At 59, Melissa Gilbert Gets Honest About Exercise and Aging In Candid Interview
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Melissa Gilbert got real about exercise and aging in a new interview.
“I’m almost 60, and very much aware of it,” the Little House on the Prairie star said.
She enjoys barre, yoga, and walking to stay active.
Although Melissa Gilbert released herself from Hollywood’s beauty standards by halting Botox, hair color, and moving to the opposite coast, she wants to make one thing clear: That doesn’t mean she “let herself go.” The 59-year-old still very much prioritizes self-care in many ways, like staying hydrated, expressing herself through fashion, and taking fitness classes—even if that means she’s the oldest patron in barre class. Aging and exercise can be a bit tricky, she recently told USA Today, but it doesn’t stop her from pressing on.
“I’m almost 60, and very much aware of it. I have the aches and pains. I was the slowest and least stretchy one in the room today,” she said, referring to barre. “Everyone was younger than me. But it didn’t matter.”
Back in 2021, Gilbert sang the praises of Cardiobarre on Instagram, and at the time, was doing classes at home due to COVID-19 lockdowns. “I started doing it after my first neck surgery about 20 years ago,” she wrote. “I’ve done every workout imaginable in my lifetime and my body just loves this one best. It builds beautiful long, lean, toned muscles and flexibility. Very, very important for all women but especially the menopausal women like me.”
Gilbert added that Cardiobarre was created by her friend, Richard Giorla, after he experienced a hip injury. According to the program’s site, it’s a “unique high-energy, no impact experience that combines barre work, light weights, and floor work.”
In a previous interview with Prevention, Gilbert said that, in general, she’s a bit more particular about how she chooses to work out these days. “As I age, I am more mindful about the exercises I do,” she said. “You won’t see me in a kickboxing class now but you’ll see me in yoga or walking. I need to stretch and strengthen and I need to support my bones which are going to become gradually more fragile at this point in my life.”
Those habits help her continue to live out the liberation she chose when she moved away from Los Angeles to upstate New York in 2013. She calls it “the freedom that comes with, ‘I’m not giving a damn anymore,’” she told USA Today—or rather, that comes with not giving a damn about the right things.
“I mean, I care what I look like,” she continued. “I love jewelry and I put on lipstick, and I do my hair. I love to wear nice things, but it’s enhancing what I have, not changing it for someone else.”
And that’s what self-care should be about. We can’t wait to see what life lessons the Little House on the Prairie star shares next.
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