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Sarah Smith | Women’s Strength Coach

@sarahsmithcoach

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💪 Helping women 40+ get strong , lose weight, & keep it off. 🏆 20+ years exp | Ex-Pro Kettlebell Athlete📍Kinvara & Online. Start Here👇
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Even after 20 years in the fitness industry, this still floored me…..😤⁣ ⁣ I’d spent over a decade working my way up as a pro kettlebell athlete. Id been a personal trainer for over 20 years. Losing weight had never really been a problem for me, I knew how to train, I knew how to eat. I thought I had my body completely figured out.⁣🤔 ⁣ 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗽𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲. The kettlebell training that used to get me results wasn’t working. My eating habits needed to change and I didn’t know why. ⁣ ⁣ On top of that, I was dealing with anxiety I’d never experienced before. And I was too embarrassed to admit that, as “the expert,” I didn’t have the answers this time.⁣ 😲 ⁣ ✔️Swipe through the carousel and I’ll take you through it properly — but along the way I learned a lot: how to actually eat for my body now, how to train differently, how to manage anxiety I’d never dealt with before, and that asking for help isn’t a weakness.⁣ ⁣ Looking back, I’m grateful for all of it. It taught me things about fat loss and training in your 40s I never would’ve learned otherwise, and it’s exactly why I do what I do now.⁣💕 ⁣ So here’s the good news:⁣ You DON’T have to figure this out the hard way like I did. I’ve put together my Fat Loss & Perimenopause Cheat Sheet with everything I wish I’d known sooner. ⁣ ⁣ 👉🏻 Comment “𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗘𝗧” and I’ll send it straight over.⁣ #fatlosscoach #perimenopausecoach #femalefatloss #kettlebellcoach by @sarahsmithcoach
Good news. Fat loss after 40 doesn’t have to feel so confusing.There are so many opinions online about what women should be doing. 🤔⁣ ⁣ Eat this.⁣ Don’t eat that.⁣ Do more cardio.⁣ Walk 10,000 steps.⁣ Lift weights.⁣ Try fasting.⁣ ⁣ No wonder so many women feel overwhelmed.⁣ ⁣ But here’s what hasn’t changed.⁣ ✔️Building strength matters.⁣ ✔️Understanding your nutrition matters.⁣ ✔️Consistency beats perfection.⁣ ✔️Accountability makes sticking with it so much easier.⁣ ⁣ That’s why doing more and more isn’t the answer.⁣ What you actually need is a simple plan that focuses on the things that really move the needle.⁣ ⁣ I’ve been coaching women in fitness and nutrition for over 20 years, and one thing I’ve learned is this:⁣ 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜-𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩.⁣ ⁣ They’re the ones who follow a realistic plan they can actually stick to.⁣ ⁣ That’s exactly what StrongFit Shape is built around.⁣ Inside the programme we’ll focus on:⁣ ✔️Building strength with kettlebells.⁣ ✔️Training smarter, not longer.⁣ ✔️Understanding your nutrition without feeling restricted.⁣ ✔️Coaching and accountability to keep you moving forward.⁣ ⁣ 🎉To celebrate the launch, 𝙄’𝙢 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 €𝟱𝟬 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝟲-𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙁𝙞𝙩 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 €𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝟭𝟮-𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙚 when you sign up before 1st August.⁣ ⁣ If you want results, comment STRONG and I’ll send you all the details. #fatlossover40 #kettlebelltraining #femalefatlosscoach #womenscoach by @sarahsmithcoach
