I Tried the Iron Method, and It Made Me Completely Rethink Fitness After 40

As I get older, I just want to be strong.

You can save your cardio classes. I don’t want breathlessness or flailing. No hopping around a mirrored room, wondering why my knees are filing a formal complaint.

I want warrior-queen strength—the kind where you lift something heavy, put it down, and feel powerful instead of mildly concussed.

Listen, I’ve done aerobics. I remember the grapevine, the loud leotards, the tireless optimism! I survived step classes and endless climbs on plastic platforms, feeling like an overly determined yet ultimately aimless office worker. I even made it through Zumba, which is essentially joyful chaos disguised as a dance class.

Every fitness fad, particularly the cardio-emphatic ones, but I am no longer seeking to jump around for my health. What I desire now is quiet, serious, don’t mess with me strength.

This reconfiguration of priorities brought me to The Iron Method in Sherman Oaks, a fitness studio whose name sounds like a Marvel origin story.

The weight-training studio offers in-person classes, live Zoom sessions, and an on-demand library, because sometimes you want to lift heavy things in your living room while wearing pajamas. It’s owned by Carolyn McGuire, a fitness professional with over 20 years in the industry, who previously ran an exotic animal-training business for more than a decade. Which somehow makes perfect sense. Training animals, training humans: both require patience and clarity.

“I was that person doing spinning, boot camps—all that craziness,” McGuire said, laughing as she walked me through her method at the Los Angeles studio.

She continued, “I worked at fitness studios and was really fit, but I was getting older—I’m almost 50—and all the other instructors were younger than me. I wasn’t embracing my age or my changing needs because I felt I had to keep up with the fitness Joneses.”

After years of pushing herself through cardio-heavy workouts, McGuire hit a wall. Her fitness plateaued, exhaustion crept in, and the joy that once fueled her commitment disappeared.

“I hit rock bottom. I was burning out my adrenals,” she recalled. “I thought, I can’t work out any harder. Then it hit me—why should I have to?“

Most fitness classes are designed for people in their twenties and thirties. A fellow trainer challenged McGuide to do something radical: ditch cardio, triple her protein intake, and lift weights exclusively. Sixty days later, a body scan revealed she’d lost body fat and gained four pounds of muscle.

“My body looked night-and-day different,” she said. “And I didn’t have to work nearly as hard. I haven’t been on a spin bike since.”

That personal epiphany became The Iron Method, a studio that speaks directly to women in their 40s and beyond. The intimate space is lined with vintage photos of toned glamour girls lifting weights, a homage to the original, no-frills roots of strength training.

Inside the studio, a sign reads: Unless you puke, faint, or die, keep going.

A class of around 20 women (and the odd man) takes their places at stations equipped with benches and dumbbell sets. McGuire’s natural charisma keeps the energy buoyant as we move through each exercise.

“I’m not even close to getting sick of this song yet—not even one percent!” she calls out as the music transitions from an upbeat single by The Jacksons into the intense, familiar bass of “Eye of the Tiger.”

The key principle is simple yet demanding: push past a prescribed number of reps.

“Keep going until muscle failure,” she urged. “That’s where the magic happens.”

Whether we’re doing biceps curls or lying back for dumbbell pullovers, lowering the weights behind our heads, we are encouraged to keep going until we truly can’t do another rep. McGuire moves through the room, correcting posture and fine-tuning form. Each exercise becomes as much a mental challenge as a physical one. My muscles tingle, then burn, then somehow keep going.

There’s no frantic bouncing. No breathless panic. Just controlled resistance, focused lifting, and the slow realization that your body is capable of far more than you’ve been giving it credit for.

The class is mostly women aged 40 to 70, all far more interested in feeling grounded and strong than in jumping around like caffeinated squirrels.

Every exercise pushes us to our safe limit before we drop the weights, helping us learn to choose resistance that actually works for our bodies. Classic rock blares as we work to the pleasant fizz of endorphins.

After class, McGuire shared why she loves the AMRAP principle, which stands for “as many reps as possible.”

This, she informed me, “helps you find your level. If we’re aiming for six good reps and you can do 24, then we clearly need to add weight. We customize everyone’s optimal load. I pay attention to each person. I think of it as personal training in a class setting.”

Each class targets a specific focus. There’s Bottoms Up for lower body and abs, and Gun Show for arms, shoulders, and core. Each returns to the basics: rows, presses, and foundational lifts that reliably build a strong, sculpted body.

“Everything turns on its head in your forties,” McGuire said. “Your macros—carbs, fats, proteins—are completely different from what you needed in your twenties and thirties. Calorie deficits are different. If you keep training the same way, you’ll lose muscle and bone density while preserving body fat. That’s what we see over and over.”

Her solution is straightforward: lift weights, eat differently, and train for longevity rather than exhaustion. Beyond aesthetics, there’s a bigger benefit for women over 45: bone density.

Peak bone mass hits around age 30, your body’s big “we did it” moment. After that, bone remodeling slows. By 40, declining estrogen accelerates bone loss, leaving bones weaker and more fragile. I already take hormone supplements; why wouldn’t I also want to keep my skeleton sturdy enough for moving, traveling, and general gallivanting?

Strength training is one of the most effective ways to accomplish that.

Science backs it up. A major study published in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, involving over 400,000 participants, found that women who strength-trained two to three times per week lived longer on average. Even better, they had a significantly lower risk of dying from heart disease. One researcher noted a 30% reduction in cardiovascular mortality. That’s not a wellness trend. That’s a life upgrade.

When you lift weights, muscles pull on bones, creating stress that signals the body to rebuild them stronger. Resistance training also counteracts estrogen loss, protecting both muscle and bone, especially in vulnerable areas like the hips, spine, and wrists. Add improved balance and fewer falls, and the benefits stack up fast.

“I say to anyone worried about taking up strength training later in life due to injuries from weight lifting, look up the injuries for not doing it, not moving. If you want to throw your back out, lie around,” said McGuire, who counts a woman who owns a Pilates Studio amongst her clientele.

She continued, “The difference I see in the range of movement after a year of training is amazing. It’s never too late; I have women coming in and changing their bodies at over 70.”

There’s no gimmick at The Iron Method. No yelling. No scolding or pressure to perform. Just progressive strength, solid form, and the feeling that you’re building something durable—and that should be the goal, no matter what stage of life you’re at.

Carolyn McGuire’s Top 5 Tips for Women & Men Over 40