Honestly, Carly

If I could only choose THREE exercises to do for the rest of my life, what would make the cut? Think Desert Island Discs for fitness... except apparently eight records, a book and a luxury item is far too easy. I'm allowing myself one lower-body exercise, one upper-body exercise and one core exercise. And honestly? Choosing them was ridiculously hard. In this episode, I'm revealing my three curren...

“How heavy should my weights be?” It’s one of the questions I’m asked most often by women starting strength training (and quite a few who’ve been doing it for years). And my irritating answer is: it depends. Because a weight that’s challenging for a squat might be completely inappropriate for a lateral raise. And the right weight for you when you’re learning a movement isn’t necessarily the right...

September has arrived. But if you spent the summer telling yourself you’d sort your health and fitness when September came around, and you’re now thinking perhaps after half term, after Christmas or when life calms down… this episode is for you. Because waiting isn’t neutral. Even when you’re exercising, eating well and trying to do all the “right” things, continuing with an approach that isn’t gi...

A few big fitness accounts have been making a pretty bold claim recently: menopause-specific fitness programmes are a SCAM. You might expect me to be personally affronted by this as someone who has created programmes specifically for women in midlife who are experiencing the perimenopause and menopause. And on one level - I am (because I’m absolutely not a scammer 😆)… but also… I’m not 🧐 So in t...

Protein. Strength training. Steps. Cardio. Sleep. Fibre. Creatine. Bone health. Mobility. Stress. Recovery… Excuse me, but when exactly do we get to clock off? 😵‍💫 In this episode of Honestly, Carly , I’m asking why looking after ourselves can suddenly feel like a full-time bloody project in midlife – particularly when most of us are already doing plenty of the “right” things. Because perhaps th...

Apparently, people want to snoop on my Strava to see how I train. So I thought I'd save you the detective work... 👀 In this episode, I'm laying out exactly what my training looks like right now at 45, with access to all the latest knowledge as well as over a decade of experience as a PT. But there's a rather important caveat. Because while looking at what somebody else does can give you ideas, bl...

Do you feel like you’ve got a LOT of work to do on your body this September? Maybe you feel puffier and more bloated than usual. Your clothes are fitting differently, your fitness seems to have disappeared and your normal routines have gone completely out of the window. Before you launch yourself into a September detox, diet or punishing workout plan, I want you to hear this: you’re probably not a...

Cortisol has become the latest wellness villain. Apparently it’s responsible for your belly fat, poor sleep, brain fog, cravings… and heaven forbid you do a hard workout and send it “skyrocketing”. But cortisol isn’t something we need to fear, flatten or detox. It’s a vital hormone that helps us wake up, mobilise energy, respond to challenge and, crucially, adapt to exercise. In this Bitesize epis...

Do you wake at 3am with your brain running through tomorrow's to-do list? Fall asleep on the sofa but lie wide awake the moment your head hits the pillow? Or feel like poor sleep is just something women in midlife have to put up with? In this week's episode, I'm joined by sleep specialist occupational therapist Laura Murphy , founder of The Sleep Shift , to separate sleep fact from fiction. We div...

This week, I decided to put AI to the test... I opened a private browser, pretended to be a fairly typical woman in her mid-40s, and asked ChatGPT to write me a training programme. I'll be honest... I expected it to be awful. It wasn't. In fact, some of the advice was surprisingly sensible. Which raises an interesting question: if AI can write you a decent training plan, do you still need a coach...

If you've ever found yourself signing up for another six-week shred, reset, cleanse or challenge... this episode is for you. Because here's the question I want you to ask yourself: If it worked so well last time... why do you need to do it again? In this episode I'm lifting the lid on the business model behind many of the fitness industry's most popular programmes and explaining why so many intell...

If I followed you around for a week, what would I notice about your workouts? 👀 One of the things I see most often is workouts all being done at the same intensity - not easy, but not hard - and often too many of them. This is costing you in midlife: both in terms of your results and your energy. In this episode: You'll discover the concepts of intelligent intensity and the minimum effective dose...

