Ageless over 50 woman
the hot goddess

The Whiskey Workout

After my last tear-jerker post for Father’s Day, I decided to get back in my fun lane for today’s post. If you are a regular reader here, you know I’m in the middle of a 12-week unpaid internship at a local whiskey distillery.

I proposed this lifelong learning opportunity as a “Midlife Reimagined Apprenticeship” for my 61-year-old retired-teacher self. I am learning so much about making, finishing, filtering, proofing, and evaluating bourbon. I’m having a blast, plus I get the best homework ever!

Another side benefit of my internship as a worker on the distillery floor is improved physical fitness. There is lots of heavy lifting, rolling, pushing, pulling, stacking, squatting, and lunging. In fact, it’s quite a workout for me and my scrawny arms. I have never been athletic (unless clumsiness is a sport — then I’m gold-medal badass), and have very little upper body strength. I do have a titanium screw in my right shoulder, holding my bicep in place, so I’m being careful, but after seven weeks I am noticing improved strength and tone in my ‘lil arms. I’m calling it the Whiskey Intern Workout. This is not to be confused with my usual Bourbon Bicep Curls workout of repeatedly raising and lowering a glass of bourbon whiskey to my mouth.

I’ve created this handy infographic for your workout pleasure. Just go find yourself a sweet distillery and get to workin’ with these six moves:

  • Filled Barrel Roll
  • Empty Barrel Flip
  • Box Squat, Lift, & Stack
  • Forward Lunge & Empty Tank Incline Push
  • Backward Lunge & Filled Tank Pull
  • Double Bucket Lift

(OK, folks…you know this is for entertainment purposes only, right?)

I’m no fitness trainer, but I do know strengthening, weight-bearing exercise is especially important for midlife women. Someone recently pointed out that, at 61, I’m technically past midlife. Yeah? Well, I’m still in the throes of never-ending Devil Menopause (hence the “hot” in The Hot Goddess) so I’m still claiming midlife, damnit.

Trying to make a tough face. I know…looks more like a stinky face. Whatever. At least the Background Changer app did a good job of swapping out the living room for the distillery.
All these goofy photos were snapped in the privacy of the living room.

Of course, the real strengthening benefit of my Midlife Reimagined Apprenticeship is to my confidence and courage. I wrote here about trying to overcome my own negative self-talk and self-doubt as I was contemplating proposing my apprenticeship idea to the distillery CEO. I was afraid of my own wild imagination and its crazy idea. I was afraid of making mistakes and looking foolish. But, just like with everything that’s good for our growth and transformation, all I had to do was give myself permission to be afraid…and go forward anyway. So glad I did.

What “crazy” idea are you afraid of? What helps strengthen your courage and confidence?

Nope, not really on a beach either. But really grateful you read this far.

All images from thehotgoddess.com retired_rewired_inspired.

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32 comments

  1. Ok I love this and the pics. I love that you are not wallowing in self pity and are being so positive about aging. I have recently read two posts by women that were not and I truly believe that attitude is the key. Attitude and the ability to laugh at ourselves.

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  4. My 14 yo son is into fitness. Never fails to compare his gradually forming biceps to my non-existent ones. Now i can see he is right, cause even a 61 yo never-ending Devil Menopause woman seems to have stronger biceps than me 💔

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  5. Damn Girl! Get it!! Still can’t believe you talked yourself and someone into being a Whiskey Distillery Intern. I think the hot should be for “Hot Ticket”. High praise… my mom would say that all the time for me when I was putting myself out there in the world.

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    • Ha! Thanks for making me smile, Matt. I can’t believe I got the intern gig to happen either. Great that your mom encouraged you to put yourself out there. It feels good to be growing more and more confident.

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  9. You are amazing, inspiration, and beautiful! I love this line, “just like with everything that’s good for our growth and transformation, all I had to do was give myself permission to be afraid…and go forward anyway. So glad I did.” Exactly so. Wonderful post, Natalie. ❤️

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