When you sit down to watch a survival thriller, you expect your heart rate to spike because of the jump scares, the ominous music (or, in this case ‘Go’ by The Chemical Brothers), or the relentless pursuit of a villain. And while Netflix’s latest adrenaline-pumping flick Apex certainly delivers on the cat and mouse tension, I found my attention drifting elsewhere. Specifically, to Charlize Theron’s triceps.

Is it just me, or is Charlize single-handedly rewriting the rulebook on what 50 looks like? As Sasha, a grieving woman hunted through the brutal Australian Outback by a crossbow-wielding serial killer (played with chilling intensity by Taron Egerton), Charlize is a bad-ass. But while she was busy outsmarting a psychopath, I was busy wondering how on earth she achieved that level of upper-body definition.

For those of us navigating our forties and dabbling with strength training in the gym, the struggle is real. Seeing any form of definition is a battle. We’re often told that muscle mass begins to bid us a fond farewell as we age, and that being toned is reserved for the twenty-something fitness girlies. Then Charlize returns to our TV screen, scales a rock face barefoot in a pair of jeans and a tank top and reminds us that our fifth decade can actually be our strongest yet.

The mum-of-two has always danced the line between high-brow drama and gritty action (Monster, Atomic Blonde, Mad Max), and the preparation for this role might have been her most challenging yet. To play Sasha she learned the art of rock climbing.

“To make it look like real climbing, you have to actually climb,” Charlize said in an interview with Netflix. “You have to kick all those muscles in, or it starts to look fake. What you see takes maybe 20 or 30 seconds in the movie, but it took me about 38 minutes to do. It was that hard.” 

She trained with the legendary Beth Rodden – the “OG” of the climbing world – and discovered that climbing is as much a mental game as a physical one. For Charlize, who admits to having a bit of an “OCD brain,” the problem-solving aspect of finding the next handhold was addictive. It’s a total-body workout that requires a unique blend of endurance, grip strength, and sheer grit.

This film demanded a whole new level of strength – although she’s careful to add it came with help from the film’s stunt team. 

“Anything you see of me going down a waterfall or some of the really dangerous rapids in nature, where we didn’t know if there was a rock underneath, I had two incredible women, River Mutton and Luuka Jones – world‑class, Olympic‑level kayakers – doing that for me,” she noted. “The climbing, though, I think I did all of it — and I loved it.”

She added: “I’ve had a lot of martial arts and fighting training, and most of the action work I’ve done lives in that world, but this was very different. This is about endurance and strength. The technique of climbing is really beautiful because it doesn’t conform to one thing; it’s a real art. You have to make it your own and put in the hours to understand it.”

The Theron Toolkit: How She Does It

While we might not all have a world-class rock climber on speed dial or a cliffside in the Outback to scale, Charlize’s approach to fitness is surprisingly grounded and relatable for women in midlife. She doesn’t rely on one magic pill; she has a toolkit.

1. Pilates: The Body Changer

Charlize has often credited Pilates for “completely changing” her body. Unlike the high-impact HIIT classes that can leave our joints screaming, Pilates focuses on control, alignment, and deep core strength. It’s that long, steady strength that gives her that poise and stability, even when she’s performing her own stunts.

2. Power Yoga and Intensity

She doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff. She reportedly takes two 90-minute power yoga classes a week. If you’ve ever held a plank for more than a minute, you know that yoga isn’t just about “om” and stretching – it’s about isometric strength that carves out lean muscle.

3. The Activity Calculation

Perhaps most refreshing is her honesty about her diet. In an industry where stars often claim they just eat pizza and pasta while looking like Greek goddesses, Charlize is blunt. “I always calculate my activity,” she has said in the past. “If I do not move much, I can not eat much. I am honest with myself.” It’s a pragmatic approach to the metabolic slowdown many of us are currently negotiating.

4. She Has Fun

Charlize once said that her mum got her into tennis (also great for the arms!), which she admitted that she wasn’t good at but “really enjoyed”. She said: “If you do exercise you enjoy, you’re keeping yourself fit without even realising it.”

The Reality of Ageing

Despite looking like a superhero on screen, Charlize is remarkably candid about the fact that she isn’t immune to the passage of time. She’s been open about the fact that staying in shape is getting “harder and harder” as she ages. 

“I’m gaining weight, so I need to exercise. I have acne, I’m getting older. Everything is happening to me exactly the same way it happens to everyone else,” she once admitted.

Watching Apex, I wasn’t just entertained by the drama (and believe me, Taron’s pump-up music will stay with you long after the credits roll), I was inspired. Charlize shows us that at 50 we can all embrace new skills, master our bodies, and develop some seriously impressive arms.

Whether it’s pilates, power yoga, or just taking up tennis with a friend, the secret seems to be consistency. You don’t have to be hunted by a serial killer in the Outback to find your inner Sasha – thank god. You just have to be willing to put in the time and, as Charlize says, listen to what your body is telling you.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find a rock climbing class. And maybe a pair of dumbbells.

How do you feel about the shift toward strength over skinny as we get older – does seeing someone like Charlize make it feel more achievable for you, or just more intimidating? Answer in the comment box below.