That’s Not My Age

Photo: Jenny Smith

It is my absolute pleasure to introduce you to 50-year-old Olympian-turned-personal trainer and lifestyle coach, Michelle Griffith Robinson. The very first Olympic athlete to be featured on That’s Not My Age. Whoop! As a triple jumper, Michelle represented Team GB at the 1996 Olympic Games and was the first woman to jump over 14-metres at the Commonwealth Games. Michelle’s athletics career began at the age of 11, when her mum dropped her off at the local track on her way to work, simply because there was no-one else to look after her. ‘It was an accident that I went to the track on a Sunday morning, mum paid one pound and she still says now that it’s the best investment she’s ever made.’

By the age of 25, Michelle’s sporting talent and determination – together with years of training at the highest level – took her from north London to the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Over the following years, as a record-breaking triple jumper, she represented the country in three Commonwealth Games.

On retiring from life as an elite athlete, but still passionate about sport and wellbeing, Michelle started coaching others as a personal trainer, going on to work with private clients as a lifestyle coach, helping them to find focus, build inner strength and go after what they want in life. And just chatting to her on this podcast inspired me to take a more positive outlook and get off the couch…

Photo: @howaboutdavephotography

Here, Michelle talks about her incredible career, both on and off the track, and shares how she found the determination, focus and strength to succeed. She is evangelical about the benefits of exercise, as a way to cultivate a positive mindset and healthy, balanced lifestyle, at every age. And so, of course, I asked for some tactics on how to motivate yourself in mid-winter…

When not training and inspiring her clients, Michelle is an expert panellist for Women’s Health magazine and is committed to helping others through her charity work. We talk about age and she describes how the peri-menopause led her to becoming an ambassador for The Menopause Charity in order to help inform and empower other women of colour.

Michelle is an absolute star, a go-getter with boundless energy and enthusiasm. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed recording it.

All images courtesy of Michelle

PODCAST LINKS

Listen to the podcast on Spotify HERE

Listen to Apple Podcasts HERE

Please, please rate, review and subscribe, to help more listeners to find the podcast.

We’re also on Stitcher, Podtail, Poddtoppen, and Google Podcasts.

PODCAST CREDITS

Producer and audio engineer: Linda Ara-Tebaldi

Host: Alyson Walsh

Guest: Michelle Griffith Robinson

Music: David Schweitzer

Artwork: Ayumi Takahashi

Coordinator: Helen Johnson

*Due to the pandemic the That’s Not My Age podcast is now recorded using a web-based application on my computer. It is odd not being in a room with someone, not seeing a person’s facial expression or knowing if they’re about to continue talking…But it also means we can go global!

Colourful and confident clothing, inspired by Michelle:

Follow Michelle Griffith Robinson on Instagram

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