Unbreakable: A Woman's Guide to Ageing with Power

by Vonda Wright

STRONGER MUSCLES AND BONES, INCREASED MOBILITY, LIFELONG INDEPENDENCE AND A NEW MENTALITY FOR AGEING WITH POWER.

This cutting-edge guide to nutrition, training and lifestyle will optimise a woman's body for longevity, through menopause and beyond.

Strong skeletal muscle drives healthy longevity – yet too often women neglect this important measure of fitness. Indeed, more than 70% of women experience musculoskeletal symptoms like joint pain, muscle loss and reduced bone density as they enter perimenopause and menopause. These symptoms – what Dr Vonda Wright refers to as the 'musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause' – can often set us up for osteoporosis, osteopenia, broken bones, increasingly limited mobility and reduced independence later in life. That trend stops now. Unbreakable outlines a new and direct path to protecting ourselves against this too-common fate.

Drawing on her decades of experience as a pioneering orthopaedic surgeon helping women at all fitness levels to repair their bones and regain strength, Dr Wright gives clear action steps to shield us from the timebombs of aging in four critical

Pinpointing the right combination of cardio and resistance training for you to aid in tissue regeneration and improve metabolic What to eat to extinguish inflammation, repopulate your gut biome, and support strong bones and muscle How to manage chronic stress, get more restorative sleep, and turn down systemic inflammation in your daily What to take to target the elimination of 'zombie cells' and improve your cell function.
Including a six-week, master exercise protocol to jumpstart skeletal and muscular strength, critical information about baseline blood and mobility tests that will help you understand your current health state, and twenty easy, anti-inflammatory recipes, Unbreakable is an invaluable guide to adding more vibrantly healthy life to your years.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Self Help, Science, Audiobook, Nutrition, Medical

369 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 26, 2025

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I try to read health books regularly. I find them kind of fascinating. I rarely give out 5 stars but this one absolutely deserves it for a few reasons. The fact that I ordered a hard copy when I got home from work after listening to the audio says a lot.

The author isn't the first to talk about the concepts she covers, but what makes this book so helpful is how she pulls it all together in one place and uses her own stories to strengthen certain bullet points. Her approach to aging well and aiming for longevity was based on her decades of experience as a doctor and it felt down to earth. Unlike many books in the health and wellness genre, it wasn't militant or polarizing. She meets her clients/patients where they are, and as a reader, it felt like she was offering us that same kind of flexibility.

Another thing that stood out was the way she did her own narration of the audio. She was warm and personable without fishing for compliments or setting off a confetti cannon every other page for herself....which is so very rare in this field. She also wasn't trying to sell a product or push a brand, which, again, is rare. I've heard her on several podcasts launching this book and that same sincerity shines through here.

I do have one negative though. The very end (kind of had a huddle feel) sounded so AI! It lacked the feel I got from the whole book. But definitely not a deal breaker.

Overall, this book was informative and refreshingly ego-free. I loved the layout and the organization. She went step by step and stayed out of the weeds. So 5 stars and I can't wait to receive my own copy.

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great guide for women on aging with greater vitality, strength, power, mental acuity, and independence. Written by an orthopedic surgeon/longevity specialist, with tips for exercise, nutrition, mindset, and a healthy lifestyle, along with a six-week implementation program that I found incredibly helpful. A wonderful resource!

[Abi_reads_and_scribbles · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one really tells you how aging really hits different once you turn 40. I come from era of 90s/ 2000's diet culture and mothers who never really discussed what happens in the transition into perimenopause. Jokes have always been about hot flashes, but when I turned 41, let me tell you, a truck might as well have run me over. The brain fog, the exhaustion, the cycle changes in literally everything was unreal. On top of that parenting and watching my aging parents has been huge inspiration to get my butt into incorporating healthy routines.

I was constantly trying to find books on this topic and what to do, since various tests and dr visits came up empty. I've read, and given up on SO MANY hokey-pokey self help books, but this one was fantastic. If you're a woman 35 and up I highly suggest it. It really explains so much.

Written by a bone doc herself, Dr. Vonda Wright does a great job dropping facts, studies and an action plan. I've been following her for awhile on Instagram and when I saw her book on Netgalley I jumped at the chance to review it.

Wright talks a lot about our bones, nutrition and and how lifestyle plays a huge role in how we age. I didn't realize how fast we lose bone density from nursing our babies and the decline that happens when we are between 30 and 40. Wright's approach to what to eat and what kind of workouts to do are also well detailed. I know I struggle with macros because I feel a constant overwhelm with what those numbers should look like. Wright really has a great workbook component in this to track your goals and workouts.