Kettlebells can look intimidating... but getting stronger with them can be surprisingly simple.⁣ And that’s exactly what this page is all about. ⁣ ⁣ 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲.⁣ I’m Sarah, a 49-year-old women’s strength coach, former international kettlebell athlete and personal trainer with over 20 years’ experience.⁣ ⁣ I believe strength training is one of the best investments we can make for our future selves.💪⁣ ⁣ My great-grandmother lived to 104, and my grandmother lived to 98. Watching them stay independent for so long has definitely shaped the way I think about getting older and why I believe strength matters so much.⁣ ⁣ 💕I care deeply about helping women build strength for real life... not just for a smaller body, toned arms or a bigger bum.⁣ ⁣ And I truly believe you don’t need to train like an athlete or spend hours in the gym to become stronger.⁣ ⁣ I’m here to help women over 40 build strength with kettlebells in a way that feels simple, realistic and fits around busy lives, changing hormones and everything else life throws at us.⁣ 🌊 ⁣ Enough about me...⁣ ⁣ I’d love to get to know you. Where are you at with kettlebells? Have you never picked one up? Have you got one gathering dust at home? Or are you already swinging one?⁣ ⁣ Let me know in the comments. 👇⁣ Really glad you’re here.⁣ Sarah 💪⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ #kettlebellsforwomen #kettlebellswing #kettlebelltraining #kettlebellexercises by @sarahsmithcoach
⁣ Ever stood at the boot of the car after the big shop, working out how many bags you can grab in one go so you don’t have to come back out in the rain? 😂 ⁣ ⁣ I always go for all of them.⁣ I wasn’t always able to carry it all. ⁣ ⁣ When I found kettlebells at a strongman competition in Limerick, back when hardly anyone in Ireland had heard of them, I started teaching them in my sitting room with one 8kg bell. ⁣ ⁣ My first farmer’s carries were with two 8kgs.⁣ ⁣ Then came over ten years of kettlebell sport. Training five days a week, competing in Russia, Latvia, Poland and all over Ireland, and hands so torn from the bells that grip became the thing I trained most. 😅⁣ ⁣ These days I do farmer’s carries for a different reason. I’m in midlife now, like a lot of you, and I want carrying the big shop in from the car to be easy. ⁣ ⁣ I want the suitcase up the stairs, the washing basket and the bags of compost to be no bother. ⁣ ⁣ And I want to keep it that way for a long time.⁣ ⁣ This is me with a 32kg kettlebell in each hand. That’s 64kg, a bit less than what I weigh. ⁣ It took me YEARS of building up slowly to get here.⁣ ⁣ You don’t need to lift anywhere near this. But the move works the same at any weight. ⁣ ⁣ It builds your grip, your back and your posture, and it loads your bones, which matters more and more as we go through perimenopause. You pick them up and you walk. That’s it. 💪⁣ ⁣ If you’re new, start with two 6kg or 8kg kettlebells. Stand tall, shoulders back, walk slow. Add it to your strength training two or three times a week.⁣ ⁣ Do you do farmer’s carries, or have you ever tried them? 👇⁣ #kettlebelllifting #kettlebellsforlife #farmerscarry #farmerswalks #kettlebellsireland by @sarahsmithcoach
Did you guess the answer?!😉⁣ ⁣ Let’s start with Aoife. Every time she starts, she goes all in. 5 gym classes a week: spin, bootcamp, the lot. Up at 6am, drive to the gym, home, shower, work. Chicken and broccoli, no bread, no chocolate, not even a biscuit with her cuppa.⁣ ⁣ And all week, what’s she thinking about? The chocolate. The bread. The glass of wine she’s “not allowed”.⁣ ⁣ Because that’s what restriction does. The more you ban something, the louder it gets. ⁣ ⁣ So come Friday night, it’s a takeaway, half a bottle of wine and the kids’ leftover chips. And by Sunday she’s promising herself she’ll start again on Monday.⁣ ⁣ After 4 weeks of early alarms, aching legs from classes that were way too much too soon, and being hungry all the time, she’s wrecked and sick of it. So she stops completely, sometimes for months.⁣ ⁣ Now Mary. Mary has one kettlebell at home. Two 30-minute sessions a week, Tuesday and Thursday, in the sitting room before the dinner. No driving anywhere, no changing into fancy gear, no 6am alarm. Not too hectic, just enough to feel it.⁣ ⁣ She has a few squares of chocolate most evenings. If she fancies a takeaway on a Wednesday, she has it. Newsflash: treats aren’t just for weekends. 🍫 ⁣ ⁣ And because nothing’s banned, nothing’s a big deal. No Friday blowout. No Monday guilt.⁣ ⁣ So by the end of the year, Mary has done more sessions, more swings and more reps than Aoife. ⁣ ⁣ And over the whole year, she’s probably eaten less too, because she never had the weekend binges to make up for.⁣ ⁣ Not exciting. But it works. 💪⁣ ⁣ Be a Mary. Which one are you? Tell me below 👇⁣ Sarah x⁣ ⁣ #kettlebellworkout #strengthtrainingforwomen #womenover40 #fitover40 #kinvara by @sarahsmithcoach
