Your Body Isn’t “Failing” — It’s Responding to How You Use It

What a 47-Year-long Study Teaches Us About Strength, Aging, and Possibility

If you’ve ever thought:
“I should be fitter by now,”
“I’ve missed my window,”
or
“It’s all downhill after a certain age…”

Take a deep breath — because the science tells a very different, far more empowering story.

A remarkable 47-year Swedish longitudinal study followed over 400 people from age 16 to 63, measuring aerobic fitness, muscular endurance, and power across nearly five decades. What they found isn’t a message of decline — it’s a call to movement, agency, and hope.

Not sure how to say this but THIS WILL GET YOU MEGA-MOTIVATED!

Yes, Physical Capacity Peaks… But That’s Not the Whole Story

The study found that, on average:

• Aerobic fitness and muscular endurance peaked between ages 26–36

• Muscle power peaked earlier (late teens to late 20s)

• From there, physical capacity declined slowly at first, then more rapidly later in life

By age 63, the average decline from peak ranged from 30–48%.

At first glance, that might sound discouraging — until you read the most important part.

The Biggest Finding: People Age VERY Differently

As participants got older, the gap between individuals widened dramatically.

• Aerobic fitness showed a 25-fold difference

• Jump power nearly 5-fold

• Muscular endurance tripled in variability

In plain language?

👉 Aging does not affect everyone equally.
👉 Your trajectory is not predetermined.
👉 Lifestyle matters more than your birth year.

remember that I shared a video before of people who are slaying their workouts and absolutely sharp mentally as well as unbelievably fitter than anyone else in their age group? that video I put here again - not gonna lie: I watched it several times and it makes me emotional and makes me feel empowered and I literally want to hug all the participants!

By midlife, some people were thriving — others were struggling — and the difference wasn’t genetics alone.

Movement Changes the Entire Curve (Even If You Start Late)

One of the most hopeful findings:

• People who were active at 16 performed better later (no surprise)

• But people who became active in adulthood also performed significantly better across all measures ( that is me... I was not active when I was younger... I was overweight, unfit and sedentary most of my younger years... )

Read that again.

✨ Starting later still counts.
✨ Consistency beats perfection.
✨ Your body responds at any age.

This is incredibly important for hula hoopers — many of whom discover hooping in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond. And I did get asked this question actually this week... I was asked what the average age in my membership is - those who hoop with me in the hooping studio... the average age is above 50!!!! Makes me feel so proud and happy really!

Why Hula Hooping Is Perfect for Healthy Aging

This study focused on aerobic capacity, endurance, and power — exactly the systems that hula hooping trains simultaneously.

When you hoop, you’re not “just burning calories”:

• You’re loading muscles- HYPERTROPHY in my conditioning workouts: → anti-sarcopenia

• You’re crossing the midline with various tricks and moves I force on you: → brain health & coordination

• You’re rotating, resisting, stabilising and sometimes wobbling 🤣 → core integrity

• You’re training endurance without boredom → long-term adherence

And unlike many forms of exercise, hooping:

• Is joyful (so you keep doing it)

• Is scalable (gentle → powerful) - I can create progressive overload programmes so easily because of the huge variety and the possibilities to tap into super beginner-friendly regressions and gradually lead the way towards mega high intensity progressions

• Builds confidence as well as muscle, bone, joints...

This matters — because the study shows decline accelerates most in sedentary lifestyles.

Movement isn’t optional maintenance.
It’s an investment in future independence.

You’re Not “Late” — You’re Interrupting the Decline

The researchers concluded that physical decline begins before it becomes clinically obvious — often before age 40.

But here’s the reframe:

That also means you can interrupt it early.
Or slow it.
Or even reverse parts of it.

Muscle is metabolically active tissue.
It responds to challenge.
It adapts.

Every hoop session is a signal to your body that says:

“We still need this strength. Keep it.”

The Most Empowering Truth

This wasn’t a study of elite athletes.
It was a study of real people.

NORMAL REAL PEEPS!

And it showed that the biggest predictor of physical capacity later in life wasn’t age or sex — it was how physically engaged people remained with their bodies.

So if you’re:

• Rebuilding after burnout

• Starting again after years away from exercise

• Learning to trust your body

• Hooping for strength, not punishment

You’re not behind.

You’re actively shaping your future capacity.

Hoop Today. Thank Yourself Later.

Aging isn’t a cliff.
It’s a curve — and movement reshapes the curve.

Every time you pick up your hoop, you’re:

• Preserving muscle

• Protecting independence

• Supporting brain health

• Investing in confidence, coordination, and vitality

Not because you should —
but because your future self deserves it 💖

Keep spinning.
Keep learning.
Keep choosing movement that makes you feel alive.

Your body is listening.

You find the original study and its details here:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41243424/

another epic video I've not yet shared (because it just got uploaded) and I would 100% watch this a few times, too - it will make you so motivated you will be bouncing off the walls making your 2026 LEGENDARY & UNFORGETTABLE!!!!!

if you have any questions you'd like me to answer or if you'd like me to communicate this in a video in a hoopy way: comment below and I make the video 💗 I also make sure I answer questions you may have! fire away, ask now 💋