Though I highly recommend this, I do with a few caveats. First, I'm someone who is still able to move and I don't have any mobility limiting issues. Second, the cost of some of the tests she suggests like the Dexa scan can be expensive. Overall, Wright's plan in the book is doable. I'm planning on adding sprints and her workouts into my daily life to keep this bod movin and groovin.

Thanks to Netgalley and Rodale books for the ARC.

Rating: 4.5⭐
Release date: August 26

[Kristine L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written by an orthopedic surgeon and "longevity specialist" - whatever that means - this book is for all women wanting to live their best life long into their senior years. It's especially helpful for postmenopausal women and offers "A 6-week program for lifelong strength and vitality."

It includes tons of medical info that gets pretty technical pretty fast. It offers 20 pages of healthy, nutritious recipes.

A big issue I had with the big is in Part TWO: Building Your Unbreakable Future with the exercise acronym FACE. Flexibility/Mobility, Aerobic Activity, Carrying a Load and Equilibrium and Footspeed. Several of the exercises described are difficult to visualize and execute properly without illustrations. This section has none. Also, the author seems to assume that everyone has access to a gym, personal trainer, or physical therapist. Not.

The quantity, intensity and sheer volume of exercise sessions - sometimes 30 to 45 minutes with "10 minutes of light jogging or cycling" with "static stretching afterwards" - may be daunting to the point of overwhelming for beginners. For example, the "dynamic warm-up" is "ten simple movements" with multiple reps. These "should take you about 15 minutes." That's BEFORE and in addition to the session itself. The Day 1 Lower Body Workouts include 19 separate exercises, with about 10 reps and 4 sets of each. That may be a bit much for beginners.

This book was okay-ish. But not worth a re-read. It feels clunky and is not particularly user-friendly, especially for those new to the bone-building/health journey. I've found more practical, easier-to-follow resources elsewhere.

[M]

written by AI and read to you by Vonda Wright, md -In case you didn't catch it the million times she mentions it, she is an orthopedic surgeon (riding the menopause gravy train) & uses the word badass & baddassery just as many times to describe herself.


Author describes participating in Spartan competitons as "doing hard things". Definitely has a different meaning for me.

"feeding episodes"

tldr: eat well, exercise, sleep, reduce stress (yet constantly be optimizing)...and make a gajillion doctor appointments for labs, scans, diagnostics -- that won't be help much bc "we need more research"

i dont know who this book is written for - people that are already into training, peak performance know all of this and people who are not, I don't see how this book would be motivating/inspiring.

[Rachel Oppitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive & impressive content. Needs more photos and diagrams or additional editing. It was not a fun read (boring). I think many lay people will feel lost and overwhelmed.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audio but highly recommend reading the hard copy (which I may buy) in order to have access to the charts and appendixes. Very informative and inspiring but too technical at times.

[G. Aria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to several podcasts with Dr. Vonda Wright and expected Unbreakable to deliver clear, practical guidelines. While the book does a great job framing aging as something women can actively influence, I was disappointed that most of the exercise instructions are tucked away in the appendix and only described in text. In an era where video instruction is standard, this makes the book feel impractical to follow. The same goes for the nutritional section — it includes valuable information with detailed measurements, but it’s so specific that it feels unrealistic to live calculating every bite. I finished the book still unsure what to actually follow in my daily routine.

[Debbie Brouwer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book and it sounded like one long infomercial with many repetitive phrasing and “inspirational” catch phrases. The medical terminology would be above your “average” woman with a non medical or physiological background and the exercise descriptions don’t need to be part of a book. The entire first chapter is dedicated to what she’s going to talk about in the rest of the book. I agree with an earlier review, not sure who the intended audience is for this book.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook but am happy that I bought a hard copy. I will definitely be returning to the information on health assessments and the appendices with recipes, workout plans, etc.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 stars, if I could.
Very informative and empowering. This is not just a book about peri- and post-menopause, it is largely focused on AGING WITH POWER.

I highly recommend this for all women, not just those who have been active or are athletes.

A great how-to on aging and staying active and strong.

_______

“I do not mean merely living in the absence of disease (which we’ll talk about in a bit) but truly investing the time and energy to transform from the dullness of “fine” to the physical and mental vibrance of Unbreakable. You are worth it.”

And I apologize for the TMI, but I immediately burst into tears when I read this quote. This is exactly what happened to me and I felt so broken. Now, I feel seen and empowered:

“I felt on top of the world…until I turned forty-seven, when suddenly—no exaggeration—I thought I was going to die. My whole body hurt. My period was a flooding river. I wasn’t sleeping well, and when I did sleep, I often woke in a hot sweat with a raging heart rate. My once sharp brain, which had always been capable of absorbing deep detail and memorizing books of information, was now shrouded in fog. I felt like I was losing my mind.”

“Only 30 percent of health and aging is the result of genetics. The other 70 percent is caused by our lifestyle choices, which directly influence how our DNA is expressed.”

