{"podcast":{"title":"AGING with STRENGTH®","slug":"aging-with-strength-7179340","podcast_index_feed_id":7179340,"rss_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/3037652.rss","website_url":"https://www.agingwithstrength.com/podcast","image_url":"https://substackcdn.com/feed/podcast/3037652/a907398324d513fcd69c210172629582.jpg","author":"Paul von Zielbauer","episode_count":22,"summary":"Actionable aging intelligence from a lifelong athlete & Pulitzer-nominated former New York Times journalist.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-07T18:18:35.424178+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/aging-with-strength-7179340"},"episode":{"title":"Anne Marie Chaker: 50-yr-old bodybuilder","slug":"anne-marie-chaker-50-yr-old-bodybuilder","published_at":"2025-06-22T13:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/aging-with-strength-7179340/anne-marie-chaker-50-yr-old-bodybuilder","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/aging-with-strength-7179340","url":"https://www.agingwithstrength.com/p/anne-marie-chaker-50-yr-old-bodybuilder","audio_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/166467738/db0ac2ffea914e8683fe0c9a760b037c.mp3","summary":"Not many professional bodybuilders start in their late forties. Fewer do it after overcoming a drinking problem. Almost none started out as a newspaper journalist — trust me on that one. Anne Marie Chaker is that rara avis who overcame a large amount of personal adversity to inadvertently reinvent herself, a story is captured in her just-published book, “ Lift .” In this 18-minute conversation, Chaker reveals the road she traveled to become not only physically strong but also a more powerful person, and the many different ways in which her muscle-building lifestyle helped turned her life around. Time-stamped highlights: 0:51 — “I remember being in the car, craving a drink,” and how a chance meeting with another hockey mom motivated Chaker to stop ignoring nutrition and start working out in a gym. 02:15 — How Chaker’s 2020 first-person essay in The Wall Street Journal, titled, “ I never thought I’d write this: I’m a female bodybuilder ,” launched the idea for “Lift.” 03:15 — “I just didn’t feel like I needed the booze anymore.” And, “I performed at my best when I was well fed, when I was strong.” 05:02 — Going from “meh” to “Girl, you look good !” 05:29 — “Aging Beastfully”: What it means and how you know if you are. 08:15 — Flexing, or not, in the gym mirror: “I would love to have the balls to strut across the room — a woman — in a double-bicep pose.” 11:50 — Chaker’s journey from muscle building to professional bodybuilding. 13:28 — Chaker’s food and eating regime: A fridge full of salad and all the protein under the sun. 15:33 — How people new to weightlifting and working out can build muscle, at home or the gym. 16:43 — Chaker’s home gym set up: Some weights, a bench and some bands. “If you have a body, you have a gym.” 17:15 — Chaker’s frustration with fitness gadg…","meta_description":"Not many professional bodybuilders start in their late forties. Fewer do it after overcoming a drinking problem. Almost none started out as a newspaper jo…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1073,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/aging-with-strength-7179340/episodes/anne-marie-chaker-50-yr-old-bodybuilder/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/aging-with-strength-7179340/anne-marie-chaker-50-yr-old-bodybuilder.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}