{"id":852613,"date":"2026-09-18T23:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T23:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/852613\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T23:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T23:02:14","slug":"a-longevity-doctor-says-everyone-should-start-doing-these-5-things-at-age-50-at-49-im-listening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/852613\/","title":{"rendered":"A longevity doctor says everyone should start doing these 5 things at age 50. (At 49, I’m listening)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m 49, which means 50 is not some abstract age in my far-off future. It’s next year\u2026 close enough that I’m already putting together some milestone birthday trip plans<\/a>. (How did that happen?)<\/p>\n

So when longevity specialist Dr. Brian Spears shared the five things he wishes people would start doing at 50 instead of waiting until 70, I paid attention.<\/p>\n

“A lot of people wait until something starts going wrong before they think seriously about healthy aging,” Spears, an emergency physician and chief medical officer at OrderlyWellness<\/a>, noted in comments I received by email. “But your 50s are a great time to get ahead of those changes.”<\/p>\n

His point isn’t about trying to look 30 forever. (We already learned that, right Amy Schumer<\/a>?) It’s about making choices now that could help us stay strong, mobile, and independent decades from now.<\/p>\n

“The goal is to build and maintain the strength, fitness, balance, and metabolic health that can help you keep doing the things you want to do,” he said.<\/p>\n

Here are the five things he says to start around 50 \u2014 before you wish you had.<\/p>\n

1. Build muscle before you notice you’re losing it<\/p>\n

Don’t wait until stairs, lifting boxes, or getting out of a chair starts feeling harder to think about strength, Spears says.<\/p>\n

Muscle helps with movement and metabolic health, and maintaining it can help preserve independence as we age. In fact, the CDC recommends<\/a> adults get at least two days of muscle-strengthening activity each week, along with at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity.<\/p>\n

Spears recommends making strength training a regular part of your week, whether that means weights, resistance bands, machines, or bodyweight exercises.<\/p>\n

You don’t need to become a bodybuilder. The goal is consistency \u2014 and preserving the strength to do very ordinary things later, like carrying groceries, lifting luggage, climbing stairs, and getting up from the floor.<\/p>\n

I’m relieved I can honestly say I make earnest progress on this one. I do aim for 30 minutes of activity daily, even just walking or resistance bands and light weights at home.<\/p>\n

\"\"2. Train your balance before you have a serious fall<\/p>\n

Balance is easy to ignore when yours is just fine \u2014 but Spears says that’s exactly when we should be working on it.<\/p>\n

He recommends incorporating exercises that safely challenge balance and coordination, along with maintaining lower-body strength and mobility. Yes, it’s about avoiding a bad fall. But good balance helps with everyday movements like stepping off a curb, walking on uneven ground, using stairs, and getting in and out of the shower \u2014 normal life stuff.<\/p>\n

\"\"3. Build cardiovascular fitness while movement still feels easy<\/p>\n

Walking is great, Spears says, but comfortably strolling around the grocery store doesn’t necessarily mean you have much cardiovascular fitness in reserve.<\/p>\n

He suggests regular cardio you actually like \u2014 and for you that might mean walking (like it does for me), biking (not me, too uncoordinated and accident prone!), swimming (also me), or whatever else you’re likely to keep doing.<\/p>\n

The payoff is practical: enough stamina to walk through an airport, explore a destination on vacation, climb a hill, or spend a full day on your feet without those activities gradually becoming too exhausting.<\/p>\n

As a travel writer, I’m definitely aware of how hard travel is on the body \u2014 and very eager to keep my body well enough that I can do it for the long haul.<\/p>\n

4. Stop leaving your blood pressure and metabolic health to your future self<\/p>\n

Feeling healthy doesn’t necessarily tell you what’s happening with your blood pressure, blood sugar, or cholesterol.<\/p>\n

Spears recommends knowing your blood pressure and talking with your doctor about which health screenings make sense based on your age, history, and individual risk factors.<\/p>\n

“You don’t need to become obsessed with every number,” he said. “You just want to know where you stand instead of assuming it’s something you can worry about later.”<\/p>\n

5. Train for the life you want at 70, not the body you had at 30<\/p>\n

This one is my favorite piece of advice \u2014 and the one that feels most relevant.<\/p>\n

Instead of asking how to get back the body you had decades ago, Spears suggests asking a much more useful question: What do you want your body to still be able to do at 70?<\/p>\n

Maybe that’s traveling (like me), carrying your own bags, climbing stairs, getting off the floor, or keeping up with your family. Then build a realistic routine around preserving those abilities, combining strength, cardio, balance, and mobility rather than focusing exclusively on weight or appearance.<\/p>\n

“The real goal of longevity isn’t just reaching a certain age,” Spears said. “It’s being able to enjoy those extra years and keep doing as much for yourself as possible.”<\/p>\n

At 49,\u00a0with 50 right around the corner \u2014 a number that once seemed so far off but now very much isn’t \u2014 that feels like a pretty good reason to start now.<\/p>\n

Want more stories like this? Follow me for relatable takes on travel, lifestyle, and pop culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I’m 49, which means 50 is not some abstract age in my far-off future. It’s next year\u2026 close…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":852614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[67576,55430,359989,56304,337,97],"class_list":["post-852613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-aerobic-activity","tag-balance","tag-brian-spears","tag-climbing-stairs","tag-fitness","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}