Strength without punishment.
No bootcamps, no 1,200 calories, no shame. Lift well, eat enough, recover on purpose, and let your body change the way it wants to.
One-to-one strength, mobility and nutrition coaching for women over 40 who are done with bootcamps, starvation, and being invisible in the gym.
Pull the pin to where you are The page adjusts to you.
Fix the movement. Build the muscle. Shape the body. In that order.
Most fitness for women over 40 skips step one and calls the resulting injury 'pushing through'. I've spent over a decade doing it in the right order, with hundreds of clients and on my own body as a competitive bodybuilder.
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Move well first
A corrective-exercise assessment finds the muscles that stopped doing their job and the ones compensating. We turn the right ones back on before adding load. This is why my clients get stronger without getting hurt.
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Load it, progressively
Real strength programming, the kind used for athletes, scaled to your body and your week. Muscle and bone respond to progressive overload at 45, 55 and 75. Effort is not the variable we change. The plan is.
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Eat enough, eat for muscle
Nutrition built on bio-individuality: your protein, your schedule, your hormones. No 1,200-calorie plans. Most women I meet are under-eating for the body they want.
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Recover on purpose
Yin, mobility and breath work from 500 hours of yoga training, so your nervous system can actually adapt to the work. Sleep and stress are programmed, not hoped for.
One-to-one coaching, online
Everything you'd get from training with me in person, built into your week wherever you live.
- Assessment
- Movement and lifestyle assessment to start
- Programming
- Custom strength and mobility program, updated as you progress
- Nutrition
- Personal nutrition targets and habit coaching
- Check-ins
- Weekly one-to-one check-in and program adjustments
- Form review
- Video review of your lifts between check-ins
- Access
- Direct message access to me during the week
$350 per month
Month to month. No contract, no minimum, cancel whenever you like.
I coach a small number of women at a time so every check-in is a real one.
Apply for coachingA short application, then a free 30-minute consult. No pressure, no sales call.
Five certifications that only make sense together
Strength coaches don't usually teach yoga. Yoga teachers don't usually compete in bodybuilding. Nutrition coaches don't usually assess how you squat. I do all of it, which is the whole point.
- NASM CES Corrective Exercise Specialist and Certified Personal Trainer National Academy of Sports Medicine Finding and fixing the movement pattern before loading it
- PICP 1 & 2 Strength and Conditioning Coach, Levels 1 and 2 Poliquin Group Program design for building real muscle, safely and progressively
- RYT-500 500-Hour Registered Yoga Teacher Sunstone Yoga Academy / Yoga Alliance Mobility, breath, and a nervous system that can actually recover
- PN1 Level One Nutrition Coach Precision Nutrition Eating enough, and eating for muscle, without dieting
- IIN HC Certified Health Coach Institute for Integrative Nutrition Habits, routines, and the whole-life picture around training
In their words
“We focused first on correcting dysfunctional movement patterns so I was actually working the muscles meant to work.”
Result. More symmetry, a much stronger core, and progress without injury.
Read her whole note
Ruthie has been my go-to personal trainer for about two years. When I first started working with her, my goal was to tone up and get in shape. What I got was that, plus so much more. Unlike typical trainers I've worked with in the past, Ruthie wasn't all about pushing me to my absolute max, read burn-out to the point I gave up. Instead, we focused first on correcting dysfunctional movement patterns so that I was actually working the muscles meant to work in various movements and exercises, rather than relying on the stronger muscles that liked to take over weaker ones. The result was more symmetry in my body and a much stronger core, such that I was able to advance my training without burning out and, more importantly, without injury. Ruthie is patient and encouraging, challenging just the right amount without going overboard, and very supportive. She held me accountable to my stated goals but gave me enough leeway to get back on the path when I veered off without making me feel bad about myself.
“I initially saw her to help control my osteoporosis because I didn't want to take the medication the doctors prescribed.”
Result. Reached her weight and strength goals, and her friends started asking what her secret was.
Read her whole note
Ruthie has been my health coach for nearly two years. I initially saw her to help control my osteoporosis because I didn't want to take the medication the doctors prescribed. After an extensive initial session during which Ruthie took measurements and discussed my goals, she helped tailor a plan specific to my body and age. I have seen Ruthie twice a week to work out and tweak my food plan since that initial visit. During this time, through a food and exercise plan, Ruthie has helped me reach my best physical condition. I have reached my weight and exercise goals under her careful watch. I have referred a number of friends to her after they asked me what my secret to looking so fit and healthy was.
I'm Ruthie.
I'm a strength coach, a 500-hour yoga teacher, a nutrition coach, and a competitive bodybuilder. That last one surprises people. It's also why I know exactly what it takes to change a body, and exactly how much of the fitness industry's advice to women is nonsense.
I've spent over a decade learning how to move and fuel the body for fat loss, muscle gain, better health markers, and fewer injuries. I test every bit of it on myself first. I treat myself like I'd treat you.
What I care about most is the practice of feeling good in your body: strong, mobile, well fed, well rested. Not punished into shape. Built, carefully, for the long run.
Ruthie O'Hehir
The recipe book
High-protein, real-food recipes for women who lift. Free, in your inbox.
Questions women ask before they apply
Do I need a gym?
No. I program for what you have: a full gym, a home rack, or a pair of dumbbells and a band. We'll talk about it on the consult.
I've never lifted. Is this for me?
Yes. Starting from zero is often easier than un-learning bad habits. Everything is scaled to you, and we start with movement, not weight.
I have an injury or a diagnosis.
Corrective exercise is my specialty. Bring your doctor's or physio's guidance and we'll build around it. Several of my clients came to me for osteoporosis, backs, shoulders, and knees.
How is this different from an app or a program?
An app doesn't watch your video, notice you're under-eating, or change your plan when your sleep falls apart. I do, every week.
What does it cost?
Coaching is a monthly membership. The price is on this page if it's turned on, and we cover it plainly on the consult either way.