{"id":47183,"date":"2026-03-09T07:31:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T07:31:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/im-73-still-working-and-walk-20000-steps-a-day-i-can-do-the-splits-and-im-not-slowing-down\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T07:31:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T07:31:30","slug":"im-73-still-working-and-walk-20000-steps-a-day-i-can-do-the-splits-and-im-not-slowing-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/im-73-still-working-and-walk-20000-steps-a-day-i-can-do-the-splits-and-im-not-slowing-down\/","title":{"rendered":"I&#8217;m 73, still working, and walk 20,000 steps a day. I can do the splits \u2014 and I&#8217;m not slowing down."},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/696f4065a645d11881879a78?format=jpeg\" alt=\"A Singaporean Chinese man in his 70s doing the splits while flexing his arms at a fitness corner in Singapore.\"\/><figcaption>Victor Chan.<\/p>\n<p>Amanda Goh for Business Insider.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Victor Chan, 73, still works five days a week as a pool supervisor in Singapore.<\/li>\n<li>As a former bodybuilder, he believes regular exercise is key to aging well.<\/li>\n<li>He stretches regularly, practices splits and headstands, and walks about 20,000 steps a day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Victor Chan, a 73-year-old living in Singapore. It has been edited for length and clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Health is wealth, and I&#039;ve always believed that. I&#039;m 73 now, and I still work five days a week. My job as a pool supervisor keeps me active \u2014 and staying active keeps me working.<\/p>\n<p>When I was younger, I got into bodybuilding after some friends encouraged me to join them. We trained together, and on weekends we&#039;d head to the beach.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6971b254a645d1188187c665?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Vintage photos of a man from his bodybuilding days, and from his days as a swim coach.\"\/><figcaption>Victor Chan took up bodybuilding in his youth and briefly worked as a swimming coach.<\/p>\n<p>Provided by Victor Chan.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Looking fit was part of the appeal, and it was motivating to see people notice our physiques. I even competed in community-level competitions.<\/p>\n<p>I eventually outgrew the sport and took up running instead, partly because of my job. I&#039;ve worked at a military training facility since 1978.<\/p>\n<p>I&#039;ve participated in ultramarathons and Ironman races before. The only times I truly stopped exercising were due to injury, and even then, it was never for long.<\/p>\n<h2>Slowing down didn&#039;t mean stopping<\/h2>\n<p>When I was around 50, I began experiencing the early symptoms of intervertebral disc degeneration. I couldn&#039;t walk or stand for long, and even sleeping was hard. I ended up relying on painkillers.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6971b254d3c7faef0eccb5fe?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Two photos of a Singaporean Chinese man competiting in the Ironman races.\"\/><figcaption>Chan has always led an active life and even competed in multiple marathons and Ironman races when he was younger.<\/p>\n<p>Provided by Victor Chan.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It was scary, and I felt life no longer had meaning. It was a big step down from how fit I was at the time. Fortunately, I was still at a stage where physiotherapy could help.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the prescribed exercises, I started devoting time to stretching and planking. These days, my back no longer bothers me.<\/p>\n<p>I can still run, just not at the same intensity as before. Walking has always been part of my routine, and I still aim for about 20,000 steps a day.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69aa77c6fd4fbd083f29a3d3?format=jpeg\" alt=\"A man at the finish line of an Ironman race.\"\/><figcaption>Although he no longer competes at Ironman races, Chan still believes in the importance of staying active in order to age well.<\/p>\n<p>Provided by Victor Chan.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>To hit that, I walk up and down along the pool I work at and avoid taking public transport. I just walk, take my time, look around, and keep moving.<\/p>\n<p>I&#039;m part of Team Strong Silvers. We&#039;re a group of older adults who enjoy working out and staying active, regardless of age. From time to time, we&#039;re invited to take part in healthy-aging workshops and lead exercise sessions that encourage other seniors to keep moving.<\/p>\n<p>This story is part of our <strong>Still Going Strong: Singapore<\/strong> series, which follows Team Strong Silvers \u2014 a group of Singaporeans 70 and up who stay fit while inspiring others to keep moving.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#039;re over 70 and have a story to share about aging well, email this reporter at agoh@insider.com.<\/p>\n<p>I first joined the team in 2016 after the group was short on members for an event, and I ended up staying on.<\/p>\n<p>People are often amazed when they find out I can do the splits. Practice makes perfect, and I&#039;ve always believed in the importance of stretching \u2014 especially for older adults.<\/p>\n<p>I stretch every day and do a range of flexibility and balance exercises, including headstands.<\/p>\n<p>A lot of what I do comes from watching YouTube videos and trying things out on my own. My wife says, &quot;You&#039;re crazy. You&#039;re not a youngster anymore.&quot; But I feel that staying flexible helps me move more confidently and react better, even if I fall.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6971b4afe1ba468a96aa7d86?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Two men doing headstands at a fitness corner in Singapore.\"\/><figcaption>Chan (shirtless) still works out every day. In this photo, he is doing a headstand at a fitness corner in Singapore with Peng Lin Hua (in red), one of his Team Strong Silvers teammates.<\/p>\n<p>Amanda Goh for Business Insider.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Staying strong is about more than workouts<\/h2>\n<p>Apart from exercising regularly, I also watch my diet.<\/p>\n<p>My wife does the cooking, and she&#039;s very health-conscious. She uses very little oil and salt, and even the rice we eat is basmati rice, which is healthier. Honestly, I&#039;m the only one in my family who can really accept this style of cooking. My kids \u2014 no way. But that&#039;s what she cooks, and that&#039;s what I eat. I don&#039;t complain.<\/p>\n<p>I mostly go for vegetable dishes. I do eat meat, especially since I work out, but I don&#039;t really fancy fried food. I do enjoy desserts once in a while. After all, life has no meaning if you can&#039;t have anything.<\/p>\n<p>Having friends is important too. If you don&#039;t socialize, you can feel lonely, and that&#039;s not good. I talk to my neighbors and colleagues, even though many of them are younger than me. Staying connected gives life balance, and it&#039;s just as important as staying active.<\/p>\n<p>For older adults who want to start exercising but don&#039;t know how, my advice is to start slowly \u2014 find a local community center offering healthy activities like walking groups.<\/p>\n<p>When you exercise with others, you get to socialize and make friends. That makes it easier to keep going.<\/p>\n<p>Read the original article on Business Insider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Victor Chan. Amanda Goh for Business Insider. Victor Chan, 73, still works five days a week as a pool supervisor in Singapore. As a former bodybuilder, he believes regular exercise is key to aging well. He stretches regularly, practices splits and headstands, and walks about 20,000 steps a day. This as-told-to essay is based on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-47183","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}