9 simple ways to stay fit and healthy over 60

Make sure you're ticking these off

Keeping up your muscle strength with full-body exercises is essential. Image: Getty

According to celebrity longevity expert, Dr Peter Attia, implementing these simple strategies will ensure you're the picture of health - even past your 60s. 

1. Get outside and take up rucking 

In other words, hiking with a weighted backpack. Why? It’s one of the best ways to build muscular strength and improve stability and control around your joints, such as your knees, hips and spine. This will hugely diminish your chance of having a fall when you’re older. If you break a hip in later life, beyond the age of 65, there’s a 15 to 30 per cent chance of death in the following 12 months. Sobering stats, but something we definitely have the power to change.

2. Don't get fixated on your diet 

A high-protein, relatively low-carb diet is good to aim for. But, according to Attia, if you’re focusing too much on what you’re eating it risks detracting from the importance of exercise and maintaining muscle mass. Never compromise on this because the older you get, the more you need to keep your muscles stable and strong. Be careful with any kind of extreme restrictive eating, like fasting. It’s better to be ‘over-nourished’ and have strong muscles.

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3. Consider training as fuel for later life 

When it comes to movement motivation, think about the things you want to be able to do in your 80s and 90s: picking up grandchildren, getting out of a chair unaided, putting your own luggage into an overhead locker on a plane, hiking, sex. Look at exercise as a way to hit those goals – this will make it feel purposeful and give you incentive to make it a regular habit and something naturally built into your overall lifestyle.

4. Do resistance exercises regularly

Walking and jogging alone just isn’t enough. You need to keep up your muscle strength with plenty of full-body exercises, like squats, planks and push-ups, and by using weights – whether that’s in a gym setting or in group classes that utilise weight-bearing movements, like Pilates. Unfortunately muscle strength rapidly declines as you age, so it’s vital that you keep building it, while also stoking your metabolism fire.

5. Get at least eight hours sleep a night 

There is no part of your mental and physical health that isn’t negatively impacted by poor sleep. Good sleep is crucial for every aspect of your life, from happiness levels to your weight, memory and overall wellness. Do anything to improve your sleep quality, such as banning your phone from your bedroom to getting proper blackout blinds, whatever it takes to improve the quality – and quantity – of your shut-eye.

Exercise is the most powerful tool for cognitive decline. Image: Getty

6. Embrace the power of daily movement 

Our most powerful tool for preventing cognitive decline is exercise. Some people have the attitude that, provided they’re mentally sound when they’re older, fitness doesn’t matter. But the two are directly linked. Good cardiovascular health will make sure your brain is getting the oxygen and nutrients it needs. Social contact has also been proven to improve cognitive health, and you won’t be able to do that if you’re not able to move properly

7. Pay attention to your mental health 

It’s not all about physical activity. Your mental wellbeing counts – in a big way. Having strong social connections, a sense of purpose and good relationships is as vitally important to your lifespan – and your healthspan – as any number of diagnostic tests and squats could ever be. Whether it’s friends, kids, family, travel or giving back, prioritising what makes you happy is powerful medicine – for the mind and body. 

If you are going to drink, keep it to three to four drinks a week. Image: Getty

8. If you're going to drink, make it decent 

Ethanol is harmful but in small amounts there may be nutritional and stress-busting benefits of enjoying, say, a glass of wine. That said, don’t get misled by surveys that report healthy people drink in old age – they’re drinking because they’re healthy, not because it has made them healthy. If you are going to drink, keep it to three to four drinks a week, and make sure you savour every mouthful by drinking the nicest stuff you can find.

9. Lastly, get testing to learn more 

As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. The more you know about your personal physiology, the more you can take preventive measures to stay healthy. That could include anything from a simple blood test to check your cholesterol levels, to a DNA test to find out more about your propensity for Alzheimer’s, à la Chris Hemsworth in the recent documentary, Limitless. As a first step, make an appointment with your GP.

Originally published as 9 simple ways to stay fit and healthy over 60