'I’m stronger, I’m fitter, I’m more flexible thanks to yoga weights'

It’s imperative that women over the age of 40 do some kind of weight-training programme — I’m basically one hip break away from a blue rinse and a Werther Originals addiction

Esther N McCarthy says yoga weights is more than a class — it's a community. Pictures: Denis Minihane.

You name a class, I’ve tried it. Spinning, salsa, step aerobics — I’ve even forked out for personal trainer sessions. I wanted to learn how to use the weights in the gym properly. It didn’t last.

But we’re warned it’s imperative that women over the age of 40 do some kind of weight-training programme in conjunction with cardiovascular exercise. Because Mother Nature decides to fling our estrogen and calcium levels off a cliff and stall our metabolism, so bone density and obesity are hovering in our wrinkly shadows, waiting to pounce. Fun.