Oprah Winfrey has given us decades of candid conversations, motivation, iconic interviews, entertaining TV, and health tips. The media mogul just turned 72, and she’s celebrating by reminding us that health is wealth. While she has always been candid about her health, including her weight-loss journey, weightlifting is a relatively new terrain she’s exploring.
In an Instagram post, the icon shared that she’s marking a new year of life by encouraging others to add weight training to their fitness routine.
“Life at 72 is looking different than every other decade,” the caption began. “Two summers and two new knees ago, I decided to add strength training to my workouts because we all need to maintain muscle as we get older. I can’t say I’m ready for the Olympics like Adele, but I sure feel stronger 💪🏽 So in honor of another trip around the sun for me, go try something new. You never know where it will lead you.”
In the video, she is performing deadlifts with a hex bar.
“I didn’t know what a deadlift was. I remember Adele told me she was deadlifting, and I pretended to know what she was talking about,” Oprah recalled, laughing during the video. It then transitioned to a clip of her 2021 interview with the singer Adele, who has also lost significant pounds over the years.
The star has faced many challenges managing her weight over the years, but she seems to have found a routine that’s working for her. Part of that was deciding to take weight-loss medication, a major step for Winfrey, who initially felt some shame about doing so. However, realizing she was struggling with obesity, “a predisposition that no amount of willpower is going to control,” was the turning point for her.
“The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for,” she told PEOPLE in December 2023. “I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”
That said, Oprah also incorporates healthy living into her regimen, prioritizing fitness, staying hydrated, and monitoring her diet. She clarified that despite taking weight-loss drugs to help fast-track her fitness goals, she “worked so damn hard” to get where she is now.
“I know that if I’m not also working out and vigilant about all the other things, it doesn’t work for me,” she told PEOPLE.
Happy birthday to Oprah — 72, fit, and fabulous.