How to be fit past 100 without going to the gym, according to 6 centenarians

• Business Insider has talked to lots of centenarians about what they think has helped them live past 100.

• Many have kept fit without going to the gym.

• Building movement into daily life is one of their top tips.

If you hate working out but want the life-lengthening benefits of exercise, you may find it reassuring that many centenarians Business Insider has spoken with have never set foot in a gym.

To some degree, the type of exercise you do seems to matter less than how often you do it. Nathan K. LeBrasseur, a physiologist who studies healthy aging, previously told BI that people should do an exercise they enjoy because then they're more likely to keep it up.

Deborah Szekely, 102, who runs a ranch in Baja California, Mexico, agrees. "What matters is that you're pushing yourself enough to feel it, getting your heart rate up, and breaking a sweat. If you get really huffy puffy, you're doing a good job," she told BI.

And it's never too late to get active. A 2023 study by researchers at Duke Kunshan University in China found that participants over the age of 80 who were physically active were more likely to live longer than those who were inactive — even if they started later in life.

Here's how centenarians who talked to BI said they stayed fit.

1) Walking

As people get older, it can get harder to do some types of exercise — but some centenarians can keep walking. Louise Jean Signore, New York's second oldest person at 112, stopped swimming, biking, line dancing, and playing bowls when her health deteriorated, but she still tries to get her steps in, whether that's outside or in her hallway.

Szekely also walks at least a mile each day in local parks, while Pearl Taylor, who lived in Ohio until she died aged 103 , walked around her local Walmart for two hours every weekend.

Walking is a low-intensity exercise but still has plenty of health benefits. A 2023 review of studies published in the journal GeroScience found that walking appeared to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cognitive impairment, and dementia, while also improving mental well-being, sleep, and longevity.

2) Cycle instead of driving

Martin McEvilly, who was Ireland's oldest man when he died at 108 last October, never owned a car. Instead, his bicycle was his primary form of transport until he was 99. Even once he stopped cycling everywhere, he continued to use a stationary exercise bike until he was 105.

A 2023 review of studies published in the journal Frontiers in Sports and Active Living found a link between cycling regularly and better mental well-being, a lower risk of dying from any cause, and a lower risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes.

3) Make exercise social

Katie MacRae, a 107-year-old who lives in Queensland, Australia, regularly plays bowls with her fellow care home residents. And 103-year-old Janet Gibbs played golf until she was 86.

As well as physical benefits, the social aspect of exercising could also help us live longer. Professor Rose Anne Kenny, the chair of medical gerontology at Trinity College Dublin and the head of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, argues that socializing is more important for longevity than exercise or a healthy diet.

4) Build exercise into your job or hobbies

Many centenarians did hard physical jobs, such as McEvilly who worked on his family farm. His days were spent cutting up turf for fuel, trimming plants, collecting water, and gathering moss to use for animal bedding.

The average US worker is likely to spend half of their day sitting down, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, but even if you have a mostly sedentary job you can build movement into your day.

Just doing 20 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a day can offset the impacts of sitting down all day, a 2023 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found. This includes doing chores, walking briskly, and gardening — which MacRae credits her longevity to.

BI previously reported on how some of the world's oldest people eat to live to 100.

Correction: February 18, 2025 — An earlier version of this story included an outdated reference to Pearl Taylor, who died at 103.

Read the original article on Business Insider