Jennifer Freel has tried it all. Over the years, she has tested out group fitness workouts, boot camps, CrossFit, and at-home cycling classes. She became a 200-hour registered yoga teacher and began leading her own classes in 2023. And she briefly worked with an Equinox Coach over Zoom in the early days of the pandemic. 

Then came a series of unfortunate events. She injured her leg — then her back. She had two hand surgeries, then suffered even more back injuries. “I [realized] how much more difficult it is to just recover from something that was seemingly a simple setback injury from my 30s, 40s,” she says. “So I’m 53 and now I also see value in kind of taking the slow route. There's no big fix, and I understand now that you have to be consistent.”

She found consistency with Syndee Luxenberg, a COACH at Equinox Encino, when she rejoined Equinox earlier this year. Rooted in the goal of building muscle mass and supporting bone density, their slow-and-steady training plan paid off: Freel quickly became strong enough to easily lift her senior, 65-pound dog and help her dad move from his wheelchair to his bed.

“Did my waist get smaller? Did my hips get smaller? No, but I am stronger, and I feel much better,” she says. “I look at my body, and it's not the same as it was when I was younger — and I kick myself because I wish I would have, you know, appreciated what I had then. But it's also, like, I'm not mad. I'm not upset about it. I embrace where I'm at right now, because today is the day. You know, every day is your day, and you've got to make the most of it.”

As a dog mom, caregiver, partner, and Californian with two jobs, Freel acknowledges that her workouts won’t always be her top priority. That’s why she keeps her focus on small goals. Some days, she might have the time and energy for a major win, like a demanding workout that leaves her sore but smiling the next morning. Others, the victory might be carrying heavy grocery bags and walking to the mailbox.

Freel is embracing menopause, too. But she’s not letting the associated hot flashes, fatigue, and “crankiness” take control. She credits, in part, her hot yoga classes for helping to alleviate her hot flashes, though the hormone replacement patches and supplements she received with the help of telemedicine have noticeably improved her symptoms. Her world had gradually become blurry, but using these tools felt like putting on a new eyeglass prescription that she’d needed for quite some time; suddenly, she could see the life around her clearly again. 

“I feel more like myself,” says Freel. “...It’s helped me kind of get back to, I think, where I was before. And I don't want to say it gave me more energy, because I didn't suffer a lot with a lot of side effects, but it definitely now has me back on a consistent path, emotionally and physically.”

Moving forward, Freel says her aim is to stick with the wellness routine she’s built this year so that she’s “the best I can be for myself and my family.” It’s a striking departure from her appearance-driven goals of her 30s and 40s, when she concentrated on losing weight around her hips or trying to look better in a pair of jeans. 

“I mean, I think as a woman, you'd lie if you were saying that you didn't want something like that — to physically look better,” she says. “But I'm trying to remind myself of the importance of being strong every single day, because all of that other stuff will take care of itself if you're eating right and you're lifting heavy.”

Written by Megan Falk