“My positive attitude, I get that from my wife,” he shared, adding, "I still go to the gym three days a week and work out".
Dick Van Dyke best known for his roles in The Dick Van Dyke Show, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Bye Bye Birdie, is opening up about what keeps him looking and feeling young at the age of 97. Much of it has to do with his 51-year-old wife, Arlene Silver. The two got married in 2012 and there's a 46-year gap between them.
The Mary Poppins star credits his long life to his ability to keep moving. Van Dyke works out regularly and often posts videos of him working out on Instagram. The actor remains fit as a fiddle and is eager to become a centenarian. "I'm looking forward to 100," he said in an interview with CBS Mornings in 2021.
The key, he says, is to stay active. “Keep moving is the main thing,” Van Dyke told NPR in 2015. “I think I reiterate three or four times in the book (Keep Moving: And Other Tips and Truths About Aging), 'do not start going down the stairs sideways.' It feels good on your knees but it throws the hips out and the back starts to go out, the next thing you know, you’ve fallen down and broken your hip. So even if it hurts a little, go down the stairs front ways.”
The actor also has a positive mindset and motivates himself to keep going. “It’s more in my nature to be optimistic, I think,” he said. “I’m one of those people who gets up on the right side of the bed in the morning. I get up, have a cup of coffee and go to the gym." The star also mentioned how much he loves to still dance. "I have a beautiful, young wife who sings and dances, so there's a lot of duetting going on at my house," he shared.
That's not the only time he confessed that his wife helps keep him feeling young. More recently the Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and SAG Award-winning star told Yahoo Entertainment, that apart from genes his "beautiful young wife half my age to take care of me" is one of the secrets to staying so youthful.
He added, "My positive attitude, I get that from my wife. And one other thing is, I wrote a book called Keep Moving. I still go to the gym three days a week and work out. And I advise everybody to do that, because that's what ages people — it's just a stiffening up and not exercising their muscles and their lungs. Exercise is the answer."
References:
https://www.npr.org/2015/10/11/447591736/dance-sing-just-keep-moving-dick-van-dyke-tells-seniors
https://twitter.com/CBSMornings/status/1399704388030156805
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Frazer Harrison
