Ageing is inevitable, weakness is not - how to foster strength

Annette Bening and Jodie Foster - both aged in their 60s - explode outdated concepts of female beauty in the sports drama NYAD, now streaming on Netflix.

Their sculpted bodies ignite the screen in the movie, which is now streaming on Netflix.

Each actor muscled up for the movie to play real life heroes Diana Nyad - who swum from Cuba to Florida - and Bonnie Stoller. This movie is on Citro's age-positive movie list - give it a watch and enjoy.

Nyad tells an epic true story of the physical, mental and financial obstacles Diana Nyad - played by Bening - and her coach and best friend Bonnie Stoll - played by Foster - overcame to swim from Cuba to Florida.

Annette Bening and Jodie Foster explode outdated concepts of female beauty in the sports drama Nyad, now streaming on Netflix.

Both actors - aged 65 and 61 respectively at the time of filming- demonstrate cannonball strength, ripped bodies and the jaw-dropping potency of women who don’t need make-up, facial fillers or botox to arrest your gaze.

Watch Annette and Jodie in this scene from the movie.

Nyad tells an epic true story of the physical, mental and financial obstacles that Diana Nyad - played by Bening - and her coach and best friend Bonnie Stoll - played by Foster - overcame to swim from Cuba to Florida.

Both Foster and Bening were inspired by the real women they played. 

Nyad, 74, first attempted her marathon swim between Cuba and Florida in the 1970s but failed. She woke up after the age of 60, obsessed with succeeding in her unfinished dream, which she achieved in 2013 after swimming 53 hours straight through box jellyfish and shark-infested waters.

Watch the real Bonnie Stoll bring Diana Nyad in to shore after her record-breaking swim in this news footage from a decade ago.

Stoll, 71, is a former world-class racquetball player who does 100 reps of shoulder, biceps and abdominal work a day along with two-hour power walks.

Foster told NYAD's directors she wanted to join the film in part because she wanted to show audiences 2 older women who were “badasses.”

Foster’s first appearance on the set came with a similar jolt of awe for the directors. On the day she agreed to take the role of Stoll, Foster stood on a New York sidewalk after meeting with Bening and told the directors, “I’m going to have to start training tomorrow for this role.”

After that day with Foster on the sidewalk, “We never really heard anything more from her,” NYAD director Jimmy Chin said.  “And then she showed up just ripped.”

Foster embarked on a regimen of daily workouts that continued through the film, alternating kettlebells with heavy weightlifting.

She combined it with a sufferingly strict diet that to the directors seemed to consist of “mostly brown rice, chicken and broccoli.”

At the end of the film, she told Stoll, “I hope I never see chicken again.”

Read more about fitness and health on Citro:

• 10 lifestyle swaps for longevity gains
• Stay fit for a fraction of the price
• 10 benefits of strength training