{"id":788106,"date":"2026-10-01T03:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T03:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/788106\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T03:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T03:16:12","slug":"this-90-year-old-bodybuilder-still-trains-6-days-a-week-here-are-his-3-rules-to-stay-strong-for-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/788106\/","title":{"rendered":"This 90-Year-Old Bodybuilder Still Trains 6 Days a Week \u2013 Here Are His 3 Rules to Stay Strong for Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 90, Japanese bodybuilder Toshisuke Kanazawa knows exactly what works best for him in order to remain strong, healthy, and in top physical condition.<\/p>\n

Kanazawa recently won his 19th national title in the 85+ category at the Japan Masters Bodybuilding Championships, more than five decades after competing alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger<\/a> during the sport’s golden era. <\/p>\n

He still trains six days a week for around two hours a session. But rather than chasing bigger lifts, Kanazawa now follows three simple rules that help him keep training consistently into his 90s:<\/p>\n

Prioritise recoveryGet around seven hours’ sleep a nightChoose exercises that suit your bodyRule 1: Prioritise Recovery<\/p>\n

‘It takes longer to recover from weights sessions than it used to, so I make sure I rest properly between sets and get around seven hours’ sleep a night,’ Kanazawa told The Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Giving himself longer between sets allows his muscles, joints and cardiovascular system more time to recover before the next effort. As we age, recovery slows, making adequate rest between sets increasingly important if you want to keep training consistently.<\/p>\n

Rule 2: Aim for 7 Hours’ Sleep<\/p>\n

Kanazawa also makes sleep a non-negotiable part of his routine.<\/p>\n

Research has shown that around seven hours of quality sleep each night is associated with maintaining health, cognitive function and reducing accelerated biological ageing. Recovery doesn’t just happen in the gym \u2013 it largely happens afterwards.<\/p>\n

Rule 3: Train the Body You Have Today<\/p>\n

It’s not just recovery that has changed.<\/p>\n

Kanazawa has gradually moved away from free weights altogether, replacing exercises such as the bench press<\/a>, deadlift<\/a>and squat<\/a> with resistance machines.<\/p>\n

Free weights generally demand more from your joints, connective tissue and stabilising muscles. Machines provide a fixed movement path, allowing Kanazawa to train hard while reducing unnecessary strain.<\/p>\n

‘I do what’s best for me and my body at this age,’ he says.
<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one thing Kori Sampson knows, it\u2019s how to optimise your body composition for performance. To tap into his knowledge as an elite athlete and coach, we asked him to create a 4-week plan to help you move faster, recover quicker and keep pushing when the fatigue sets in \u2013 all while improving your muscle-to-fat ratio.<\/p>\n

Ready to build muscle, burn fat and come out the other side looking, feeling and performing better? Click here<\/a> to get 14 days of free access to the plan via the Men\u2019s Health app.<\/p>\n

\"kori<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At 90, Japanese bodybuilder Toshisuke Kanazawa knows exactly what works best for him in order to remain strong,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":788107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[148505,379,259512,381,6647,102,190731,1156,259511,223205,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-788106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-collection-fit-for-life","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-c3da01e9-dd76-411b-ab4d-4577ce1c8608","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-this-90-year-old-bodybuilders-3-simple-rules","tag-sponsored-false","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}