Supermodel Paulina Porizkova says regular heavy lifting eased her anxiety and left her stronger in her sixties, even after hip surgery and weight gain.
Paulina Porizkova posted gym footage on Instagram with a direct message: the work she once avoided now keeps her stronger, calmer, and able to outlast people half her age.
The 61-year-old supermodel and former “America’s Next Top Model” judge laid out a simple routine and the reason she finally stuck with it. Fox News reported on the reel and her caption about training through old injuries and midlife changes.
She did not grow up loving the gym. She said she stayed away for years on purpose.
"I really used to hate to work out. And so I didn’t do it until I was in my 40s, and I realized that it really helped with my pretty severe anxiety,"
She added that the workouts also made her look better. Reading on the couch still feeds her mind, she said. It does nothing for her body.
Porizkova now tries to train about three days a week. She splits upper and lower body, then uses one day for both. She mixes in Pilates. She aims to lift heavy.
The reel shows hammer curls, cable pulls, deadlifts, pull-ups, lunges, and more. She and her husband, Jeff, work with a trainer on form. Proper technique, she said, is how they avoid new injuries.
The results she cares about are not a lower number on the scale.
"What's wonderful about it is, it not only helps my severe anxiety and makes me look better, but it also has made me a lot stronger,"
She has gained about 10 pounds. She still danced the night away with much younger guests at a wedding for her son’s friend. In the caption, she said they pretty much out-danced them all.
Her timeline is not a clean wellness ad. She had a bilateral hip replacement that left her in severe pain for years. She dealt with menopausal weight gain. She and Jeff both have shoulder arthritis. He has had knee trouble.
None of that, in her telling, erased the gains.
"To feel like we’re in the best shape of our lives in our sixties is a revelation,"
She wrote that they have never felt more at home in their bodies, after the hip surgery, the weight changes, the joint pain, and the long recovery years.
Fans answered in the comments. One called her an inspiration. Another, facing a possible hip replacement and doing physical therapy to delay it, said Porizkova’s post gave real hope.
Hollywood still sells thin as the main prize. Porizkova is selling capacity: less anxiety, more strength, and the ability to keep up on a dance floor after hard medical chapters.
Show up. Lift heavy. Stop treating the scale as the only score that counts.
