“I look better in my 50s than I did in my 30s”—a trainer shares the weekly workout routine that helped her build strength after four surgeries in five years

Jill Brown is a 59-year-old board-certified health and wellness coach, personal trainer, Pilates instructor and Equinox instructor based in Beverly Hills.

Over the past five years, she’s had a hip replacement, a wrist reconstruction, spinal disc surgery and a shoulder reconstruction. “I’ve had to start over four times in the past five years,” she says.

“The doctor told me ‘you can’t do as much as you used to do and you have to be mindful of your age’ and I knew that I could either let that get me really depressed and just accept aging or I could work around it,” Brown continues.

Now, she’s revamped her workout routine to aid her recovery. Brown still works out regularly, but rather than lifting heavy, she focuses on lighter weights and higher volume.

“Instead of doing 25lb overhead presses, I don’t go heavier than 15 to 17lb, but I'll do four or five sets instead of three sets, and I’ll do 10 reps instead of six reps,” Brown explains.

This routine has helped Brown build muscular strength as well as endurance. “The difference between strength and endurance is that strength is how much weight you can lift, endurance is how many times you can lift it,” she says.

Below, Brown has shared an example of what a week of exercise looks like for her, as well as tips for people returning to exercise or getting started with strength training.

Jill Brown’s weekly workout routine

Monday 9am
HIIT workout featuring functional exercises.

Tuesday 6.30am and 9.30am
Teaching two Body Sculpt classes at Equinox and physical therapy exercises for shoulders and hips.

Wednesday 9am
Rowing machine followed by a core workout.

Thursday 9am
Teaching a Pilates class followed by a resistance training session, focusing on back and biceps.

Friday 6.30am
Teaching a Cardio Sculpt Step class, followed by a dumbbell workout and battle rope exercises.

Saturday 8am
Teaching a Body Sculpt class followed by a strength workout, focusing on the legs.

Jill Brown’s tips for developing an effective exercise routine

Try workout videos

“I really recommend starting with workout videos,” Brown says. “No one’s watching you so there’s nobody calling you out, but you have someone pacing you.”

Forget isolation exercises

“I think beginners waste a lot of time trying to tone specific muscles,” explains Brown. “Instead of doing a triceps kickback, do a plank, which works the triceps, but it also works a lot of other upper-body muscles.”

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable

“Part of becoming a regular exerciser is getting comfortable with the notion that your body is going to be a little uncomfortable,” Brown says. “Get your mind comfortable with the fact that your body is going to be a little uncomfortable.”