‘We've moved past aesthetics': why middle-aged women are outnumbering the gym bunnies
Call it the revenge of the middle-class, middle-aged women.
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A recent report found that women aged between 40 and 50 are doing more exercise than women half their age. According to a UK study by Vitality, one in four women approaching perimenopausal age are doing exercise almost every day. By contrast, a fifth of those aged between 20 and 29 do anywhere near that.
At The Method, a new fitness studio in west London, this rings true. 'Some of the women who come here are completely out of shape,' says its CEO, Katie Henderson. 'Perhaps they just had a baby, or are trying out exercise for the first time, but they're not always your typical gym bunnies – and a great deal of them are in their 50s and 60s.'
The exercise studio is small, hot and bathed in a pink light. Standing at the front, an instructor called Julius shouts the word 'mobility' at a class of six women. It's not the first time the 45-year-old former dancer has used this word to motivate. Mobility is a key tenet of yoga, barre and pilates – and Julius's other job is teaching pilates to The Lion King cast to prevent injury.
But among the high-end gymwear and rose-coloured weights, the word is unexpected. Fitness classes are generally seen as being for the young and lithe – not the middle-aged and immobile. 'It is about fitness, yes,' he says. 'But it's also about keeping up bone density, about building strength and about not getting hurt.'
Across all ages, fitness is big business in the UK. From budget gyms such as PureGym and The Gym Group to pricier, class-focused clubs Barry's, SoulCycle and Frame, the entire industry is expected to reach £2.8bn this year.
The Method is one of a new line of smaller specialised gyms – New York and LA are leading the way – attracting older women.
There is no one method at The Method; rather the barre, pilates and yoga-based classes lean towards dance and having a good time, Henderson says. 'But they are also geared towards all ages.'
Pvolve, a pilates-inspired fitness regime, is more about strength and conditioning. In effect an at-home, low-impact resistance workout, it launched five years ago, but since recently placing Jennifer Aniston front and centre of its campaign, it has blown up in the US and is gradually making its way to the UK.
Using a numbered mat, a resistance band and exercise ball, it looks somewhere between Twister and a tax return. But it is marketed at the time-poor, and those who can't quite bear the idea of going down the gym for 'fear of judgment around physical ability or body image'. Capitalising on the success of the post-pandemic 'workout-from-home', classes are run online, the tantalising carrot being the menopausal-yet-honed body of Aniston, 56, who has claimed 'this changed her life'.
Josh Davies, a personal trainer who trains the cast of Bridgerton, thinks the motivation for working out is changing. 'Five years ago it was about looking lean, but we've moved past aesthetics and I'd go as far as to call it a complete switch in mindset,' he says.
Strength training is a 'huge focus, particularly of premenopausal, middle-aged women. It's not something people talked about until recently.'
Most of his clients are over 40. But, while reformer is punishing, and yoga borders on philosophical, he thinks strength conditioning is as much about injury prevention as anything else, 'particularly when clients already exercise – or have either just returned to it after having a baby or haven't done it in a while'. Studies have shown that while strength-training-focused classes can help slow muscle mass and strength deterioration, older adults improve with a trainer.
Late last year, Jane Fonda launched a four-part series of workouts for Supernatural, Meta Quest's virtual reality (VR) fitness platform, which focuses on strength training. 'When you're younger, working out is a choice,' she told Women's Health. 'When you're older, working out is an absolute necessity.'
Exercise among the middle-aged has undergone a loose rebranding in the past few years. The NHS guidelines now recommend strengthening activities twice a week for adults up to the age of 64. Ranging from pushing a wheelbarrow to weights and pilates, solid advice about exercise has historically been difficult to separate from the pressure to diet or look slim, says Davies.
The generational shift is partly about time, but – like many classes – are 'also because people can't afford a personal trainer under the age of 40,' he says. Classes at the Method also cost about £35 each. But when you reach a certain age, he says, mobility is the new priority.
