By Rachel Lankester, Editor
This conversation comes from a recent episode of the Magnificent Midlife podcast where I spoke with Vijay Bassi Reed about getting stronger and fitter in midlife and what it really takes to rebuild confidence from the inside out.
There is something quietly radical about a woman in her 50s deciding she isn’t done yet.
Not done growing.
Not done changing.
Not done getting stronger.
When I spoke to Vijay on the podcast what struck me was not just the marathon medal or the HYROX races. It was the honesty about what came before. Anxiety. Burnout. Loss of confidence. Not recognising herself.
Like many high-achieving women, Vijay built a successful career. For her, like me, it was in corporate communications in the City of London. Long hours. High expectations. Constant availability. The kind of work that becomes your identity if you’re not careful.
By her mid-40s something had shifted.
“I got to around 45 and it was interesting, because in hindsight, I do wonder if I was going through the perimenopause early. There were individual symptoms that I was going to see my GP about and they were being treated tactically. But one of the biggest symptoms for me was anxiety and I started to lose confidence, and that had a big impact on the way I was working and how I was engaging with the people around me.”
Eventually it caught up with her. “I actually had a breakdown. I burnt out.”
Like so many women the first medical response was antidepressants. “The first thing that I was offered was antidepressants,” she said. It is a familiar story. Symptoms treated tactically instead of viewed through a wider hormonal lens.
Instead Vijay chose therapy. Then she began unpicking what she described as a messy ball of string. Career identity tied to status. Lifestyle habits that masked stress. The pressure to be endlessly available.
Menopause had not yet been clearly named. Yet it was there shaping the experience.
We talked about how often women reach midlife already exhausted. We have been running on empty for years. Then the hormonal shift arrives and suddenly everything feels amplified.
For Vijay menopause became a pivot point rather than a verdict.
“I’m stepping into my power,” she said. There was no apology in it. Just clarity.
That clarity translated into action during lockdown. With the world paused she began a structured 90-day HIIT and nutrition programme. Five workouts a week. Two rest days. Clear guidance. No overthinking.
She admitted she began it half determined to prove it would not work. But it did.
The structure rebuilt trust in her body. It also rebuilt discipline in a way that felt supportive rather than punishing.
Strength training replaced random gym classes. Progression replaced repetition. She stopped exercising simply to maintain and started training to improve.
We spoke about the persistent fear some women still have about getting bulky. In reality most of us are fighting muscle loss. Sarcopenia doesn’t care about modesty. Muscle is metabolic. Muscle is protective. Muscle is insurance for our later decades.
Then came the unexpected chapter. Running.
Vijay hated it. That was her starting point.
After someone at the gym mentioned HYROX she looked into it. A hybrid fitness race combining running with functional strength work. Curiosity turned into commitment. Commitment turned into coaching.
Eventually she signed up for a marathon in Verona.
Her goals were beautifully simple. “One was to get to the start line, fit fresh and confident, and the other was to get to the finish line.” No obsession with pace. No performance theatre. Just integrity with the process.
She finished.
In doing so she dismantled a quiet cultural script that suggests ambition has an expiry date.
We also spoke about culture and food. Vijay grew up in an Indian family where food symbolised prosperity. Well-fed children were a sign of success. Academic achievement was prioritised over movement.
As an adult she realised she had been carbohydrate loading for decades without enough protein. The shift was not about restriction. It was about awareness. About understanding how food fuels muscle recovery and metabolic health.
Then there was alcohol.
City life normalised it. I knew about that one! Gin while cooking. Wine with dinner. Finishing the bottle because it was open. But perimenopause and alcohol are rarely friends. Sleep suffers. Anxiety spikes. Symptoms intensify.
“It’s the only drug that people sort of ask, why aren’t you taking it?” she said. That line says more about our culture than any statistics ever could.
When she removed alcohol many of her symptoms eased. Sleep improved. Mood stabilised. Energy returned. This was not moral judgement. It was experimentation. Removing one variable and observing the outcome.
That willingness to test and adjust runs through her entire story.
Women often tell her they will begin when they feel ready. When work calms down. When the children are older. When confidence returns.
Her answer is simple. “You’re never ready. Just start.”
That applies far beyond fitness.
Start the conversation with your GP.
Start lifting slightly heavier weights.
Start reducing the habits that drain you.
Start questioning the expectations that no longer fit.
Midlife does not demand perfection. It asks for participation.
If there is a thread through Vijay’s journey it is this. Menopause did not diminish her. It revealed where change was needed. Anxiety and burnout were not proof of weakness. They were signals.
She listened.
Today she is stronger and fitter than she was in her 30s. Not because she chased youth. Because she invested in capability. In muscle. In cardiovascular endurance. In boundaries. In self-respect.
Midlife is not an ending. It is a recalibration.
And perhaps the most powerful message in her story is not that you should run a marathon or sign up for HYROX.
It is that you are allowed to evolve. You are allowed to outgrow previous versions of yourself. You are allowed to get stronger after 45.
No permission required.
Disclosure: I had some help from AI with this post. It’s completely based on the podcast interview I did with Vijay, but AI helped me pull the written post together, much faster than I could have alone.
Vijay’s website: www.trainerize.me/profile/performancetraining1/Vijay.Reed/
Rachel Lankester helps women reclaim health, agency, purpose and power. She’s the host of the Magnificent Midlife Podcast and author of Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause and Beyond which was recommended in the New York Times. She’s the founder of MenoClarity, an online hub providing evidence-based information about menopause without hype or scaremongering. After an initially devastating early menopause diagnosis at 41, she helps women vibrantly transition through the sometimes messy middle of life, helping them cope better with menopause and ageing in general, and create magnificent next chapters. She’s been featured in/on BBC Woman’s Hour, iNews, The Sunday Times, Woman’s Weekly, Prima Magazine, Tatler HK and Woman’s Own amongst others. Get her newsletter.
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Last Updated on April 4, 2026 by Editorial Staff
