Fitness
Man, 95, still works out in a gym, shares 5 simple tips for a long life
At 95 years old, David Scott is a regular at the gym, lifting weights to keep his muscles strong — the latest chapter his lifelong health routine.
He works out at Planet Fitness in Dover, New Hampshire, three times a week where he uses weight machines to target his shoulders, arms, legs and abs. For cardio, the U.S. Army veteran also walks several times a week.
“It makes me feel good,” Scott tells TODAY.com about his exercise habits. “The circulation of the blood is important if you get too sedentary. And it’s also good for the mind.”
Scott and his 86-year-old wife, Lydia, live independently in their house in Dover. Both share a lifelong love of sports — the couple met on a bus in her native Italy as they headed to ski in the Alps and struck up a conversation on the ski lift.
“When we got to the top (of the mountain), she said, ‘Let’s go,’ and she disappeared. She skied much faster than me. But I finally caught up to her,” Scott recalls. “For me, it was love at first sight.”
“For me it was, too. Two weeks later, we were engaged,” Lydia Scott tells TODAY.com. They’ve been married 62 years and have three children.
Scott says he’s in good health as he approaches 100. Here is what to know about the almost-centenarian and his advice for living a long life:
Eat a healthy diet
Scott and his wife eat the Mediterranean diet, which is famously healthy for the heart and brain. The menu includes home-cooked meals with lots of fruits and vegetables, some chicken and fish, and plenty of olive oil.
The couple has a garden where they grow salad greens, carrots, zucchini, string beans, edamame, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and all kinds of herbs.
Lydia Scott is the cook in the house.
“I make lots of soups, which I freeze for the winter. Plus, we eat fresh veggies all summer,” she says.
“I also make jams with all the fruits we grow, and I freeze lots of berries for smoothies.”
David Scott’s favorite dish is the “spaghetti that my Italian wife makes,” he says. “I’ve never eaten so well after I got married.”
Vegetable-heavy pasta dishes are a tasty, healthy part of the Mediterranean diet.
For a long life, Scott advises others to stay away from fatty foods and keep alcohol consumption to a minimum, sticking to a bit of wine rather than hard liquor if choosing to drink. He stopped drinking alcohol about 20 years ago.
For dessert, Scott likes dark chocolate, which is rich in polyphenols, or beneficial compounds produced by plants.
Pick the right spouse
When asked about his secret to longevity, David Scott is quick to reply.
“A good wife,” he says without hesitation. “She knows what I need and she’s there.”
Married people have a significantly greater life expectancy and active life expectancy — the number of years without disability — compared to their unmarried peers, with men particularly enjoying the protective health effects of marriage, studies have found.
Married men tend to eat better, exercise more and get more regular medical care than unmarried, divorced or widowed males, according to Harvard Health.
Being married even boosts the chances of surviving cancer, research suggests.
Think positive
But Lydia Scott believes there’s more to her husband’s longevity than their long marriage.
“The secret is having a positive way of thinking and having also a good sense of humor and accepting life the way it is. And not having too many complaints,” she says.
Optimists live longer, studies have found, perhaps because optimism may help people cultivate and maintain healthier habits, and regulate their emotions during stressful times.
Be adventurous
Scott went to Harvard at 16, joined the U.S. Army when he was 17 in 1945, then returned to the university after the end of World War II to graduate with a degree in Greek philosophy.
He went on to Harvard Business School and worked for several companies before he decided to move to Europe.
“I thought I should go to Italy because I like to ski,” he recalls. The bachelor was working in a U.S. factory in Milan when he had that fateful meeting with his future wife on a bus heading to the ski slopes.
He lived in Italy for two decades and traveled to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Nigeria as part of his work before moving back to the U.S., writing about his adventures in a book titled, “My Twenty Years in Italy: How Opera and Skiing Changed My Life.”
Move your body
Scott still remembers being impressed as a 10-year-old when he read a magazine article about a muscular man who said people could become as big as him if they followed an exercise routine.
Being strong has been on his mind since then, especially because he grew up in Chicago in a “rather tough neighborhood,” he says.
He always liked sports, playing football and wrestling in college.
He and his wife love to ski. Lydia Scott also practiced fencing and was on the Italian team. In later years, she did tai chi and qigong — exercises that tap into the mind-body connection.
“Doing sports is very important in our family,” she says. “We were always doing many, many sports and our children are also into sports a lot.”