DISCLAIMER - this episode is not intended as medical advice, it is for information and entertainment purposes only. If your Instagram feed has suddenly become one long advert for electrolyte powders, you're not alone and this has happened to me when I was researching this episode! With the UK in the middle of another heatwave, my DMs have been flooded with questions from women asking whether elect...

For years, I was the personal trainer with a secret. I could run. I could lift weights. I could coach other women through their fitness journeys. But my own body wasn't functioning the way I wanted it to. After two pregnancies, I was left with a significant abdominal separation, recurring back pain, debilitating sciatica and a core that simply wasn't doing its job. I tried all the things I thought...

Ever found yourself saying: "I'll get back on track after the holidays..." "Once work settles down..." "When the kids have finished exams..." You're not alone. In this episode, I'm exploring one of the biggest mindset traps I see in midlife women: waiting for the perfect time to prioritise their health and fitness so we can unlock that next level. Because the reality is that life rarely calms down...

Are you actually getting old... or have you simply stopped asking your body to do interesting things? In this week's episode, I'm challenging one of the most common assumptions women make in midlife: that feeling stiff, creaky, slow or less capable is simply an inevitable part of getting older. But what if we've been misreading the signs? Drawing on client conversations, real-life examples (includ...

This week’s Honestly, Carly is a bite-size episode tackling one of the most common fitness questions I get asked: Should you actually be sore after every workout… and does soreness mean your training is working? We’re talking DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), what’s really happening inside the muscles after exercise, why some workouts leave you walking downstairs sideways… and why being comple...

This week on the podcast, I’m sharing something a bit more personal. Because for a long time, I was “the fit one”. Running was my identity. Exercise felt easy. Handled. Certain. And then my 40s arrived with a very pointed memo: injuries, exhaustion, body changes, niggles, self-doubt… and a growing feeling that the things that had always worked for me suddenly weren’t working anymore. In this episo...

This week’s episode is a bit of a rant… but a necessary one. Because despite everything we know about strength training, I’m still hearing the same thing from many women in their 40s and 50s: “I just don’t want to get bulky” So today, we’re unpacking where that belief actually comes from, why it’s so hard to shake (even when you know better)… and what it might be quietly costing you. We’re talking...

You already know what to do. So why isn’t anything changing? If you’re a midlife woman who’s read the articles, saved the workouts, listened to the podcasts (including this one 👀)… but still feels stuck when it comes to your fitness, strength or body composition - this episode is for you. Because here’s the truth (and this might sound odd coming from the host of a podcast who wants to educate and...

This week I'm joined by yoga teacher and mindset and self-care specialist, Karen Wilson, for a conversation that challenges one of the most persistent myths in midlife fitness: that more is always better. If you've ever felt guilty on a rest day, pushed through a workout when your body was begging you to stop, or wondered why doing all the things still isn't producing the results you want, this ep...

You’re doing all the workouts… ticking all the boxes… and still not seeing the results you used to - this episode is for you. Because more often than not, it’s not about how much you’re training. It’s about how hard you’re actually working . In this episode, I’m breaking down why intensity matters (especially in midlife), the difference between movement and training , and why living in that comfor...

We've just had the Easter break here in the UK (and have the May bank holidays to look forward to next month!) so I wanted to give you a bitesize nugget of an episode on something that's been coming up with my clients. Ever noticed how you feel better on holiday… even when you’re moving less, drinking more wine (!), and completely out of your usual routine? In this short, punchy episode, I’m unpac...

I nearly ticked "sedentary" on a medical form. And I'm a personal trainer. I had to tick a box describing my activity level - you know the ones. Sedentary. Lightly active. Moderately active. Highly active. And for years, I’ve ticked the top one without thinking. This time… I actually read it. And realised I couldn’t. Despite being a personal trainer. Despite training regularly. Despite doing all t...

HIIT has got a bad reputation in the midlife fitness world. And honestly? I think it needs new PR. In this episode, I’m digging into why high intensity interval training has been painted as the villain for women in their 40s and beyond, and why I think that’s a massive oversimplification. Because the problem isn’t HIIT itself. The problem is poor programming, too much of it, no progression, and ex...