A few years ago, the comedian Jerry Seinfeld appeared on Tim Ferris’s podcast and shared this thought about the time and effort he puts into staying fit and healthy at age 66:
I am 68 and my husband will be 77 in November. We have both been active for years. He got me into running when I was in my 40s. We do a lot of active things together. Since he is older than me, he is starting to do less strenuous activities such as less running. I continue to run but do I do less running and more walking these days. We cross train with cycling and hiking too.
We both do strength training at least 2x a week. With that said, when our bodies tell us to slow down, we listen. We take recovery days seriously. When I was training seriously for running races in my younger years, I would do my workouts not matter what (unless I was dreadfully sick). Today, I am not training for anything but to live longer and healthy. Now when I wake up, I decide what to do that day based on our body feels. No matter what, when my doctor sees me, he is impressed with my health and activities.
As a career Army officer, fitness was a requirement of the job. Once I retired, the fitness habit was so ingrained that I just kept it up. Now at the ripe old age of 77, I still work out four times a week. While I haven’t changed the importance I continue to place on fitness, I have made some changes to how I weight the parts of my program. Until about 10 years ago, my priority was cardio. I ran three or four times a week and trained for six half marathons a year. Now I place increased effort on strength training to ensure I retain muscle mass and keep bones strong. Running hasn’t gone away, but I have retired from half marathons, to free up training time for strength training. However, I still do a 5, 8, or 10k every month, with appropriate training for each event.
Good morning. Great question. As I've aged [60 now], I made workouts into a part of my everyday activities. I do not always "workout" in the traditional sense though.
My wife and I try to walk, with our dog [a Westie] daily - usualy 30-45 minutes when we can. Living in SW Florida, we've typically got good enough weather!
Other than that, my plan daily is to simply be active, with the hope of the chance to do a weight workout every other day and/or a fitness/cardio type workout also [right now: swimming, biking and running] every other day - listening to my body for when I'll take a day off but not prioritizing it over life.
That’s the beauty of living in Florida, I imagine — you’ve got great weather for being outside just about year-round! What weight workouts do you do, btw? (Free weights or machines?)
I use a combination of free weights [dumbbells] and machines. Primarily, I focus on the "big" muscles [chest, back, shoulders] and really do not do much for lower body [exercise takes care of that] while also doing a lot of core/abdominal works between each set and trying to stretch as often as I can. Nothing special, takes me about 1 hour.
It is Arnold Schwarzenegger's strength app. Basically, old school weight lifting. They have programs that start with body weight workouts. I've been using their dumbbell programs. They also have programs you can use at the gym with machines. No crazy moves, just stuff that works.
A quote that has stuck with me for many years goes something like this: "you need to make time for health now or you will be forced to make time for sickness later." That is so very true. Taking the time to eat (mostly) healthy, exercise, get preventative care/testing, will pay big dividends later. By living a healthy lifestyle you may prevent health issues, or if you do have health issues, you will be better able to survive them. This thinking is what motivates me to be healthy. I try to eat well, I run, strength train, and make sleep a priority. I do admit that since I retired a couple of years ago, consistency has become much better. I was always good about getting my runs in, but strength was not as consistent. I started using The Pump app for strength about a year ago and that has really helped me be much more consistent with those workouts. I try and treat my workout times as appointments that I cannot miss and that also helps.
I am 62. I do not run, but I enjoy this page as all of you inspire me to keep being intentional about my health. Right now, I have started working with a movement teacher, working on balance, strength, core, and flexibility. I used to weight train and was always quite fit, and I am still in very good health, but the stresses of the pandemic and life over the last 5 or 6 years have really set me back in terms of my goals. But I am ready now.
I’m so glad to hear this, Jamie. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, as my in-laws and my own parents have been experiencing increasingly difficult health issues. It’s made me more and more reflective about my own health/strength/etc., and made me realize I need to get more proactive—especially about strength! We’re all on the same journey, aren’t we?
I'm turning 60 in October (not that I'm thinking about it yet!).
I'm doing an Ironman 70.3 on that day! (just the running portion of a relay. but how could I not? Ironman 70.3 Wilmington is ON my 60th birthday - and I live in NC. Let's go!)
that does get to your question.
I would say that almost *everything* I do is about prioritizing my health.
There's a saying that when we stay healthier as we get older, we live *longer* and we die *quicker*.
Which sounds not good until I realized that's exactly what I want - to live as long as I can, but not just to be technically alive. To be able to be mobile and active and engaged as long as I possibly can. Then die in my sleep - not linger for months or years in a state of decline.
I love this, Cathie. My maternal grandfather died at age 90, after taking a fall and suffering a severe head trauma; he died the next day. Of course we were all sad about it at the time — he was fine! His mind was clear and he seemed in decent physical health (though it was beginning to fail). As the years have gone on, though, I see that there’s a blessing in how he left us — no long, difficult period of pain or ill health, just 90 years of more-or-less healthy life and then he got his tap on the shoulder that it was his time.