Fitness
IU, ‘Forced Exercise’ Low Fitness Confirmed… “You Need Muscles to Live Long” [I Live Alone] [★Night TView]
*This content was translated by AI.
Singer and actress IU confirmed her low fitness level.
In the MBC variety program ‘I Live Alone’ broadcast on the 24th, the daily life of Soobin, an actress who has been living alone for six years, was revealed.
That day, Soobin met her close friend IU, whom she connected with through ’21st Century Grand Duchess’, and Lee Yeon, and went for a walk along the Han River.
Seeing IU run over happily, Soobin revealed their close bond, saying, “Since we are only one year apart, we are almost like friends. When we meet often, we gather once every one to two weeks.”
As they approached their favorite restaurant, Soobin pulled IU along, saying, “I misunderstood the reservation time. Let’s walk a bit more before going.”
When IU was flustered to learn there was still an hour and a half until the reservation time, Soobin revealed her true intention, saying, “Actually, I didn’t misunderstand the reservation time. It’s just that Ji-eun is such a homebody. So, Yeon and I have been trying to get her to exercise.”
During the walk, when Soobin saw cherry blossoms in full bloom, she took photos of IU and Lee Yeon, showing her affectionate older brother side. Responding to a request to take the photo with a “Nae-jong” (a popular camera app), she captured the shot with golden ratio proportions, drawing admiration.
Soobin demonstrated using exercise equipment installed on the side of the walking path and encouraged IU to exercise. However, despite IU’s best efforts, she pleaded, “I can’t even do one,” causing everyone to burst into laughter.
Seeing this, Soobin joked, “They say you need muscles to live long,” and added, “You’re sweating so much on your philtrum,” bringing laughter to the group.
*This content was translated by AI.
Fitness
Fitness Experts Share The Best Exercises To Keep You Fit At Every Age
I’ll rant to anyone I know about the importance of maintaining muscle mass as we age to prevent conditions like sacropeonia and even osteoporosis.
Cardiovascular health has also been linked to longevity.
But what about flexibility? Though it might be less talked about than the other two, this, too, has been linked to a longer life, especially among men.
You may know the importance of lifting weights for strength and understand that everything from tennis to cycling and running can improve your heart health.
What, though, does a person to increase their flexibility – and does it change over time?
We asked personal trainers to share their thoughts:
In your 20s and 30s
James Bickerstaff, a personal trainer at Origym, told us: “In your 20s and 30s, your body still has natural elasticity, so muscles and joints move easily and recover quickly”.
Nonetheless, he adds, sitting for long periods of time (as you may do for work) can hold your flexibility back.
“To maintain mobility, focus on stretching major muscle groups by performing dynamic stretches such as leg swings for the hips and static chest openers for the upper body,” he advised.
“Short daily sessions, along with activities like yoga, Pilates, or tai chi, can help prevent stiffness.”
In your 40s and 50s
Trainer and owner of Made Possible Personal Training, a gym which works mainly with those aged 50 and up, Heather Lachance, said: “One of the biggest things I try to help people understand is that losing flexibility isn’t a given”.
But in our 40s and 50s, she said, more of us notice we’re not as flexible as we used to be.
“At this stage, adding 10 minutes of mobility work a few times a week, especially dynamic movements before workouts and static stretches afterwards, can go a long way,” she advised.
“Leg swings, hip openers, thoracic rotations, that sort of thing. It doesn’t need to be complicated; it just needs to be done consistently.”
For his part, Bickerstaff recommends swimming and dancing alongside stretches.
In your 60s
“In your 60s and later years, joints become less mobile, cartilage thins, and muscles tighten more easily,” Bickerstaff explained.
“This can make everyday tasks feel restricted and raise the risk of falls. At this stage, flexibility work is about protecting independence and helping you move safely.”
Lachance stated that yoga and pilates can be great in this decade as they provide a “low-impact” form of exercise.
In your 70s and beyond
At this age, Lachance said, “The conversation becomes more about maintaining independence, things like being able to get up off the floor, move confidently through space, and reduce the falling risk.
“Here, I pair flexibility with balance and strength work. Chair-based stretching, simple guided routines, and daily movement all play a role.”
Sated hamstring and tricep stretches can help, Bickerstaff agreed, as can resistance bands and plain ol’ walking ― gentle, daily movement is key.
