Hurrah for Trinny Woodall, who at 61 has a stomach she could crack walnuts on and isn't afraid to show it.
Yet, while the presenter and entrepreneur's midriff is hard enough to make a woman - or man - half her age weep with envy, it's the effect it has on her mood that caught my attention.
'I want to be strong now, because if you feel strong, your mind feels strong, and you have that feeling of anything's possible,' she said in an interview with Women's Health magazine, adding: 'I want to be able to put my heavy suitcase over my head without somebody helping me.'
Once was the time we would pity a woman who had remained single after splitting from her multi-millionaire art collector husband. But two years after the break-up of her ten-year relationship with Charles Saatchi and Trinny's focus has been squarely on turning her own business into an estimated £180 million beauty empire.
Trinny's obvious physical strength is both a metaphor for and, perhaps, driver of the stoicism that has made her a success. As someone who also has abdominals at the steelier end of the spectrum, hers is a sentiment to which I can relate.
Strong stomach muscles might make me look better (and attract fire emojis) when, as a married 47-year-old mother of two, I post inappropriate pictures of them on Instagram, but it's the way they make me feel that gets me out of bed at dawn to crunch, twist, lift and plank.
I'm not talking about the fact that I'm more confident in my jeans or a bikini - although I suppose I am - but the deeper psychological effect.
Having a strong core makes me more emotionally resilient. I'm better able to withstand life's challenges, less likely to crumble when something goes wrong or cry if I'm criticised. I'm more adept at juggling the endless demands of midlife, from school runs and deadlines to doctors' appointments and family dramas.
And, like Trinny, I don't have to rely on my husband to carry my suitcase when we go on holiday either.
Mother-of-two Antonia Hoyle says her strong stomach muscles might make her look better, but it's the way they make her feel that gets her out of bed at dawn to crunch, twist, lift and plank.
Sure, it requires commitment - probably around nine minutes of core-specific exercises every other day - and plenty of swearing.
But when I've finished my final set of Russian twists for the morning I feel physically rebuilt, as if I have taken a spanner to myself and tightened the wobbly screws, confident that no matter what the rest of the day throws at me, I can handle it.
Stomach muscles are integral to maintaining good posture, which, according to a study in the European Journal of Social Psychology, can increase feelings of confidence and self-esteem.
But what they certainly demonstrate is discipline. A marvellous midriff can't be faked by swallowing a pill or using AI, which is perhaps why it's become the latest celebrity status symbol.
Put in the hard graft or do without. And they do.
At the age of 60, Elizabeth Hurley is looking years younger as she regularly posts pictures of herself in a bikini on Instagram.
Actress Halle Berry, 59, who famously showcased taut abs emerging from the sea as a Bond girl in Die Another Day, now shares her abs routine - including medicine ball 'slams', Russian twists and planks - on Instagram for what she has coined Fitness Friday. She has also said she boxes, which 'builds confidence and discipline'.
As for four-times divorced singer Jennifer Lopez, 56, her trainer Dodd Romero once said she did leg exercises and weighted rope crunches to work her abs 'until everything's sore'.
Single since her divorce from Ben Affleck was finalised this February, she too is said to be focused on her work - her physique a reflection, perhaps, of her energy.
At 61, Trinny Woodall has a stomach she could crack walnuts on and isn't afraid to show it.
The more fire Victoria Beckham's family comes under in the feud with son Brooklyn and his wife Nicola Peltz, the more physically resilient she seems to appear.
Victoria, 51, who showed off a waspish waist in bra and leggings at her home gym recently, has said she does ‘loads of planks and that kind of thing for my core’. And while she was ‘always a bit scared of weights’, she said in 2022, ‘it turns out I love them.’
At the weekend, actress-turned-multi-million-pound-wellness-guru Gwyneth Paltrow, 53, posted a selfie on Instagram wearing a crop top that revealed an expanse of honeyed stomach, for which she credits Hollywood trainer Tracy Anderson’s Pilates-style dance movements, plus ‘endurance and control’.
Jennifer Aniston’s jaw-dropping abs are described by her personal trainer Dani Coleman as ‘pretty bulletproof’. Jennifer, 56, can certainly ‘hold a plank’, Dani adds, and practises the Pvolve method, which uses resistance bands and bodyweight exercises with lighter weights.
Perhaps it is a coincidence, but since she started promoting Pvolve in 2023, the narrative has moved on from ‘Poor Jen’ to ‘what a survivor’.
A low-impact regime might work for Jen, but I suspect deploying heavier weights will reap better results for many of us.
This happened almost by accident when I moved from London to the countryside seven years ago.
