Inside The Strong Wahine Project: Muscle, Mind, and Sisterhood Over 50

Inside The Strong Wahine Project: Muscle, Mind, and Sisterhood Over 50

“You rewired your brain for strength and built power in your body-and
you did it together.
Strong. Grounded. Ready”. – Suzie Cooney

Strong Wahine Project 2025–2026: What It Was

This past season, from October 2025 to January 2026, I led a first‑of‑its‑kind 12‑week online Strong Wahine experience for a hand‑selected, small circle of courageous, strong, brilliant women over 50. With tools based in neuroscience, they rewired their brains for increased muscle and mental strength, resilience, and created a lifelong, empowered, supportive community of sisterhood.

Over 90 days, our Strong Wahine group successfully moved through a thoughtfully structured 12‑week curriculum I designed from my 26 years of training, and coaching, and my experience as an ocean athlete. It was created specifically for helping women over 50 build stronger bodies, sharper minds, and deeper self‑trust using practical tools from neuroscience woven into every session.

Each week blended strength training, brain‑based coaching, and reflective practices, so the women could experience real shifts in their muscles, mindset, and daily habits—not just a burst of inspiration that fades once the call ends.

As a group we dug into and unpacked themes like mastering sustainable strength, transforming life’s hard pivots, and creating new identities that deeply resonated with both their current and future selves, all inside a small, safe circle where no one was left to navigate their journey alone.

What We Explored Together

For example, the course included teaching topics around:

• The science of positive aging
• Physiology and muscle maintenance as we move through our 50s and beyond
• Nutrition, and the importance of recovery and fueling muscle for longevity

Together, we explored and created highly effective mindset shifts based in neuroscience—how to expand and claim an athletic or strong identity at any age. I provided them targeted tools to help them build a new awareness and identity, and a stronger inner resilience they can keep for life.

And of course, I selected specific, safe, and progressive strength‑training principles and workouts where we all trained together as a group. The women inspired one another to push beyond their wildest dreams. The results have been amazing.

In Their Own Words

Here are just a few real accounts of what some of the women experienced, gained, and awakened to:

Sarah shared:

“What I gained and what was awakened:
– A deeper understanding of my body
– A more clear perspective of all the dynamics of our physical bodies and what impacts them
– I am not my habits! I can acknowledge, accept, and move into something new for myself because of my desires and courage, not just my age.
– An understanding of how to relate to my Mind and Body in progressive ways rather than judgment.
– I am not the only woman at 63 that has to get to know her Body in new ways :-)”

Katie wrote:

“I loved connecting with the women. We did not know each other at first and I feel like we have this great bond. I also loved how we all came in maybe feeling a little lacking in our confidence and abilities, and now I feel that we all have gained more belief in our capabilities and also can see our strengths.
We all doubted things in different degrees, and I think that was empowering—to see that other women felt the same way, but that we all could accomplish things we had goals to do.

My confidence for sure was awakened… no question. I feel surer of myself and my abilities, and also I am listening to what feels right for me and not doing things because of what others might think of me. I am still working on that, but it is going well so far!

The other thing I gained is being consistent with my workouts. I was before, but not as much with the strength, and I now feel that is a regular part of my routine.”

Gette shared:

“I loved that all of the women were kind, respectful, and encouraged one another. Lots of sisterhood.”

The Rewards as a Coach

I waited to write this until the dust settled and I could truly see what this Strong Wahine Project became—for the women, and for me.

As a coach, I feel deep gratitude for each of these extraordinary women. I am also very proud to have witnessed how each one of them, at different times, stepped out of their comfort zone.

What I’ve grown to learn about guiding a unique group of very special, like‑minded, brilliant women coming together in support of one another, with the intention to expand, learn, and grow, is this:

The real results come from the collective and the individual’s heart and mind. And when that happens, the body will always follow. That is truly how The Mind Wins First.

If This Speaks to You

While I am not currently offering this exact Strong Wahine group structure, the work we did together continues to live in me—and in everything I now offer. If you’re reading this and thinking, “That’s what I need… that’s me,” I want you to know:

You, too, can achieve strength for today and tomorrow with all that I have created here, designed around your personal needs, dreams, and goals. I understand first‑hand what it’s like as we age, and things change—not just our bodies. There is no need to lose any part of you.  That strong woman still exists inside of you.

I’m here to help you find her again or meet her for the first time.

If you’d like to be seen, celebrated, and create boundless lifelong strength in body and brain, and want to learn more about my one‑on‑one private training/coaching, I am accepting interviews.

Let’s talk. Simply email me (or contact me through my website) and share a little about where you are now, and where you’d love to be in your strength, your body, and your life.

P.S. If you know another Strong Wahine—a courageous, brilliant woman over 50 who might need this kind of strength, support, and reminder right now—please feel free to forward this to her. Sometimes one message, at the right moment, can be the spark that changes everything.

In strength,

Suzie Cooney, CPT, CNTC
Suzie Trains Maui, LLC
The Mind Wins First