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YesPeak noise level on test: 60dBPower use on top setting: 29WAir speed on top setting: 3.6m/s £39.99 at Morphy Richards£39.99 at Ryman This is the fan you can take with you anywhere. I don't mean to fan yourself by hand: it folds down small and it's cordless and USB rechargeable, so you can be the smuggest person on the train and a very happy camper on a hot day. It can also give you a breeze on a still day on the patio. The battery will last from four to 17 hours, depending on fan speed. And you can plug it into a laptop at your desk or even a power bank for more juice. Why we love itThe 2.6m/s air speed can't compete with the big fans on test – but it's not trying to. It's an electric fan that can go anywhere, folding down to a cylinder measuring 18 x 18 x 12cm. You can even hang it on the wall, if you wish. There's no timer or sleep mode, but there's a 'nature mode' that varies the speed to mimic a breeze. And it does oscillate (to 90 degrees). 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I could see the temperature on the thermometer go down: it cooled by more than 1C in less than 30 minutes. And it felt like a cooling breeze. In fact, it felt a bit like air con. I just filled it with water, but it comes with two ice packs that you can pre-freeze and throw into the reservoir for even colder results. The breeze felt wide, rather than focused. This is a question of personal taste: some people want a powerful fan that's focused to blast just them, while others prefer a room-filling breeze. In oscillating mode, it's wider still, as the grille at the front rotates, which is a bit hypnotic. It's good-looking, too, in a coffee-coloured oatmeal or grey finish. It's light and on casters, so easy to move around, and its modes include normal, natural, sleep and timer. It's a shame that … you can hear the water in the pipes: it sounded like a leak. You might even find yourself needing the loo. Style: towerDimensions: 29 x 24 x 71cm (WDH)Number of speeds: 24Remote control? 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Yes; peak noise level on test: 50dB; power use on top setting: 40W; air speed on top setting: 1.7m/s £159.99 from Vortex Air Best for: style, and its all-in-one heater and fan design Vortex Air bladeless fans look modern, very Dyson-esque, and this one comes in 10 colour combos. It's useful year-round, too, doubling as a fan heater. But it's hard to categorise: too short for a tower fan, too tall for a desk fan. There's a timer and it oscillates horizontally (71 degrees) and vertically (180 degrees), though it's hard to imagine why you'd want to point it completely down. The touch controls are at the base, which isn't very practical if it's on the floor, and the display was a bit hard to see. It didn't make the final cut because … I found the noise a bit annoying; I could hear it at levels 2-10. Style: tower; dimensions: 25 x 24 x 65cm (WDH); number of speeds: 10; remote control? Yes; peak noise level on test: 35dB; power use on top setting: 28W; air speed on top setting: 2.9m/s £74.99 from AirconCentre£79.99 at B&Q Sign up to The Filter Get the best shopping advice from the Filter team straight to your inbox. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. after newsletter promotion Best for: a quiet evaporative cooler A chunky tower fan with an extra skill: you can turn on evaporative cooling, using water to cool down the air it puts out. Its swing mode moves horizontally, and you can manually move the grilles to angle the air up or down. It's on casters, too. I liked its large (10-litre) water capacity and how quiet it was, but the fan wasn't strong enough, and the evaporative mode wasn't cold enough. I tried it several times, and in half an hour, it never managed to cool the area in front by a degree. It didn't make the final cut because … it didn't cool the room down enough. 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Style: pedestal; dimensions: 80 x 30 x 78-95cm (WDH), or 124 x 30 x 114-130cm in vertical mode; number of speeds: 10; remote control? Yes; peak noise level on test: 35dB; power use on top setting: 60W; air speed on top setting: 3.1m/s £179.99 at Duux£179.99 at Amazon Best for: smart controls This took quite a bit of assembly, but it's good-looking, can be converted into a 54cm-high desk fan by removing a pole, and the tech is clever too. You can control it with an app or by voice (Amazon's Alexa or Google Assistant) to set up to seven schedules. There's an optional battery and charging dock to make it cordless. It's fairly quiet and oscillates well, vertically and horizontally, but I found the standard controls annoying. The display on the base points upwards, so it's hard to see from across the room, and you have to point the remote very accurately at it. I did like the compostable packaging. But unusually, it drew far too much power (2W) on standby. Less than 1W is the norm. 