Amanda Lim knows how to build a strong, resilient body—and it’s not through complicated exercises or fitness trends.
“I always joke that I have the most boring workout routine in the world,” she says.
“I do a real balance of functional strength training, zone two cardio, and I get a lot of steps.”
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The 43-year-old has been a trainer for over 20 years and is the CEO of liftCLINIC, a metabolic health center focused on longevity.
She’s also a mother of three. Her youngest child is two and a half years old, but she still includes pelvic floor, deep core and postpartum rehab in her routine.
“Moms think about it right after they have the babies, but they don’t think about it as part of their long-term fitness strategy,” she explains, adding: “I’m just riding that wave into perimenopause, and this is basically when all of the things that you experienced during postpartum come back.”
Below, Lim has shared an example of what a week of exercise looks like for her, as well as tips for people who want to exercise more consistently with longevity in mind.
Amanda Lim’s weekly workout routine
Monday 8.30am
Leg-focused strength workout.
Tuesday 8.30am
Upper-body-focused strength workout.
Wednesday 1pm
Postpartum core rehab.
Thursday 5pm
Walking as part of active recovery.
Friday 7am
High-intensity running intervals.
Friday 6pm
Yoga
Saturday 10am
Power-focused workout.
Sunday 9am
Zone two run.
Amanda Lim’s five tips to help you develop a consistent workout routine
1. Don’t track your progress on the scales
“We have to separate the number on the scale—the weight of our bodies—from the assessment of our health, because those two things don’t typically track beautifully together,” says Lim.
“Finding another way to measure progress, like your lifts or your muscles is important,” she adds.
The trainer assesses her own progress by tracking the number on the weights she’s lifting and measuring her muscle mass.
2. Embrace the benefits of being a beginner
“New beginnings are magic,” says Lim.
“Beginners actually see a greater delta in their initial muscle development than trained athletes like myself, so they get more for their money in the early days.”
3. Learn a new skill
“Learning something like a cartwheel or how to kick up into a handstand—mastering a new skill—especially as you age, really unlocks that next level of capability that you maybe thought was behind you,” says Lim.
4. Start walking
“The first piece of advice for any beginner is to get walking because that’s a fundamental human movement that we all need to do,” Lim says.
“If you have no other form of exercise in your life, get outside for a five minute walk. Start with five minutes. If you start with that, your probability of success is almost 100%.”
5. Have self-compassion
Lifestyle medicine recognizes six pillars that contribute to our health: nutrition, sleep, physical activity, stress management, social connection and minimizing your exposure to harmful substances.
But Lim says something is missing from this list.
“I always say the seventh pillar of lifestyle medicine is self-compassion,” says Lim.
“You have to be able to forgive yourself for not rising to the level of your goals, and you need to be able to find a way to continue even in the worst of times.”
