At 72 years old, Oprah Winfrey is proving that age is no barrier to building serious physical strength. The television icon recently took to Instagram to share an impressive gym video documenting just how far her fitness journey has come. Back on August 10, 2024, her first attempt at holding a plank lasted only ten seconds before she had to drop to the floor, visibly struggling. That clip, which she included in her post, now serves as a powerful before-and-after contrast to where she stands today.
Winfrey can now hold a plank for over a minute while simultaneously lifting weights, a feat she credited to consistent training under the guidance of her personal trainer, Peter. “Plank is my most challenging exercise,” she wrote in her caption. “My first attempt in 2024 lasted 10 seconds. Now I can hold it over a minute, with weights and all the creative challenges my trainer Peter gives me.” The progression speaks volumes about what dedication and the right support can accomplish, regardless of age.
In the video, Winfrey used the moment to deliver a broader message about fitness priorities for older women. “As we age, and we want to age well, I’ve learned that flexibility and strength are the most important things, especially for women and our bones,” she said. “That’s why I started strength training.” Her words carry particular weight given the widespread conversation around how older women are often underserved by mainstream fitness culture, which tends to skew toward younger demographics.
Beyond her gym progress, Winfrey has also been publicly open about her use of GLP-1 medications as part of her weight management journey. She recently co-authored a book with Dr. Anja M. Jastreboff, director of the Yale Obesity Research Center, titled “Enough: Your Health, Your Weight and What It’s Like to Be Free,” which addresses the medical and emotional dimensions of obesity. Winfrey has been candid that the medication helped shift her entire mindset around the condition, moving away from self-blame toward understanding.
“If you have a genetic predisposition to obesity, I want people to know it is not your fault,” she stated. “And people need to stop blaming others. Don’t say, ‘Why don’t you just exercise more and eat less?’ That’s not the answer. I want people to have information, whatever they decide to do with it, whether they take medication or continue with diet. That is the lesson I learned: I stopped blaming myself.” Her willingness to speak so openly about both medication and mental health has sparked significant public discussion about how society approaches weight and body image.
The plank itself is a deceptively simple exercise with a long history in functional fitness training. It works the core muscles, including the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, and obliques, while also engaging the shoulders, glutes, and legs. Fitness experts widely recommend it for older adults because it builds the kind of deep stabilizing strength that supports posture, balance, and injury prevention. A plank held for 60 seconds or more is generally considered a solid benchmark for core endurance. Adding weights while planking, as Winfrey now does, increases the difficulty significantly and demands greater shoulder stability and full-body coordination. Strength training in general becomes increasingly important for women after menopause, as declining estrogen levels accelerate bone density loss, making resistance-based exercise one of the most effective tools for long-term skeletal health.
GLP-1 receptor agonists, the class of drugs Winfrey has referenced using, were originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes but have gained widespread attention for their effectiveness in supporting weight loss. Researchers and clinicians like Dr. Anja M. Jastreboff at Yale have been instrumental in reframing obesity as a complex, chronic disease influenced by genetics and biology rather than purely a matter of willpower or lifestyle choices.
Share your thoughts on Oprah’s fitness transformation and what it means for how we view aging and health in the comments.
