly, before cutting to an interview clip of the singer revealing she could deadlift 160 to 170 pounds (73-77kg) in 2021.
‘I can’t say I’m ready for the Olympics like Adele, but I sure feel stronger,’ she continued. ‘So in honour of another trip around the sun for me, go try something new. You never know where it will lead you.’
Oprah said her steady weight loss of nearly 23kg began after knee surgery, and that, alongside her use of a GLP-1, she relied primarily on hiking to stay active.
‘I started hiking and setting new distance goals each week. I could eventually hike three to five miles every day and a 10-mile straight-up hike on weekends,’ she told People. ‘I felt stronger, more fit and more alive than I’d felt in years.’
Walking outdoors is mentally restorative, too. ‘One of the deepest joys of my life is walking through a forest,’ a post on Oprah Daily’s social media read. ‘The way the earth feels beneath my feet – the damp richness of soil, the soft cushion of moss, the crunch of leaves – grounds me. In those moments, I feel at one with nature.’
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