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Yes; peak noise level on test: 45dB; power use on top setting: 13W; air speed on top setting: 2.7m/s £249 at John Lewis£249.99 at Dyson Best for: looks and design You can see a lot of thought has gone into the CF1's design. Not just its simple, circular air multiplier, but every single detail. The display is small but very readable. The oscillation (15, 40 or 70 degrees) works well. The magnetic storage on top for the remote control is clever. The controls work well and let you easily set the timer and sleep mode. I couldn't hear this bladeless fan on the first six of its 10 speeds, and I found the noise easy to live with even at higher speeds. It didn't make the final cut because … the price is hard to justify. Money no object? Go for it! Style: desk; dimensions: 36 x 16 x 55cm (WDH); number of speeds: 10; remote control? Yes; peak noise level on test: 35dB; power use on top setting: 20W; air speed on top setting: 2.9m/s £79.99 at Meaco Best for: a cordless fan This is an impressive, new cordless desk fan with a battery life of four to 17 hours, depending on fan speed. I couldn't hear the first seven of its 12 speeds. It oscillates and you can manually point it up or down, and features include a timer, night and eco modes. Its three-year warranty is a bonus, too (most have two). Overall, I liked it. It's good-looking and pretty strong, although it's weaker when cordless; for example, air speed dropped from an impressive 4.6m/s to 3.1m/s when I unplugged it. Still, if you want a desk fan that can sometimes be cordless, it's a good buy. It didn't make the final cut because … the USB-powered Morphy Richards is even handier. Style: desk; dimensions: 26 x 20 x 38cm (WDH); number of speeds: 12; remote control? Yes; peak noise level on test: 55dB; power use on top setting: 10W; air speed on top setting: 4.6m/s £299 at Amazon Best for: hay fever and allergy sufferers This is also a fan heater (so it's useful all year round) and an air purifier (ideal for allergy sufferers). It cleans the air in a room in 12.5 minutes or a small house in an hour, removing airborne particles such as pollen, odours, dust and smoke. On test, it created a good breeze, even though the anemometer only read 0.8m/s. And on cooler days, it can send purified air upwards instead, circulating air in the room as well as cleaning it. The controls and display are on top, making them hard to see from across the room. But there's an app and Alexa control as well as a remote. The three-year warranty is nice, too. It didn't make the final cut because … it's expensive as a fan (but great as an air purifier). Style: tower; dimensions: 24 x 24 x 50cm (WDH); number of speeds: 4; remote control? Yes; peak noise level on test: 35dB; power use on top setting: 21W; air speed on top setting: 0.8m/s Bladeless fans aren't magic; they just don't have visible blades. The work is done inside the body of the fan, and then air is pushed out of a nozzle. The Dyson, Vortex Air and Shark above are all bladeless. They look modern and are easy to clean. And there are no moving parts on show, so zero chance of getting your hair caught. Most fans oscillate (move back and forth) by swivelling on their base, and some let you select how wide an the angle you want. If it's just for you, pick a narrow angle; if you're cooling the whole office, go wide. Some fans achieve the same effect in other ways, such as by moving louvres. And some oscillate up and down too, so the fan can circulate air all over the room to create a gentle breeze. Most fans have a sleep mode, where every 30 or 60 minutes the fan lowers its setting until it reaches a certain point. This is a good compromise that helps you get to sleep without wasting energy, minimising the risk of waking up in the middle of the night suddenly cold. Start by lowering the fan speed to the point where you don't find it annoying. In fact, some people find the white noise of a fan helpful at bedtime. Then use sleep mode. For personal comfort, simply point it towards you. The cooling feeling is because the moving air from the fan displaces the warm, humid air near your skin, which in turn helps your sweat evaporate, cooling your body down. It's like a breeze rather than a still day. Or why it feels colder swimming in a river than in a lake, even if the water temperature is the same. Evaporative coolers, of which I've included two above, use water to actively cool the air. Never place a fan up against a wall because there needs to be air flowing into the back. If the air's cooler outside, put the fan in front of an open window or door to bring in the cooler air. I'll set out the maths. For each fan here, I've measured its power use on the top setting, in watts (W). Electricity costs are in kilowatt hours (kWh). If, for example, you were using a 30W fan for five hours, it would use 150Wh. Divide by 1,000 to convert it to kilowatt hours: 0.150kWh. The energy price cap for 1 July to 30 September 2025 is 25.73 pence per kWh. Multiply this by the last figure and you'll discover it will cost just under 4p to run that fan for five hours. Or £14 to run it for five hours every day for a year. Running fans is pretty cheap, then, and a good fan will keep you cool enough to dodge buying any kind of air conditioning. An evaporative cooler is a good alternative to air con. The two I tested used 26W (Swan) and 39W (Honeywell), so they use less than 3% of the electricity of a typical portable air conditioner (1000W). The effect isn't the same: you can't turn your bedroom into a fridge. But you can cool the air enough to make a big difference when there's a heatwave. If you're in the UK, honestly, no. It's tempting to turn your bedroom into a walk-in fridge on a hot day, but fans are great and use much less electricity (and therefore money and carbon) than air con. Unless you're on a renewable tariff, electricity use accelerates climate breakdown. Caramel Quin is a journalist specialising in consumer technology. She prides herself on real-world testing and plain language. Her pet hates are jargon, pointless products and overcomplicated instruction manuals. Caramel is an engineering graduate who has won awards for communicating hi-tech subjects to normal people. When she's not testing gadgets, she's feeding pets (16 beasts at the time of writing) or pottering at the allotment