Happy Halloween 🎃 To all the women who are scared that lifting weights will make you bulky: it won’t! You’ll just get stronger, leaner and feel great. Be scared of ghosts, not kettlebells 👻💪 #kettlebellkings #kettlebelllifting #kettlebellsforwomen #galwaykettlebells by @sarahsmithcoach
Beginner to pro.. ⁣ So, the photo above is me competing at pro level in kettlebell sport with a 24kg kettlebell. When I first started, I was a complete novice using 8kg and it was actually the first sport I’d ever done. ⁣ ⁣ Then I moved to 12kg, 16kg, 20kg and eventually 24kg. It took me ten years to get to what you see in this picture.⁣ ⁣ Now, the point isn’t the kettlebell or the numbers. Maybe your goal is to lose weight, feel better in your clothes, get fit or become really strong. ⁣ ⁣ And maybe right now it feels ages away and you’re wondering if you’ll ever get there. I understand that feeling. But I didn’t start by thinking about competing with the 24kg, I focused on the next weight in front of me. That’s all you need to do too: focus on your next wee step. ⁣ ⁣ It doesn’t have to happen quickly to still be happening.⁣ ⁣ Drop me a 💪 if you needed that reminder today.⁣ ⁣ #strengthtrainingforwomen #womenover40fitness #weightlossjourney #kettlebelltraining #gettingstrongereveryday by @sarahsmithcoach
⁣ The benefit of kettlebells not talked about enough in the fitness industry👇⁣ ⁣ We all know lifting weights is great for us women in our 40s. It builds bone density, helps prevent osteoporosis, keeps us strong and in shape. All brilliant, and all reasons to do it.⁣ ⁣ But there’s another side to it that doesn’t get spoken about nearly enough. The way it makes you FEEL.⁣ ⁣ For me, picking up a kettlebell is a form of therapy. Now, nothing will ever replace a good therapist, and I’m not saying we should use exercise to bypass our feelings. ⁣ ⁣ But when there’s sh*t going on in life, working through it with a kettlebell builds something in you. A kind of resilience. ⁣ ⁣ You walk away feeling invincible inside, like you can handle whatever comes next.⁣ ⁣ I’m so much calmer after a session. More patient. ⁣ ⁣ Kinder to the people I love. ⁣ ⁣ And my clients say the exact same thing. ⁣ ⁣ They come in carrying the weight of the day and leave feeling lighter and more capable.⁣ ⁣ So yes, train for your bones, your muscles and your shape. But don’t underestimate what it does for your head.⁣ ⁣ Drop a 💪 if you feel the difference in your mental health as well as your body from kettlebells or weights. #kettlebelllifting #kettlebellsforwomen #kettlebelltraining #kettlebellsgalway by @sarahsmithcoach
Okay, before you come for me — I enjoy yoga. 👌I do it myself. ⁣ This isn’t me trying to talk you out of doing yoga. ⁣ ⁣ BUT…⁣ ⁣ if it’s the only exercise you’re doing, there’s a gap. ⁣ ⁣ Yoga is brilliant for your core and for building control and stability in the body, a lot of women come to it because of back pain or old injuries, and it genuinely helps with that. ⁣ ⁣ 🚫But it doesn’t challenge your bones enough to keep them strong and dense as you get older. ⁣ ⁣ Bone needs load. It needs to be pushed with something heavier, like kettlebells or weights, to get the signal to build density.⁣ ⁣ 💪I’ve got several yoga instructors who come to my kettlebell classes for exactly this reason, they know their yoga practice alone isn’t giving their bones what they need.⁣ ⁣ And the flip side is true too: plenty of my kettlebell regulars go to Yoga or Pliates as well, because lifting alone doesn’t give you the mobility and flexibility your body needs either. ⁣ ⁣ Neither one covers everything on its own.⁣ ⁣ I also know a lot of women avoid weights because of back pain, and they worry lifting will make it worse. That’s actually the opposite of what tends to happen. ⁣ ⁣ Done properly, with the right technique and progression, kettlebell training builds the strength around your spine and joints that protects them — it doesn’t put them at risk.⁣ ⁣ And I get it, I know you’re busy, I know you’ve got loads on, and Pilates is probably already a squeeze to fit in. I’m not trying to pile more onto your plate. ⁣ ⁣ The good news is you DON’T need a gym for this. ⁣A couple of kettlebells at home and 20 minutes, ⁣ 2 times a week, is genuinely enough to start.⁣ ⁣ Are you doing Yoga, kettlebells, weights or both right now? let me know👇(zero judgment here) ⁣ ⁣ p.s Want to know exactly how to build strong, healthy bones through your 40s and beyond? ⁣grab the 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗽𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 + 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 cheat sheet in my BIO. #kettlebelltraining #kettlebellsforwomen #kettlebelllifting by @sarahsmithcoach
