Episode 98Jul 11, 2026· 4:53

Why I'm Doing This in My 40s, For the Woman I'll Be at 70

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About this episode

Ashley Grant, 41, reflects on her motivation for staying active — exercising for future self, physical independence in old age, avoiding dependency, heart health, mental health, and the personal experience of being on blood pressure medication before 40. She frames fitness as freedom and describes inaction as accumulating a debt the future self will have to pay. Short solo episode with a direct call to start moving.

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Who this episode is for

This episode may resonate with you if:

You're in your 40s and starting to feel the gap between the body you have and the one you want to grow old in — and it's quietly unsettling.

You've had a health scare — a medication, a diagnosis, a number on a test — that made you realize your future self is not as far away as you thought.

You have a deep fear of losing your independence as you age — needing someone to carry your groceries, help you up, take care of you — and that fear is more motivating than any aesthetic goal.

You haven't started moving yet and you know it. You feel the should pressing on you but haven't crossed into doing.

You think about your future self — who she'll be, what she'll need, whether you're setting her up or letting her down — and that frame of mind shapes how you make decisions now.

Questions this episode wrestles with

Does moving your body in your 40s actually change what your 70s look like?

answered

Ashley's view is that every movement at 41 is a direct deposit toward the woman she'll be at 70, 80, or 90 — protecting her heart, her mental health, and her ability to carry her own groceries.

"so true. Every single movement that I am doing here at 41 is not for right now, though it is helping me a lot right now. I can't help but think of the future version of myself who needs to be stronger. All of the movements I'm doing"

What does it mean to owe your future self something you're not paying now?

answered

Ashley describes not taking care of yourself now as accumulating a debt — one the future version of you has to pay, and might not be able to.

"you take care of yourself now, the more you're going to pay for it later. And so you're basically putting together a debt that you might not be"

How do you take seriously a consequence you can't feel yet?

answered

Ashley shares that being on blood pressure medication before 40 made the future consequence feel real and immediate — it scared her enough to get off the medication and start moving.

"you guys, I was on blood pressure medication for a minute there, and it scared the crap out of me. I got off them really quickly. I was only on them for, I'd say, about three or four months. But the fact that I had to be on them at all way before I was 40, that sucked. And I don't"

Can you actually choose whether you'll be physically dependent when you're old?

answered

Ashley believes her choices now are what determine that — she frames fitness as freedom, and the more she moves her body now, the more she expects to be able to move it in the future.

"freedom, man. It's the freedom that fitness brings you. It's something that is so important to me. And so the more I can move my body, the more I feel like I'll be able to move my body in the future. And so basically the whole point of today,"

Is staying independent in your 70s and 80s something you earn or something that just happens to you?

answered

Ashley treats it as something you earn — she's explicit that she doesn't want to need someone to carry her groceries or worry about breaking a hip, and frames her current fitness work as what prevents those futures.

"don't want to need someone to carry the groceries in for me. I don't want to need someone to put the groceries in my car. to help me lift things or to make sure that I'm not gonna tip over and break a hip or I don't even know what the possibilities may be, but I don't want those to be my future."

Setting expectations: This episode is not about fitness routines, workout plans, or anti-aging strategies for your 40s. It's Ashley talking through her personal reason for exercising at 41 — she was briefly on blood pressure medication before 40 and doesn't want to need someone to carry her groceries at 70.

Tone & style

Ashley starts from a place of not prioritizing her future self, gets scared into action by being put on blood pressure medication before 40, and pivots to framing every current workout as an investment against a 'debt' her future self would otherwise have to pay — ending with a direct call for listeners to start before they accumulate the same debt.

Personal experience and opinion. Ashley shares her own motivations and a health scare; she is not making medical claims or offering a fitness program.

toneCandid & motivational

focusAshley explains why she's doing all her fitness work at 41 for the version of herself at 70, 80, or 90 — not for how she looks now.

stylesolo_monologue

energymedium_high

complexitybeginner

pressure Levelmedium

emotional Textureurgent, personal, direct, slightly vulnerable

Notable quotes

"The truth is, I'm not doing this for me right now. I'm doing it for me later. What's up, my"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"don't want to need someone to carry the groceries in for me. I don't want to need someone to put the groceries in my car. to help me lift things"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"you guys, I was on blood pressure medication for a minute there, and it scared the crap out of me. I got off them really quickly. I was only on them for, I'd say, about three or four months. But the fact that I had to be on them at all way before I was 40, that sucked. And I don't"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"you take care of yourself now, the more you're going to pay for it later. And so you're basically putting together a debt that you might not be"

— Famous Ashley Grant

Episode transcript

Organized into 3 chapters — open any part to read the full text.

0:001. Moving Now for the Woman She'll Be at 70Ashley explains that her fitness work at 41 is primarily motivated by her future self — she wants to carry her own groceries, protect her heart and mental health, and avoid depending on others at 70, 80, or 90.1:592. Fitness as Freedom and the Debt of Not MovingAshley frames movement as freedom and warns that neglecting your body now creates a debt the future version of you will have to pay — including her own experience being on blood pressure medication before age 40.3:333. A Direct Call to Start MovingAshley speaks directly to listeners who haven't started yet, urging them to move today so they don't end up needing to be taken care of later.

Open full transcript

Mentioned in this episode

personFamous Ashley Grant

The host of More Movement Please, speaking at age 41 about doing fitness work now for the woman she'll be at 70, 80, or 90 — and sharing that she was briefly on blood pressure medication before age 40.

Key themes

Exercising for future self

Ashley frames her fitness work at 41 as being primarily for the woman she'll be at 70, 80, or 90 — not for how she looks or feels right now.

Physical independence in old age

Ashley's specific fear is needing someone else to carry her groceries, lift things for her, or prevent her from breaking a hip — and she's moving now to avoid that.

Fitness as freedom

Ashley explicitly connects movement to freedom — the ability to take care of herself — and says this is something she talked about on the 4th of July episode.

The debt of not moving

Ashley uses a debt metaphor to describe what happens when you neglect your body now — the future version of you pays what the younger version didn't.

Blood pressure medication scare

Ashley discloses she was on blood pressure medication for three or four months before age 40, and that experience scared her into taking her health seriously.

Refusing pharmaceuticals as a way of life

Ashley says she doesn't want to be subscribed to pills just to live a normal life, and this aversion is part of what drives her to move.

Not wanting to be taken care of

Ashley says she doesn't want anyone to feel like they have to take care of her, and this desire for self-reliance is a core motivation behind her fitness.

Direct call to start moving

Ashley speaks straight to listeners who haven't started yet, telling them they absolutely should and that they're the only ones who can do it for themselves.