Fit at 50 and Still Going: Meet Julie, Our Member of the Month

Two years ago, an orthopedic surgeon looked at Julie's x-rays, then looked at her activity level, and told her something most people don't hear before a full hip replacement: this recovery is going to be fast.

He was right. Julie flew through her post-op tests and left the hospital as an outpatient. Movement was already a habit for her. Nine years of Studio ME had made sure of that.

Fit at 50

Julie found Studio ME while approaching a milestone birthday, with one clear goal: be fit at 50. She wanted an independently-owned gym, and Megan welcomed her in at the studio's original St. Anthony Main location, where she started 6:45am Bootcamp three mornings a week.

She didn't know a kettlebell swing from a clean when she started. It didn't matter. "All I had to do was show up," she says. Megan made sure every session built real strength through swings, cleans, squats, and rowing, and the camaraderie of the group made those early mornings worth it.

Strength That Followed Her Home

The fitness stuck, and it started showing up everywhere else in Julie's life. She'd never rowed on water before in her life, but when she joined the Minneapolis Rowing Club, the strength and endurance she'd built in bootcamp carried straight onto the water, all the way to competing in regattas on the Mississippi.

A few years later, a 70-pound chocolate Lab named Jake joined the family. The same strength training that got her through regattas turned out to be exactly what she needed for daily walks with a serious leash-puller, and Jake became her hiking partner on trips to state parks.

When the pandemic closed the studio's doors, Megan pivoted classes online, mailing every member a set of kettlebells and bands so training wouldn't skip a beat. Julie looked forward to seeing familiar faces on her screen a few times a week, everyone clunkily figuring out the technology together with a coach still cueing every rep. "The connection and community during this time was paramount to both my physical and mental health," she says.

When Studio ME later moved into a brand new, larger studio, Julie was thrilled to be back in person, even as she adjusted to a more co-mingled setup where formats trained side by side. That shared space gave her a front-row view of semi-private and private training, something that would matter more than she realized at the time.

The Test

Two years ago, Julie started feeling pain in her right hip. Her coach and Studio ME's onsite physical therapist modified her bootcamp sessions and added exercises to ease the pain and strengthen the muscles around it. Eventually, an x-ray told the real story: osteoarthritis. Full hip replacement was the only real option, and Julie scheduled it right away.

What came next is the part Julie credits to nearly a decade of training. She flew through her post-surgery tests, and years of having single-leg exercises in bootcamp meant she could navigate stairs relying on her left leg alone. She walked outside with a walker, setting goals the same way she'd learned to in the gym: a half-block, then one, then two, then more. Encouraging emails, a care package on her doorstep, and check-ins from Megan and the team followed her through every step of recovery.

Coming Back Stronger

Three months later, Julie was ready to return, and this time she recognized she wanted more individualized attention. She started with Coach Elliot in a semi-private group alongside familiar faces she'd seen around the gym for years. A year later, she's regained her mobility, rebuilt real strength in that hip, and made new friendships with her morning crew, all while staying connected to the bootcampers she started with almost a decade ago. Some of them are still in group fitness. Others have moved between group and private training right alongside her.

Nine years in, Julie's enthusiasm has pulled her own family and friends through Studio ME's doors, too. In her words: "StudioME is a pretty special place that continues to keep me moving through all of life's moments and milestones. I am forever grateful."

Congrats to Julie, our Member of the Month. Here's to whatever milestone comes next.