Have you ever talked yourself out of doing a ten-minute kettlebell workout because you thought, “What’s the point? Ten minutes isn’t enough.”⁣ ⁣ I nearly did that today. 🫣⁣ ⁣ I felt like I had a bit of a head cold coming on, so I didn’t feel up to a full workout. I did ten minutes of kettlebells instead…and it still counts.⁣ ⁣ Think of it like this, right?⁣ You wouldn’t not bother putting €50 into a savings account just because it wasn’t €100 or €200. ⁣ You’d still put it in because every bit adds up.⁣ 👌 ⁣ Kettlebell training is the same.⁣ Every ten minutes counts. It’s still you showing up. It’s still a vote for change and for being the woman who lifts weights.⁣ ⁣ I’m glad I did it, and I felt better afterwards.⁣ ⁣ So if you only have ten minutes today, do the ten minutes. Drop a 💪 if you’re joining me.⁣ ⁣ #kettlebelltraining #tenminuteworkout #womenover40fitness #strengthtrainingforwomen #getstronger⁣ by @sarahsmithcoach
⁣ Some kettlebell coaches will tell you their way is the only right way. “Hardstyle is best. No, kettlebell sport is best. Juggling with them just for showing off.”⁣ ⁣ And don’t even think about using the “wrong” type of kettlebell. How dare you buy a Lidl bell? or a plastic one? 🤣⁣ ⁣ 𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. ⁣ ⁣ It’s a bit like saying walking is the only proper way to get from A to B. You could also run, cycle or drive. Different ways can still get you where you want to go.⁣ ⁣ It’s the same with kettlebells.⁣ ⁣ You can use them to build strength, improve fitness, practise skills or simply feel more confident lifting something heavy.⁣ ⁣ Yes, I prefer a good-quality kettlebell. But if someone buys a plastic or neoprene kettlebell from their local shop and starts exercising with it, I’m ABSOLUTELY not going to tell them they’re doing it wrong.⁣ ⁣ That kind of talk only leaves beginners feeling more confused.⁣ ⁣ They start worrying about having the wrong kettlebell, learning the wrong style or not being “good enough” to belong.⁣ ⁣ And they haven’t even started yet.⁣ ⁣ The best type of kettlebell training is one you enjoy, can do safely and will keep coming back to.⁣ You can learn different styles as you go. You don’t have to pick a camp before you’re allowed to pick up a kettlebell.⁣ ⁣ If you’re just getting started, use what you have, learn a few basic moves and build from there.⁣ ⁣ There’s more than one way to get stronger.⁣ ⁣ Drop a 💪 emoji if you agree. #kettlebelltraining #kettlebellsgalway #kettlebelllifting #kettlebellsforwomen by @sarahsmithcoach
You have been lied to! This notion of needing 5+ hours a week training to get results is bullshit💩⁣ ⁣ Instead 2 x solid 30-minute kettlebell sessions a week can help you build strength, build and hold on to muscle, support your bone density, feel more confident in your body, and reduce body fat alongside your nutrition habits.⁣ ⁣ That’s one hour out of your whole week.⁣ ⁣ You don’t need to train every day, spend hours in the gym or wait until life becomes less busy.⁣ ⁣ Don’t let the idea that you need to do loads prevent you from getting started—or make you believe that two sessions aren’t worth doing.⁣ ⁣ Give yourself 30 minutes, twice a week, and keep showing up. What you can achieve by doing that consistently might surprise you.⁣ ⁣ 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝟯𝟬-𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸? Give me a 💪if you agree you can👇⁣ ⁣ #kettlebelltraining #kettlebellworkout #womenover40fitness #strengthtrainingforwomen #kettlebellsforbeginners by @sarahsmithcoach

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