That’s when I relinquished my gym membership and swapped sporadic dabbling with weights machines, in between going hell for leather on my beloved treadmill, with a regular weights routine I did at home.
The effect was more than physical. I started to develop more discipline and pride - not just in my ability to hold a plank but to get out of bed and do the dastardly exercises in the dark.
This confidence bled into every other aspect of my life, from my friendships to professional boundaries, especially now I’ve stopped binge-drinking - alcohol not being conducive to 5.30am starts.
Whereas cardio such as running makes me feel euphoric, lifting weights gives me an unrivalled confidence, a metaphorical ‘up yours’ to anyone who questions me.
After a one-off circuits class the other week, a woman called me a ‘machine’ as we rolled up our mats. In fact, she was being kind - or at least if I am a machine I’d like two new Achilles tendon parts and a factory reboot for my glitchy calves - but I was flattered. Who doesn’t want to be described as efficient, logical and unbreakable as they age?
Although I’m not willing to sacrifice enough chocolate to get the sort of low body fat you need for a six-pack, eating more healthily has made my abs look more defined, too.
White bread and pizza dough make me bloated, and give me stomach pain, so I keep them to a minimum. I’ve upped my intake of legumes such as kidney beans, which seem to stop the stress-fuelled stomach cramps I used to suffer.
Losing the sugar from the alcohol might have made a difference. The herbal tea I’ve swapped it for helps my digestion, although there’s still something of a discrepancy between my chiselled morning stomach and the chilled-out evening, sofa-bound, post-chocolate version.
I would probably showcase that, too, if the demand were there, because having muscles, regardless of my shape, makes me far less hung up about my body in my 40s than I was when I was younger. It’s just a body. Just a stomach. But the feature on the right shows how I got it if you’re interested.
Ten-minute workout that gave me these abs
I do these stomach exercises every other day. The whole routine should take no longer than ten minutes.
STOMACH CRUNCH WITH LEGS OFF FLOOR
Lie on your back, hands clasped behind your neck and legs raised straight at a 45-degree angle to the ground.
Keeping your neck in line with your spine, and your lower back flat against the floor, lift your upper body off the floor, towards the ceiling, and lower.
I do 30 repetitions, lowering my legs closer to the floor to increase the load on my abs as I progress.
OVERHEAD WEIGHTED LEG RAISE
Lie on your back and hold a weight straight above your chest, one hand on either end (I use a 12.5kg dumbbell).
Keeping your arms extended, slowly raise and lower your legs. Keep your lower back against the floor and don't swing your legs. This burns! I do 30 reps but try eight if you're a beginner, holding a lighter weight.
RUSSIAN TWISTS
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet raised 4 in off the floor. Lift your torso until it creates a V-shape with your thighs, and hold either end of a dumbbell (I use 12.5kg) so it is horizontal and close to your stomach.
Twist your torso to the right as far as you can, so the weight is pointing to your right and return to centre. Twist to the left, so the weight is pointing to your left and return to centre. This is one rep. I do two sets of 20 reps.
ABDOMINAL RAISES
Lie on your back, arms by your side, palms flat on the floor, legs raised towards the ceiling. Using your lower abdominals, raise your bottom around 3 in off the floor, aiming your feet towards the ceiling. Lower slowly. I do 20 reps.
SIDE ABDOMINAL RAISES
Lie on your back, arms by your sides,palms flat on the floor;legs raised towards ceiling.Lean legs left so right buttock raised off floor.
Keeping body turned left,use right lower abdominals lift both buttocks 3 in off floor towards ceiling.Lower.
Repeat leaning legs right.I do 20 reps each side.
HIGH PLANK WITH SHOULDER TAPS
Place palms shoulder-width apart floor,in line shoulders;arms back straight;feet together toes curled under.I hold one minute.
I do ten ‘taps’ either side hold,to further strengthen oblique muscles transverse abdominis (deep core).Take right hand slowly floor,tap left shoulder;trying twist hips;lower hand slowly.Repeat lifting left hand tap right shoulder.
WEIGHTED SIDE PLANKS
Resting right forearm outside right foot,lift hips body diagonal ground.Hold light weight left hand (I use 5kg) raise left arm perpendicular floor.
After 30 seconds,I raise left leg around 25 in keeping straight;which works obliques harder.I hold one minute.Repeat opposite side.
MEDICINE BALL CRUNCHES
Lie back legs fully extended arms holding medicine ball extended head (mine is 6kg).
If don’t have medicine ball hold weight.Raise legs,torsi arms simultaneously until legs arms perpendicular floor.Lower slowly.I do 26 reps.