Living to a ripe old age involves a plethora of factors, many of which are within our control, like diet and exercise.
While diet helps control inflammation that can pave the way for chronic disease, exercise strengthens the muscles and reduces multiple mortality risks.
A content creator who recently asked her grandfather a series of questions about his longevity found that both factors held true for her senior relative.
But the 96-year-old also credited flexibility for his impressive age, sharing one technique that’s helped him maintain it.
The nonagenarian shared his lifestyle secrets with his granddaughter
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The advice came in a clip posted by @izzifriedman, captioned: “My 96-year-old grandpa shows how to live a long life.”
In it, the senior shared: “There are a few secrets. If you’ve got the genes from your parents and grandparents, that’s 50 per cent.
“Then there’s the other 50 per cent: diet and exercise. It just takes three or four days a week to put in a little effort.
While all exercise is beneficial, the 96-year-old stressed that it's particularly important to look after the back.
He shared: “That’s the centre that connects the brain and tells the body what to do.
“If you don’t continue to take care of your back, it gets harder and harder. I touch my toes about four times a week, and that’s when I take a shower.
“I take a hot shower, as hot as I possibly can,” he explained, making sure the water runs down the length of his back.
He then bends down to touch his toes multiple times, adding: “If you do it enough times, after a while, you’ll find that you can get to the bottom.”
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The 96-year-old stretches in the shower
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“It doesn’t take a lot - just four days a week to do the hot shower technique.”
He stressed that flexibility should be a lifelong priority, noting that: “The sad thing is, after you’re 18, your body starts to deteriorate.”
As many centenarians argue, diet is an equally important component of the nonagenarian's lifestyle.
“God made apples that look green and yellow, and grapefruit is yellow -that’s what you’re supposed to eat, the stuff that looks good,” he added.