“No matter the age, the message is the same: you don’t need to be able to do the splits, but you do need to move well enough to live your life without restriction,” Lachance ended.
“Flexibility is really about freedom! Freedom to keep doing the things you enjoy without pain or hesitation.”
Fitness
Jane Fonda was in her 40s when she changed the way we exercise
It’s not hard to find somewhere or some way to exercise these days, with gyms, studios, free online videos and personal trainers generally easy to access.
But more than four decades ago, the fitness industry as we know it was just getting off the ground, becoming linked with celebrity as stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger started monetising everything from books to gyms to running shoes.
One of the key figures in this growth was Jane Fonda, who released her first aerobics video, titled Jane Fonda Workout, on April 24, 1982.
It became the biggest selling VHS in history as people snapped up 850,000 copies in its first three years, helping to usher in the fitness culture we know today and, according to some, helping to launch the entire VHS industry.
Bill Hayes, the author of Sweat: A History of Exercise, said Fonda was one of the most important figures in the history of exercise because of her workout videos.
“What’s important about Jane Fonda is she democratised exercise, especially for women … all around the world,” he said.
“All you had to do was buy a videotape, which was quite inexpensive, at least compared to joining a gym.
“You could do it at home. You didn’t have to hire a babysitter. And they were fun, and they made exercise seem fun and sexy.
“She had a huge influence. I really don’t hesitate to say she was one of the most important figures in the whole history of exercise.”
Bill Hayes is the author of Sweat: A History of Exercise. (Supplied: Bill Hayes)
Building a fitness empire
Fonda, who was in her 40s when the first video was released, went on to make more than 20 additional workout videos and write several books, all of which sold well.
They were embraced by young mothers who found it difficult to exercise outside the home, and by women who felt self-conscious about going to the gym or could not afford it.
“It really made a huge difference for women,” Fonda told the ABC in 2024.
“Up until then, women weren’t supposed to have muscles,” she said.
“I mean, it was a joke what a workout for women looked like back then, but they started doing my workout and people began to develop muscles … and they’ve never looked back.”
Fitness has been an important part of Jane Fonda’s life for decades. She is pictured during World Fitness Day in 2010. (Facebook: Jane Fonda)
Speaking to Ellen Degeneres in 2014, Fonda said that before her video, if a woman went to a health club, there would be a gym for men and nothing for women.
“We were not supposed to be strong and fit,” she said.
How it all began
While Fonda’s workout videos were embraced by people keen to improve their fitness, there was a political reason behind the production of the first.
Fonda was, at the time, married to political activist Tom Hayden, who later served in the California State Assembly and State Senate.
They were trying to find ways to make money outside of Fonda’s acting career to fund a political action committee and establish chapters across the state.
Jane Fonda released her first workout video in 1982. (Supplied)
Fonda had started attending an early type of aerobics class in Beverly Hills and enjoyed it so much, she opened her own studio and taught classes.
Then someone approached her about making a video.
Fonda initially said no because she thought it might cheapen her acting career, but she was eventually talked into it.
According to Hayes, Fonda turned out to be a gifted teacher.
“She could explain the movements that you needed to make and why you were doing them and what muscles were affected,” he said.
“Anyone who’s taken a group fitness class, whether yoga or aerobics or other kinds of group fitness, you know when you have a good teacher.
“Her videos were also kind of revolutionary in that they were very diverse.
“The people in her videotapes, there were men and women, people of colour. It was a very mixed group, and I think that in itself was revolutionary too.”
Videos still relevant today
Hayes said Fonda’s workout videos were “very solid, very sensible, very well-structured, and she had done her research”.
“She incorporated using music and dance, which was part of her own background. She was trained in ballet,” he said.
“So it’s natural for her, I think, to bring in music and dance into her aerobic workouts.”
He said the videos had not dated — but that perhaps does not apply to the fitness wear at the time (think brightly coloured leotards, tights and leg warmers. It was, after all, the 80s).
Jane Fonda says she still exercises every day. (Reuters: Kylie Cooper)
Now aged 88, Fonda said her fitness routine had remained the same over the years, but she worked at a different pace.
She told People magazine earlier this year: “I essentially do everything I used to do, just slower.”
Fonda also is keeping up with the times in the exercise industry, having worked with a virtual reality fitness platform to produce four classes.
“We really bridged the past and future of fitness with this series. Aside from the technology, it felt as if no time had passed,” she told People.
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