[Karin Künnapas · Rating 4 out of 5]

/Audiobook/

Vonda Wright covers all the different aspects of aging and what we can do to make sure we age well with good health, mobility, and mental power. A lot of these topics have been covered before, but the clear focus on women and very clear and to-the-point action points make this book stand out.

Also, the optimistic view of aging and how turning 30, 40, 50, 60, and even more is not the end of life, and how the decline is not given and has to happen.

Key things:
* Optimise health - make sure you track your health and talk to doctors to prevent rather than heal.
* Peak performance - training and lifetime changes can make sure you're flexible, strong and mobile in older age.
* Mental health - keeping social connections, continuing to learn ,and having a purpose will help to avoid cognitive decline.

My recommendation would be to actually read it as a physical copy and not an audiobook. There were a lot of checklists, instructions, and guidelines that were not easy to follow or to remember when just listening.

I won't write all the lists here, but the book had very clear things to check, what to do and what to avoid. I definitely took some things into my everyday life already.

[Kelly Gesker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book prior to it being published. With all the information out there, I opted to pick one source and hit it hard. I appreciate the science and the emphasis on mindset, medical and physical health. It has stirred me to tackle the next 40 years of my life more consciously, recognize that I have choices and not making a choice is also a choice. That being said, my eyes did begin to cross with endless abbreviations, numbers and recommendations. I had taken careful notes and struggled to find a recommended starting point for my (not) fitness level. I have instead fallen back to a more beginner exercise program while taking the FACE recommendations into consideration. I am more motivated than ever but opting to be realistic and activated rather than feeling the task insurmountable.

[Trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full disclosure my rating may be on the low side because I listened to the audiobook while my ferritin levels are below 20 which makes it feel impossible to even walk briskly let alone do the exercise suggested.

That said, this is fairly comprehensive, and I like that the author is pretty direct about mindset. You have to want the change enough to do hard things consistently, and often to do even more challenging things once you get used to the original hard things!

[Natalie Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Great information especially about building bones and muscles with various exercises and resistance training. I don’t agree 100% with her nutritional advice but overall it is a great resource for better health and longevity.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have loved listening to this author in snippets on podcasts. I chose to listen to this book, and I think it would be much. Water with a physical book. Much to mark and calculate as you go. Hard to listen to in segments at the gym lifting HEAVY. Ha. I did learn from it.

[Judyleach · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a post menopausal woman dealing with health information overload, I was glad I read this book! I love all the tests and measurements to get a baseline of where you are at and recommendations on how to move forward. Where it lost a star for me was too much technical medical info and jargon. There were some spots I just turned the page and moved on.

[Miranda Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this one on audio and was about to read to read about half of it before having to switch to the paper copy of the book. To anyone starting this starting this, I highly recommend that you get the physical copy of the book. Fantastic information in this book and something that all women should read from much earlier age than perimenopause!

[May May · Rating 5 out of 5]

Xuất sắc!

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The complete book for those of us that are post menopausal, looking to level up strength training and protein meal planning. This book is my health manual for a continued vivacious life.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book goes into extreme detail of workouts, foods to eat and other behaviors for women as they get older.

[enyanyo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very informative, just not for me.

[Roxanne Meek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Vonda Wright is an Aging-Well Rockstar! So much great info underlined and highlighted. Thank you, Dr. Vonda!

[Jess Brandes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Insane. If I did all the things she told me to do in the book my entire life would be exercising, prepping food, going to doctors appointments to run complex bloodwork, and standing on one leg the rest of the time. Totally overwhelming detail that was tough to follow.

[Emily V]

I really enjoyed the hopeful empowering message of this book. There was a lot of research to back up the authors recommendations and a how to guide for how to get started. The part that stood out to me, was the importance of training your balance and quick feet in order to mitigate falls in the future.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really interesting book on women’s health and aging. Truthfully- i didnt read every word as some dod not apply but it was great to read about someone trying to link womens issues (menopause, increase cholesterol and inflammation, nutrition). Worth a read

[Qwalyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so much better than Next Level Fitness. The writing and research are much higher quality. I borrowed it from the library but buying my own copy now so I can use the workbook features.

[Andrea Killingbeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would highly recommend this book for every woman to read. It is scientifically based and provides us with information to care for our health at any age and how to age stronger for longevity. I wished I read it when I was younger.

[H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mandatory reading for any women over 40.

[Jankp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish the book were better edited. Each chapter lists the references in alphabetical order by author. It would have been so simple to footnote each reference cited with a number for easy follow up. I read this book as I’m interested in the science behind it but it is so time-consuming to read through and figure out which reference goes with which claim.

Others have stated this also but the lack of photos in the exercise section is a miss. It would be nice to have the visuals together with the plan of action. There are videos of the movements at theunbreakablebook.com