Ben Madilynn
- Jack Eckenrode, 96, didn’t take up cycling until he was 75.
- He shared his tips for getting fit at any age with Business Insider.
- These include building exercise into your daily routine and listening to music for motivation.
Instead of putting his feet up when he left his job at 60, Jack Eckenrode moved to a farm and worked on it for 15 years. And instead of finally slowing down when he sold the farm at 75, he turned his hand to a new challenge — cycling.
Eckenrode, now 96 and living in Pittsburgh, has 12 children, so he didn’t have time to keep fit as he raised them and worked as an insurance salesman.
Now that he’s retired, he has time to exercise for an hour a day, he told Business Insider. Research suggests it’s never too late to start working out. One 2023 study published in the journal Preventive Medicine found that even participants aged 80 and above who were physically active tended to live longer than those who weren’t — even if they used to be inactive.
Eckenrode does 30 minutes on a stationary bike, as well as 30 minutes of calisthenic exercises that work his whole body, from his head to his toes. He learned the routine, which includes push-ups and leg exercises on a mat, as a pilot in the US Air Force in his mid-twenties.
On top of that, he also goes on bike rides on trails near his house most days.
This training has enabled Eckenrode to compete in the National Senior Games for the last twenty years, in four cycling races and the 50 and 100-meter sprints. Last year, at the games in Pittsburgh, he won five medals including in the 20-kilometer cycle race.
“My legs never get sore, and my muscles or back never gets sore. I can go on forever,” he said.
He shared his tips for people wanting to get fit and also “go on forever.”
Do some exercise every day
National Senior Games Association
“I go out of my way to get on that stationary bike for sure. I try not to miss one day. I feel so much better after I do it,” he said, adding: “What’s one hour out of the whole day?”
“Whatever you do, be very active, whether it’s golf or whether it’s tennis or something, but get out of the house and be active and get fresh air in your lungs. The more you do that, the happier you’ll be,” he said.
A physiologist and healthy aging expert recently told BI that spending just 3% of your day exercising — which is around 30 minutes — can have huge longevity benefits, including preventing chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cancer.
Exercise with people
When the weather’s good, Eckenrode goes on bike rides with some of his children who live nearby. He used to bike with his late wife, too.
“We always biked early in the morning and even late at night. We would always bike together,” he said.
A Harvard paleoanthropologist previously told BI that the best way to motivate yourself to exercise is to have a workout buddy. And Gen Z is increasingly combining exercising and socializing in running clubs and at gyms, BI previously reported.
Multitask while exercising
“I try to meditate on the stationary bike to start things off, and then try to plan my day when I’m biking. Or I even pray a little bit too,” Eckenrode said. He said this helps him look forward to exercising, because meditating and being organised “makes you feel good.”
“And I always have music on when I do it. I talk to Alexa, and she gives me my music — whatever I request, she plays it. I need music when I do my exercise,” he added.
A 2021 review of studies published in the Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology found that participants’ physical performance when exercising was better with music they liked. Another review, published in 2024 in the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity, found that combining physical activity and mindfulness could be linked to improved psychological health, including helping to reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.
