It’s a cold & drizzly Monday. But in Tom Trotter’s south London kitchen things are heating up. Tom tells his mother to lift as he shows her how to do a squat into an overhead press. His 69-year-old mother Sally copies what he does. Soon they are both breathing hard as they exercise together while joking and laughing. This friendly dynamic has made Tom and Sally popular with their nearly 800000 followers who watch their workouts on Tom’s Instagram account. Tom is 30 years old and always cheerful and energetic. He has impressive abs that would make any Hollywood actor jealous. He seems like a typical fitness influencer at first. Then there’s Sally who works as a midwife and balances out her son perfectly. She represents the average person who shows that you don’t need perfect abs to enjoy exercise and get healthier from it.
Fitter and Stronger at 69
While many people her age are taking things easier Sally gets up every morning at 6am to go to the gym for half an hour. She uses the exercise bike and lifts weights before going to work at an NHS maternity ward.
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Sally says she has always kept fit. She has had six kids & has always worked. She never went to the gym though. Twenty years ago nobody did. She did not have time. She did some running and cycling but now she is the fittest she has ever been.
Tom describes fitness as his obsession. He was competitive from the beginning after winning a scholarship to a professional rugby training academy at 16. Rugby was his everything & he played professionally for a few years before he moved to running marathons & triathlons. At that point he was training in quite an extreme way and ended up with a spinal injury. Tom was diagnosed with a bulging disc and a pars fracture in November 2024 when he was 29. He had to quit running entirely while it healed.
He had to regress. It forced him to slow down and appreciate fitness differently by focusing on a healthy lifestyle rather than trying to hit a certain number or distance or time. Exercise went from being about ego to being kind to his body.
It was around this time that Tom moved back in with his mother and they began working out together. During lockdown he turned her garage into a gym. Sally would be upstairs and hear him going at it with his music blaring. She supposes it rubs off on you.
Working out as mother & son has been a source of joy for them both. They say in unison that they are very similar when asked what makes their intergenerational exercise routine so enjoyable.
Turning Exercise Into Enjoyment
Having someone to exercise with makes it better. We laugh together and that matters a lot says Tom. We both work out every day & I know that might sound difficult but when you enjoy it the pain goes away. I believe everyone can find a way to enjoy exercise and Mum & I did it by pushing each other forward.
Sally feels happy that she inspires others to exercise as she gets close to turning 70. The women at my workplace think I am very fit she says with a smile. I am not really but they see that if I can do this at my age then they can do it too. Watching them feel better has been wonderful. After they began exercising they told me they finally understood what I meant. That makes me feel proud.
Exercise has given Sally a fresh start in life. I work in a very busy unit where we deliver many babies and that requires a lot of energy she explains. Getting fitter has helped me live the way I want to live. Keeping my energy up helps me stay positive. Many people reach 70 and begin to slow down. I do not feel like that at all.
Building Strength and Resilience With Age
The real test happened last May when Sally got hit by a car while riding her bike to the gym. “It was a complete accident. This poor lady didn’t see me,” she says. “I landed on my right shoulder and broke my clavicone. But I had been staying active and doing resistance training with Tom so instead of shattering I was strong enough to get back up and carry on. My recovery was much quicker than expected.”
“Mum was back on the exercise bike within days” says Tom. “We kept her fitness going and that kept her mindset positive and gave her a better outlook on life. She wasn’t feeling down or thinking she couldn’t do anything but sit around and eat.”
Growing Stronger by Learning Together
Sally thinks that exercise helps you feel more in control mentally. She likes the feeling of achievement she gets from finishing a thirty-minute workout every morning.
She says she feels a bit proud that she has been to the gym and showered and eaten breakfast & made her cheese & tomato sandwich for lunch while other people are still sleeping. She feels prepared to face the world.
Working out with his mother taught Tom some important lessons. In his new book called Rise and Shine he writes about how he fell into the trap of overtraining because he wanted an unrealistic body and craved approval on social media.
Tom says it was a difficult journey. Other guys would tell him how lean he looked and how good he appeared. He enjoyed the praise and it became part of who he was. When life was going well he thought it was because he was lean. He did not realize how narrow his focus had become. He was exhausted and always felt cold because he had almost no body fat. He felt terrible. He wondered if something that injures you and disrupts your hormones can really be good for you.
Sally felt unable to help him. She says she could not reach him no matter what she said. Even when she told him to put butter on his toast he refused.
Tom eventually had to slow down because of an injury. Training with his mother taught him to listen to his mind & body instead of chasing random fitness targets.
Tom explains that his mother taught him to ask himself questions like how he feels & how his week went and what he wants to do today and whether he slept well. Learning from his mother to be more human changed how he trains. If you ignore your emotions you cannot understand your motivation which is what keeps you exercising. He learned to be more caring & less strict. This creates a comfortable environment that makes you want to keep showing up.
Tom and Sally want to show that anyone can benefit from exercise no matter their age. They also want to demonstrate how valuable it can be to exercise with someone you love. These days Tom lives in London with his fiancée while Sally still lives in Surrey so they only train together once a week. However they stay in regular contact and support each other. Tom laughs and says he calls every day because he is a mummy’s boy. He gives her a workout plan and then calls to check that she is doing it.
Sally adds that Tom sends WhatsApp photos of himself at the gym to remind her to get started. She says doing difficult things together is enjoyable. You feel like you have conquered something as a team. The endorphin rush is real. It feels good to feel good with good people.
Exercise 1: How to Do Goblet Squats
The goblet squat works well for people just starting out and experienced lifters too. It targets your lower body and especially strengthens your quads. Adding a dumbbell creates extra resistance during the squat and helps build more muscle. You also activate your core muscles to stay upright and maintain good posture throughout the movement. This helps improve your balance. Using a lighter weight with more repetitions keeps your heart rate elevated and can make climbing stairs easier.
How to do it: Hold a kettlebell or dumbbell against your chest right below your chin. Bend your knees while keeping your back straight like you’re sitting down in a chair. Push through your legs to return to a standing position.
Exercise 2: Hammer Curl Thruster Breakdown
The goblet squat benefits both beginners and advanced lifters. This exercise focuses on your lower body and primarily builds your quads. Holding a dumbbell adds resistance to the squat & promotes muscle growth. Your core muscles engage to keep you stable and help you maintain proper form during the exercise. This engagement enhances your balance. Performing the movement with lighter weights and higher repetitions raises your heart rate and can improve your ability to climb stairs.
How to do it: Hold a kettlebell or dumbbell at your chest just under your chin. Lower yourself by bending your knees while keeping your back straight as if sitting into a chair. Drive through your legs to stand back up.
Exercise 3: Mastering Wall Sits
That’s a static hold that helps tire out the muscle. Your quads get fatigued and if you combine that with something like a squat afterwards it makes you work a lot harder. It provides a lot of tension which is great for improving leg strength and should help you walk faster.
How to do it: Lean against the wall with your legs bent at 90 degrees and feet flat on the floor as though you’re sitting on a chair. Hold the position for as long as you can until your legs feel fatigued.
