How to Stay Healthy, and Fit With Age - Part 1

My name is Darvis Simms, and I am an ACE certified personal trainer and author of Forever Fit and Firm. Over the last 20 years , I’ve helped many people get healthy and stay fit.  I want to help you realize your fitness potential by showing you what I do myself and with my clients. I’m writing these posts based on the things that I have learned and applied in my exercise program over the last 30 years in my quest to stay healthy, fit, and firm as I age. My methods are not based on scientific theory but rather on results that I have attained for both myself and my clients.

As I mature and my client base matures, I’m beginning to specialize in fitness over age 40. I’m in my fifties so I understand the challenges you face as you fight the aging process. I am stronger, fitter, and I feel better than I did in my twenties. I’m writing this series of posts to show you how to look and feel as good, or even better, in your forties and fifties than you did in your twenties.

People seem to think that once you reach the age of forty, your body starts to deteriorate, and you slip down the slope into old age. They blame their lack of energy, their soft pudgy appearance, and their aches and pains on “getting old”. However, most of these symptoms are the result of years of negative thinking, lack of exercise, and poor dietary choices. The key to keeping your body healthy, fit, and firm at any age is making healthy lifestyle choices on a daily basis.

It’s a proven fact that people who make healthy lifestyle choices live longer and have a better quality of life than those who adopt unhealthy habits. So, deciding to incorporate healthy habits into your life is the first step to getting and staying healthy, fit, and firm with age. The next step is choosing those activities that are the most beneficial to your health and fitness.

Those, including myself, who stay fit and firm as the years pass find that a positive state of mind, and a proper mix of strength training, cardiovascular exercise, and balanced nutrition is fundamental to getting and staying healthy as you mature. People, such as Al Beckles and the late Jack LaLanne are examples of the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle.

 Jack LaLanne, who recently passed away, was a living icon to the benefits of positive thinking, healthy eating, and regular exercise. Over the years he performed amazing feats of strength and conditioning on his birthdays as he got older. Jack was in great shape, and worked outs two hours each day, devoting one and a half hours to strength training well into his nineties. This is a true testament to the value of strength training as you age.

Al Beckles is a legend in the bodybuilding world. At the age of 55, Al placed second in the Mr. Olympia competition. The Mr. Olympia Competition is the premier bodybuilding event which thousands of competitors all over the world dream of winning each year. Al Beckles competed well into his sixties because his physique was still phenomenal and better than competitors more than half his age.

While I don’t place myself in the same class with Jack LaLanne and Al Beckles I can tell you the value that healthy lifestyle habits have in my life. As mentioned , I am in my fifties and I keep my body fat around 10 percent.  My fitness program consists of four strength training sessions each week followed by 20 minutes of cardio. I can chest press 100 pound dumbbells for 10 repetitions and leg press more than 1000 pounds, neither of which I could do in my twenties. I'm saying this to brag, but to show you that it's possible to look and feel better in your forties and fifties than in any time in your life.


Watch this video of one of my favorite exercises. The leg press is one of my favorite exercises for keeping my legs strong and fit.  Your legs are your foundation, so you have to keep them strong!