At 62, Michelle Obama is passionate about the power of exercise to boost health at every age, launching America’s national Let’s Move! campaign in 2010 to combat childhood obesity. And she is the first to admit that staying fit and healthy takes work – especially as you get older.

‘Every decade, at least for a woman, I found that it just got harder,’ the former First Lady revealed on the most recent episode of her podcast IMO. ‘Each decade, what your health baseline is changes, and what it takes to maintain it changes. When I was in my 20s, I could eat what I wanted, not work out, do whatever I wanted and maybe I’d gain two pounds, right? Hit 30 and it’s just like, ‘oh dang’. Why won’t these two pounds just go away like they did? And then talk about 40! Don’t mention having a baby and what that does. So as women, we are just evolving. Constantly. It’s part of our journey.'

‘For me, I’ve had to first understand my baseline,’ she says. ‘What am I when I’m healthy? What does that mean? Is that physical strength? Is that weight? Is that how my clothes fit? You know? Understanding what, how do I feel? Am I sleeping well? Am I feeling tired? Do I feel grumpy? All of that. And I think as a woman, and I think everybody, but as a women, we gotta get in touch with those baseline feelings. So that means we have to be quiet enough and give ourselves time to kind of figure that out.’

Michelle went on to reveal how her workout routine has changed now she’s in her 60s. Michelle is known for her commitment to exercise, incorporating boxing moves into her circuit training workouts, and concentrating on strength work for those famously toned arms. But the addition of a workout she described as ‘military’ to her routine has paid dividends. ‘I’ve been doing a lot of Pilates,’ she said, name-checking a workout called Solidcore. ‘It’s a reformer kind of class, but it’s more intense.’

So what is Solidcore? We asked GH’s fitness expert Kim Hawley for the lowdown.

‘Solidcore is described as a 50-minute, high-intensity, low-impact strength workout performed on a “Pilates-inspired” reformer,’ she says. ‘Solidcore even describes the exercises on its own website as “Pilates-based”, and its repertoire includes familiar-looking planks, crunches and lunges. The main difference is that this system slows everything down keeping your muscles under tension for longer.’

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So, what do you actually do?

A Solidcore class works the whole body, generally moving between core, lower-body, oblique and upper-body exercises.

Solidcore includes fundamental drills such as planks and elevates them. For women in midlife, the strength-training part is arguably more important than what we call the workout and the branding behind it.

As we age, maintaining muscle and bone strength is vital. Plummeting oestrogen levels are associated with a reduction in bone density and muscle mass, and resistance exercise provides the stimulus that helps maintain both.

This is not about aesthetics but ensuring that we can live our lives to the full; happy healthy, and independent; being able to carry shopping, lift suitcases, climb stairs, get yourself down on to and off the floor.

You don’t need a reformer or any fancy looking equipment, though, as always there is a workaround. The most important thing: slow the movement down and make your muscles work.

A Solidcore-inspired workout you can do at home*

Try these exercises slowly rather than racing through repetitions. Try 3–4 seconds on the lowering phase, maintain control and stop if your form starts falling apart. Repeat each exercise 3-4 times with 10-15 repetitions each time.

Lower body

Slow split squat
Take a staggered stance and lower slowly until both knees are bent, keeping most of your weight through the front heel. Pause, then push through the front foot to your start position.

Slow squat
Sit your hips back with weight in the heels and lower for three to four seconds, pause briefly at the bottom and drive back up. To make it harder without equipment, don’t quite straighten the legs between repetitions so the muscles remain under tension.

Glute bridge
Lie on your back with feet planted under your bent knees. Drive through your heels to lift your hips and try and get them in a diagonal line between the knees and shoulders, squeeze your glutes at the top and lower slowly.

Upper body

Slow press-up
Core tight, place yours hands a little wider that the armpits, lower your chest towards the floor over three to five seconds, pause and press back up. You can try a full press up position (on the toes) or halfway position: on your knees.

Plank shoulder taps
Start in a high plank (on hands and knees or with legs out straight behind) and slowly lift one hand to the opposite shoulder without allowing your hips to rock from side to side. Alternate hands.

Tricep press-up
Perform a press-up with your hands much narrower and elbows tucked in, tracking close to your ribs. Use your knees if necessary. Slowly lower and press back up.

Core

Slow mountain climber
From a high plank, take three seconds to draw one knee towards your chest and three seconds to return it. Alternate sides while keeping the hips as still as possible.

Dead bug
Lie on your back with your knees above your hips and arms towards the ceiling. Slowly extend the opposite arm and leg while keeping your lower back pressed onto the floor and still, then return and change sides.

Side plank
Prop yourself on one forearm with your hips lifted and hold, or slowly lower and raise your hips.

*Consult your GP about any specific concerns and before following exercise advice in this article.