“Are you ready to do the workout?” Jane Fonda grins from beneath a perfectly coiffed cloud of hair, flowing through the high-energy regimen that transformed the fitness industry forever. As a fitness enthusiast awkwardly straddling the line between Gen-Z and millennial, I watch one of Fonda’s best-selling home workout videos for the first time on YouTube. It’s no VHS tape, but her star power is undeniable on any medium. I’m left feeling highly motivated and unusually inspired to purchase a pair of leg warmers . . .

“We went to the Jane Fonda gym in the ’80s together one summer,” my mom later texts me. “I think it was my sophomore year of college. It was amazing and we got really fit.” Fast forward to 2025, and Fonda is still motivating people to work towards the best, strongest version of themselves. Only this time, she’s trading VHS tapes for a virtual reality (VR) headset.

“Bringing VCR into VR, that was really fun,” Fonda tells PS, referencing her new workout series in partnership with Supernatural (Meta Quest’s VR fitness and wellness app). “They made a point of showing that it was inspired by my early ’80s videos — the costumes and the moves and all of that. Even the hairstyle, we made it real big.”

Using the VR headset, you can join Fonda in a cool-down for mobility and longevity, a dance cardio workout, or even a boxing class with Ludacris. Fonda describes the evolution as “surreal,” but the general ethos behind her workout videos remains the same: “It’s short, it’s fast, and it’s fun,” she says.

Originally, Fonda’s workout videos were meant to help others, but they also ended up being a huge benefit to her, too. “My health has had its ups and downs. I’ve had cancer, I’ve had chemo, all that. But when you have a basic foundation that’s healthy, it’s easier to get through those kinds of medical traumas,” she tells PS. “It’s easier to live if you’re healthy and flexible and strong.”

“Deal with it. I’m here. I am taking up space in front of you.”

To this point, her workout videos are not just about building physical strength. “In the ’80s, when people would write to me because they were doing my workout, what really struck me was how — and it was mostly women — they would feel empowered,” Fonda says, referencing one woman who noticed new muscles in her arms while brushing her teeth, and later found the courage to stand up to her boss for the first time.

“Being strong and moving and getting your body, getting everything flowing — it increases your self-confidence,” she explains. “It’s like, ‘Deal with it. I’m here. I am taking up space in front of you.'”

These days, Fonda’s fitness routine is geared towards longevity, with a greater focus on balance. “I’m 87, and when you’re my age, falling is your enemy,” she says. “So I work really hard on that as well as just keeping up my muscles and my flexibility.” Fans of the hot girl walk will also be pleased to know that Fonda is a big walker herself. ” I was walking the other day with a group of people that I hadn’t seen in a while, and they were just amazed at how well and fast I can walk and still be safe,” she says.

As for fitness regrets? Fonda has none to speak of. When you feel strong physically, it makes it easier to feel strong in other facets of life, she explains. This inner strength is something we need to remember — now more than ever. “Women have to become stronger in every way,” Fonda says. “When you feel healthy and good, you can take on anything.” And that’s a powerful tool for an actor and activist like herself.

“I can take on the world,” she says. “And I need to feel that way right now.”

Chandler Plante (she/her) is an assistant health and fitness editor for PS. She has over four years of professional journalism experience, previously working as an editorial assistant for People magazine and contributing to Ladygunn, Millie, and Bustle Digital Group.