Fitness
How Kaye Adams’ varied exercise routine keeps her fit at 63 – and why she swapped HIIT for walking
Journalist and presenter Kaye Adams has regularly spoken about her health and fitness habits over the years. And while some of those have changed with age, it doesn’t mean strength and fitness don’t remain a priority. In fact, her podcast, How to be 60, champions the idea that ‘turning 60 isn’t about slowing down – it’s about shaking things up’.
Below, we take a look at Kaye’s approach to fitness in midlife and why it’s so effective.
She walks as much as possible
Kaye told The Sunday Post that having a dog has been a great way of ensuring she gets out for a walk (shoutout Bea the cockapoo!) every day, and that she’s ‘at my happiest walking my dog’.
While it might sound simple, walking really is one of the best things you can do for your health. One scientific review of research on walking concluded that ‘the evidence overwhelmingly supports walking as a powerful anti-ageing intervention that can reduce the risk of chronic age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and cancer.’
Even a short 10-minute walk after eating has been found to have tangible health benefits. One study found that a 10-minute walk straight after eating helps suppress blood sugar spikes – eliciting similar effects to those seen after a 30-minute walk.
She does a variety of physical activities
‘I also play tennis, run and do spin classes, as I have done for years,’ Kaye added in The Sunday Post interview. She also recently told The Sun, that she also does what she calls ‘disco Pilates’ – reformer with ‘bright lights and music’.
While all of these activities are effective individually (one study involving more than 8,000 participants found that those who played tennis lived on average for a decade longer), the science also suggests benefits come from mixing it up, too – with a recent landmark study finding that exercise diversity is key for longevity.
Researchers found that compared with the lowest variety group, participants in the highest physical activity variety group had a 19% lower risk of death from any cause, and a 13-41% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease and other causes.
She’s ditched higher-intensity training
After sustaining an injury at a HIIT class, Kaye told The Sun that she feels she’s ‘too old for them. It’s heavy duty circuit training, weights, burpees, all that sort of stuff’.
But as she’s shown, age doesn’t have to mean slowing down, but rather, finding a way of moving that works for you.
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Hannah Bradfield is a Senior Health and Fitness Writer for Women’s Health UK. An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Hannah graduated from Loughborough University with a BA in English and Sport Science and an MA in Media and Cultural Analysis. She has been covering sports, health and fitness for the last five years and has created content for outlets including BBC Sport, BBC Sounds, Runner’s World and Stylist. She especially enjoys interviewing those working within the community to improve access to sport, exercise and wellness. Hannah is a 2024 John Schofield Trust Fellow and was also named a 2022 Rising Star in Journalism by The Printing Charity. A keen runner, Hannah was firmly a sprinter growing up (also dabbling in long jump) but has since transitioned to longer-distance running. While 10K is her favoured race distance, she loves running or volunteering at parkrun every Saturday, followed, of course, by pastries. She’s always looking for fun new runs and races to do and brunch spots to try.