“Don’t be lazy. Don’t make excuses. If you want changes, you have to make the change.”
— Geanina (Nina) Popent
Building muscle after 50 is possible. It is not, however, easy — and anyone who tells you otherwise has probably never done it. Nina Popent started her fitness journey in 2017, won a boot camp challenge, and used the prize money to hire a personal trainer. Then COVID closed the gyms, and she built a serious physique in her living room with resistance bands, a bench, and a few dumbbells. When someone at the gym suggested she compete, she almost said no. She said yes instead — and stepped on stage for the first time five years ago, nervous, wearing a mask, without a coach, at a show called Cold Ball. That day changed the direction of her life.
What she has built since is a testament to structure over motivation. Nina wakes at 5:30 a.m., commutes an hour downtown to her job at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Dentistry, packs four meals every day, and is in the gym by 6 p.m. — staying until 9:30 or 10. She eats the same breakfast she has eaten for five years. She does not believe in balance, at least not as most people use the word. She believes in discipline, patience, and a life structured deliberately around the outcome you want.
The through line from her twenty-plus years as a dental assistant to her work as a fitness coach is the same skill: meeting people where they are emotionally, earning their trust, and transferring hard-won expertise. When coach Amor Nikic watched her compete — without him — and then called her the next day, she knew she wanted him as her coach. A few shows later, he hired her onto his team at Hammer Fitness. The standard for that hire, as Nina explains it, is demanding: you need a story, a genuine passion for clients, and a willingness to invest in yourself first.
Her message to women who look at her physique and want what she has is direct: she has been where they are. The difference is not genetics or youth. It is that she showed up, repeatedly, when she did not feel like it. At 51 — turning 52 — she is still building, still competing, still proving that the work compounds if you let it.
Guest Bio:
Geanina (Nina) Popent is a competitive fitness athlete and personal trainer based in Toronto, where she coaches clients under the umbrella of Hammer Fitness alongside coach Amor Nikic. She immigrated from Romania to Canada in 1996 and spent over twenty years as a dental assistant, including a significant tenure at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Dentistry, before transitioning into fitness coaching full time. She began competing in bodybuilding five years ago and has built a reputation for helping women — particularly those over 40 — develop strength, muscle, and physical confidence through disciplined training and nutrition.
Expert Action Steps:
Stop being lazy. Show up to the gym even when you do not feel like it — treat your training time as a non-negotiable second job, not an optional activity.
2. Stop making excuses. Every obstacle has a workaround; the decision to change has to come first, before the circumstances become convenient.
3. If you want changes, make the change. Waiting for the right moment, the right season, or the right motivation is the strategy that keeps people stuck.
4. Be patient. Muscle at this stage of life builds slowly and compounds over years — the results are real, but they require time that most people are not willing to give.
Learn more & connect:
Hammer Fitness: https://www.hammerfitness.ca
Nina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coach_janina
Resources mentioned:
Hammer Fitness (Toronto gym and coaching): https://www.hammerfitness.ca
Amor Nikic (head coach, Hammer Fitness): https://www.hammerfitness.ca
University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry: https://www.dentistry.utoronto.ca
Visit https://www.eCircleAcademy.com and book a success call with Nicky to take your practice to the next level.
