How to: stay fit and healthy in your advanced years

People think that being older means you can’t do all the things you used to love, as though there’s an age limit on keeping fit and healthy.

But anyone who’s actually reached a fine old age knows how much baloney that ageist thought process is.
Let’s take 96-year-old Charles Eugster as an example. He’s one of the healthiest 90-somethings on the planet, holding world records in the 200m (indoor) and 400m (outdoor) sprints, and British records in the 60m (indoor), 100m (outdoor), and 200m (outdoor) sprints for the over 90s.

His trophy case is brimming – and he owes it all to a healthy lifestyle.

Keeping trim

Speaking to Vice Magazine, Eugster said, “I was 87 and realized my body was deteriorating. I had a muffin-top waist and my muscles were getting weaker and weaker. I felt so old. But because I was so vain, I didn’t like the idea of it at all. So I joined a body-building gym and employed a personal trainer who was a Mr. Universe to rebuild my body from scratch.”

From then, Eugster went on to keep himself trim. Unlike people half his age, he’s able to go running and barely break a sweat.

His is an example that everyone should champion, no matter what their age. To maintain a healthy lifestyle, you’ve got to take positive action.

Your healthy options

Joining your local gym is one option, and it’s become the choice du jour for the younger generation.
In the past few years, gym memberships have skyrocketed by 44 per cent. This is in part thanks to the arrival of low-cost chain facilities like Pure Gym, which offers all its services for as little as £14.99 a month.

These facilities will offer everything you need for a great workout. Personal trainers are also located onsite to give you tips or train you to your fullest potential.

Another option is to find a course that will teach you everything you need to know to help stay fit. Nutrition courses are available online and, if you take a fully-accredited course, you could become a fully qualified gym trainer.

Leisurely training

Training others in your ways could become your post-retirement calling, earning you some cash and giving you a flexible form of employment whenever you don’t simply want to potter around the garden.
But if you only want to stay healthy, the key ingredients are the same no matter what your lifestyle – good food and regular exercise.

Let’s look again to Eugster for inspiration: “Once this hamstring heals, I think we’ll see what can be done about the 100m outdoors. There’s a 105-year-old Japanese sprinter called Hidekichi Miyazaki who I would like to run against over 100m. They call him “The Golden Bolt,” and with our combined ages of over 200 years, I think that would be some spectacle!”

He’s right, it would be. Let’s hope plenty more people in advanced years can remain as active as him.