I am 68 and my husband will be 77 in November. We have both been active for years. He got me into running when I was in my 40s. We do a lot of active things together. Since he is older than me, he is starting to do less strenuous activities such as less running. I continue to run but do I do less running and more walking these days. We cross train with cycling and hiking too.
We both do strength training at least 2x a week. With that said, when our bodies tell us to slow down, we listen. We take recovery days seriously. When I was training seriously for running races in my younger years, I would do my workouts not matter what (unless I was dreadfully sick). Today, I am not training for anything but to live longer and healthy. Now when I wake up, I decide what to do that day based on our body feels. No matter what, when my doctor sees me, he is impressed with my health and activities.
As a career Army officer, fitness was a requirement of the job. Once I retired, the fitness habit was so ingrained that I just kept it up. Now at the ripe old age of 77, I still work out four times a week. While I haven’t changed the importance I continue to place on fitness, I have made some changes to how I weight the parts of my program. Until about 10 years ago, my priority was cardio. I ran three or four times a week and trained for six half marathons a year. Now I place increased effort on strength training to ensure I retain muscle mass and keep bones strong. Running hasn’t gone away, but I have retired from half marathons, to free up training time for strength training. However, I still do a 5, 8, or 10k every month, with appropriate training for each event.
Good morning. Great question. As I've aged [60 now], I made workouts into a part of my everyday activities. I do not always "workout" in the traditional sense though.
My wife and I try to walk, with our dog [a Westie] daily - usualy 30-45 minutes when we can. Living in SW Florida, we've typically got good enough weather!
Other than that, my plan daily is to simply be active, with the hope of the chance to do a weight workout every other day and/or a fitness/cardio type workout also [right now: swimming, biking and running] every other day - listening to my body for when I'll take a day off but not prioritizing it over life.
That's my approach Stan! Listen to my body is important.
That’s the beauty of living in Florida, I imagine — you’ve got great weather for being outside just about year-round! What weight workouts do you do, btw? (Free weights or machines?)
I use a combination of free weights [dumbbells] and machines. Primarily, I focus on the "big" muscles [chest, back, shoulders] and really do not do much for lower body [exercise takes care of that] while also doing a lot of core/abdominal works between each set and trying to stretch as often as I can. Nothing special, takes me about 1 hour.
It is Arnold Schwarzenegger's strength app. Basically, old school weight lifting. They have programs that start with body weight workouts. I've been using their dumbbell programs. They also have programs you can use at the gym with machines. No crazy moves, just stuff that works.
A quote that has stuck with me for many years goes something like this: "you need to make time for health now or you will be forced to make time for sickness later." That is so very true. Taking the time to eat (mostly) healthy, exercise, get preventative care/testing, will pay big dividends later. By living a healthy lifestyle you may prevent health issues, or if you do have health issues, you will be better able to survive them. This thinking is what motivates me to be healthy. I try to eat well, I run, strength train, and make sleep a priority. I do admit that since I retired a couple of years ago, consistency has become much better. I was always good about getting my runs in, but strength was not as consistent. I started using The Pump app for strength about a year ago and that has really helped me be much more consistent with those workouts. I try and treat my workout times as appointments that I cannot miss and that also helps.
Love all of this, Stacy. What’s The Pump app? And yes, that’s my biggest hurdle too — fitting it all in while working full time is a challenge!
I am 62. I do not run, but I enjoy this page as all of you inspire me to keep being intentional about my health. Right now, I have started working with a movement teacher, working on balance, strength, core, and flexibility. I used to weight train and was always quite fit, and I am still in very good health, but the stresses of the pandemic and life over the last 5 or 6 years have really set me back in terms of my goals. But I am ready now.
I’m so glad to hear this, Jamie. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, as my in-laws and my own parents have been experiencing increasingly difficult health issues. It’s made me more and more reflective about my own health/strength/etc., and made me realize I need to get more proactive—especially about strength! We’re all on the same journey, aren’t we?
thank you for this question, Terrell!!
I'm turning 60 in October (not that I'm thinking about it yet!).
I'm doing an Ironman 70.3 on that day! (just the running portion of a relay. but how could I not? Ironman 70.3 Wilmington is ON my 60th birthday - and I live in NC. Let's go!)
that does get to your question.
I would say that almost *everything* I do is about prioritizing my health.
There's a saying that when we stay healthier as we get older, we live *longer* and we die *quicker*.
Which sounds not good until I realized that's exactly what I want - to live as long as I can, but not just to be technically alive. To be able to be mobile and active and engaged as long as I possibly can. Then die in my sleep - not linger for months or years in a state of decline.
I love this, Cathie. My maternal grandfather died at age 90, after taking a fall and suffering a severe head trauma; he died the next day. Of course we were all sad about it at the time — he was fine! His mind was clear and he seemed in decent physical health (though it was beginning to fail). As the years have gone on, though, I see that there’s a blessing in how he left us — no long, difficult period of pain or ill health, just 90 years of more-or-less healthy life and then he got his tap on the shoulder that it was his time.