by - Jim Owen, a former investment manager, was goal -oriented, but could not find the motivation to practice.
- At the age of 70 he had “unbearable” back pain so exercising.
- From zero he now competes in fitness matches, has lost 35 pounds and determined his back pain.
At the age of 70, Jim Owen couldn’t do any push-up.
Owen had a successful 35-year career in investment management at Wall Street, wrote a bestseller book about improving the industry and went on a 10-year book tour with 300 stops around the US. But his drive did not translate into his physical health.
He was a “weak”, “certified bank potato,” he told Business Insider.
“I just couldn’t let myself work out. I don’t know why. My whole life I was very focused, but for some reason I just couldn’t get off the couch,” he said.
At the age of 70 he had unbearable lower back pain. “I thought, if I feel so bad at the age of 70, how bad would I feel at the age of 85?” he said.
So he decided to make a change. He started walking 30 minutes a day and when he became fitter, gradually replaced one walk at the same time with a strength training.
Now 84 and 35 pounds lighter, Owen does an hour of strength training three times a week, using free weights and machines in his home gymnastics and three walks of 45 minutes a week at a pace intense enough to get it out of breath.
Owen did not train before the age of 70, but slowly increased his condition to run and follow strength training. Nathan Church, Haveypro Cinema
He can do more than 50 push-ups, no longer suffers from “terrible, unbearable” back pain and said he has as much energy as twenty years ago.
Last year Owen won gold in all 10 events in the 80-plus age bars on the San Diego Senior Games. These include the most box of squats done with a kettlebell in one minute, the longest desire on a bar, the fastest time to push a 90-pound sledge 50 meters, and most jumps in one minute with a jump rope.
His best days are still in front of him, he said. To encourage other elderly people to take the same attitude, he wrote a book and produced two documentaries about healthy parent and become fit as an older adult. He is also a fitness ambassador in his pension village, VI in La Jolla in San Diego, where he helps members of the community to learn how to use gym equipment and helps organize fitness events.
“I am in the inspiration company today. I am not paid for it, but it doesn’t matter – I get more out of it, I think, than the people who take my advice. I am in the ‘paid’ phase of my life,” he said.
Owen shared his advice for others who want to be just as fit as he is at 84.
Owen wants to encourage other older people to get fit. He is a fitness ambassador at VI in La Jolla, the senior living community where he lives. Nathan Church, Haveypro Cinema
1) Start slowly, regardless of your fitness level
“It’s never too late to get fit,” said Owen.
A 2023 research by researchers from the University of Duke Kunshan, China, showed that participants aged 80 and older and who were physically active, had the tendency to live longer than those who were not – even if they currently performed later in life.
“I tell people that they are brand new, just train for 20 to 30 minutes. I don’t feel that you have to train like me,” Owen said. “I am a competitive athlete today, but I was not in the beginning. I enjoy training and compete against myself – I try to do better than last month, that’s all.”
If you are new to practice, Bryan Goldberg, a personal trainer, told Bi rather that starting “slowly and stable” will make it easier to maintain the long term.
2) Practice consistently
“There is no quick payment,” said Owen. “Just do what you can do, and be consistent. If you think that three times a week is suitable for you, that’s fine.”
This chimes with what experts have previously told BI, including Nathan K. Lebrasseur, a physiologist and a healthy aging investigator, who said that the best type of exercise is the one you will do consistently.
3) Relationships are crucial
Social relationships are “just as important as you are older” as fit, Owen said.
He shares this opinion with Rose Anne Kenny, a gerontology professor at Trinity College Dublin, who said that social participation is just as important for a long service life as factors such as a good diet, sports and not smoking.
Owen’s wife, Stanya Owen, follow Tai Chi and Zumba lessons. He thinks that 56 years married her has given him emotional strength and helped him stay fit, because he does not become physically dependent on her.
“She’s an angel. I wouldn’t bear it for a month,” he said. “I am gratitude that we were lucky to have our health and our relationship.”