How I Got in the Best Shape of My Life at Age 70

At age 70, Jim Owen was, in his own words, “a physical wreck.” After 35 years in the investment world, he wrote a bestselling book called Cowboy Ethics, which led to 4 a.m. alarms to fly to speaking gigs, followed by dinner with wine at 9:30 p.m. — and not much movement in between.

“My back was killing me. Both knees were shot. I was a good 35, 40 pounds overweight, and I had no energy at all,” Owen says. One day he looked in the mirror and thought to himself, So this is what old age looks like. He realized that if he didn’t make a change, he’d soon end up relying on a walker or wheelchair, and that wasn’t how he wanted to spend the rest of his life.

Flash forward 15 years, and Owen is in the best shape of his life. A couple of years ago, he swept the competition at the San Diego Senior Games. “I’m the only guy who's ever won a gold medal in all 10 fitness events,” he says.

He Started By Walking

After a lifetime as a self-described couch potato, Owen began his fitness journey by challenging himself to walk every single day for 30 days. “I was huffing and puffing after about three blocks on day one,” he says. But he loved the way walking made him feel, so his 30-day challenge stretched to three months.

His back still ached, though, so he hired a personal trainer to help him strength-train. “On my first day, I could not do one push-up — that's how weak I was,” Owen says. But he kept at it, eventually exercising six days a week, including two sessions with a trainer and one strength-training session on his own. “By the time I was 75, I was doing sets of 50,” he says.

Owen’s slow-and-steady, expert-led approach meant he avoided the two most common pitfalls of a new fitness routine: doing too much too soon and using improper technique, according to Stephanie Rogers, MD, a professor of medicine in the division of geriatrics and the medical director of the Age-Friendly Health System at the University of California in San Francisco.

“The time when you have the highest cardiovascular risk [from exercise] is when people — especially older people — go from nothing to super high intensity, so you want to start slow, and walking is the best way,” Dr. Rogers says.

Hiring a qualified fitness professional to guide you through proper exercise technique also minimizes your risk of injury, she says.

His Two Secrets to Motivation

Although he’s hit the gym regularly for the past 15 years, working out hasn’t always come easily to Owen. In particular, there was a time about nine years ago — ironically, shortly after he published a book about fitness after age 50 called Just Move! — when he lost his drive to exercise. “I just felt drained,” he says. “My heart wasn’t in it.”

So he made a couple of changes.

First, he updated his mindset. Rather than working out to stay healthy, he approached it like a sport. “I found my inner athlete,” Owen says. Strength training turned into a game in which he’d compete against himself to lift more or go faster.

Eventually, he entered the San Diego Senior Games near his home in La Jolla, California, and learned the thrill of training to compete against others, too. He’s now competed four times, with impressive success. In 2024, he entered all 10 fitness events — which include exercises like medicine ball slams and kettlebell box squats — and won a gold medal in his age group in every single one.

The other major change that Owen made was enlisting his wife as his training partner. “She does the same things I do, with lighter weights,” he says. Having her sweat alongside him has made training far more fun. “We laugh like a couple of teenagers,” he says.

What His Health and Fitness Routine Looks Like Today

Now 85 years old, Owen works out with a trainer twice a week, doing new workouts every month to keep things interesting. He strength trains on his own on a third day, using dumbbells and other free weights. Twice a week, he takes a 45-minute walk while wearing a rucksack, which he finds helps his posture, and he makes a point of climbing a couple of challenging hills along his route.

The final two days are dedicated to recovery, which is one more rest day than he used to take. “I find that an extra recovery day at my age actually helps me work out harder,” Owen says.

Improving his physical fitness inspired Owen to take an inventory of his diet as well. He’s given up alcohol and started to think of food as fuel for his hard-working body, rather than a way to satisfy his taste buds. He now avoids processed foods and limits his dessert intake. Eating this way helped him lose 35 pounds and keep it off for the past 10 years.

The Next Step: Inspiring Others

Given how much fitness transformed his life, Owen now wants to inspire others to get moving, too. In addition to writing his book on fitness for older adults, he regularly gives fireside chats, and he’s produced three documentaries. The latest, Virtuous Circle: A Roadmap for Living Better Longer, is about how adopting one healthy habit, like strength training, can lead to others, like eating more nutritious foods, improving sleep, and managing stress.

As remarkable as Owen’s story might seem, Rogers emphasizes that he’s not an anomaly. “We know that people in their seventies, eighties, and nineties can gain muscle and cardiovascular fitness. Just because you’re starting older doesn’t mean it’s not possible,” she says.

Even if you use a wheelchair or have visual or auditory impairment, there are many accessible ways to improve your fitness, Rogers says.

She advises anyone with cardiovascular, metabolic, or kidney disease; symptoms like chest pain, dizziness, or breathing problems; or concerns about their bones (like severe osteoporosis or past spine fractures) to first get an evaluation from their primary care physician. Then start exercising slowly, as Owen did.

If you can afford it, Rogers recommends working with a personal trainer or physical therapist who can give feedback on your form. Above all, listen to your body. “If you need an extra rest day, that's okay,” she says.

Many people ask Owen for his secret to fitness. His answer? Having fun. “It doesn't matter what it is,” he says. “It could be hiking with friends; it could be doing tai chi or yoga or Pilates; it could be pickleball. Just find what works for you.”

He’s convinced that anyone who embraces an active lifestyle won’t regret it. “Once you see how good it makes you feel, I promise you'll never go back to your old self,” he says.