A retired Wall Street manager started exercising at 70, lost 35 pounds, and fixed his back pain. Here are his 3 tips for getting fit.

• Jim Owen, a former investment manager, was goal-oriented but couldn't find the motivation to exercise.

• At age 70, he had "excruciating" back pain so started working out.

• Starting from zero, he now competes in fitness contests, has lost 35 pounds, and fixed his back pain.

At 70, Jim Owen couldn't do a single push-up.

Owen had a successful 35-year career in investment management on Wall Street, wrote a bestselling book about improving the industry, and went on a 10-year-long book tour with 300 stops around the US. But his drive didn't translate to his physical health.

He was a "weak," "certified couch potato," he told Business Insider.

"I just couldn't seem to bring myself to exercise. I don't know why. My whole life, I've been very goal-oriented, but for some reason, I just couldn't get off the couch," he said.

By age 70, he had excruciating lower back pain. "I thought, if I feel this bad at 70, how bad was I going to feel at 85?" he said.

So he decided to make a change. He started by walking for 30 minutes a day, and as he got fitter gradually replaced one walk at a time with a strength training session.

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 gym, and three 45-minute walks a week at a pace intense enough to make him out of breath.

He can do more than 50 push-ups, no longer suffers from "awful, excruciating" back pain, and said he has as much energy as he did twenty years ago.

Last year, Owen won gold in all 10 events in the 80-plus age bracket at the San Diego Senior Games. These included the most box squats done with a kettlebell in one minute, the longest hang from a bar, the fastest time to push a 90-pound sled 50 yards, and the most jumps done in one minute with a jump rope.

His best days still lie ahead of him, he said. To encourage other older people to adopt the same attitude, he has written a book and produced two documentaries about healthy aging and getting fit as an older adult. He's also a fitness ambassador at his retirement village, Vi at La Jolla in San Diego, where he helps community members learn how to use gym equipment and helps to organize fitness events.

"I'm in the inspiration business today. I don't get paid for it but it doesn't matter — I get more out of this, I think, than the people who take my advice. I'm in the 'paying it back' stage of my life," he said.

Owen shared his advice for others who want to be as fit as he is at 84.

1) Start slow, whatever your fitness level

"It's never too late to get fit," Owen said.

One 2023 study by researchers at Duke Kunshan University, China, found that participants aged 80 and above who were physically active tended to live longer than those who weren't — even if they took up exercising later in life.

"I tell people that that are brand new, just work out 20 to 30 minutes. Don't feel like you have to work out the way I do," Owen said. "I'm a competitive athlete today, but I wasn't in the beginning. I enjoy working out and competing against myself — I try to do better than I did last month, that's all."

If you're new to exercise, Bryan Goldberg, a personal trainer, previously told BI that starting "slow and steady" will make it easier to sustain long-term.

2) Exercise consistently

"There's no quick payoff," Owen said. "Just do what you can, and be consistent. If you think three times a week is right for you, that's fine."

This chimes with what experts have previously told BI, including Nathan K. LeBrasseur, a physiologist and healthy aging researcher, who said the best type of exercise is the one you will do consistently.

3) Relationships are key

Social relationships are "every bit as important when you're older" as being fit, Owen said.

He shares this opinion with Rose Anne Kenny, a professor of gerontology at Trinity College Dublin, who said that social participation is just as important for longevity as factors such as a good diet, exercising, and not smoking.

Owen's wife, Stanya Owen, does tai chi and Zumba classes. He thinks that being married to her for 56 years has given him emotional strength and helped him stay fit, because he doesn't want to become physically dependent on her.

"She's an angel. I wouldn't put up with me for a month," he said. "I feel gratitude that we've been lucky to have our health and our relationship."

Read the original article on Business Insider