Maintaining a consistent workout routine can be challenging due to increasing responsibilities and limited time. Building strength can also become more difficult with age as you naturally begin to lose muscle over time. Fitness training for those over 50 can improve energy levels, help maintain a healthy weight, and provide overall well-being benefits. Staying fit at 50 increases the likelihood of remaining healthy into your 70s and 80s. For motivation or tips on how to get started, look to Hollywood’s iconic actors. They prove that when it comes to health and fitness, there are no excuses. With hard work, age really is just a number.
Even after a decades-long successful career, Dennis Quaid is still busy in Hollywood. In a conversation with Men’s Health, Quaid shared his balanced approach to fitness, contrasting with the strict routines of some. Dennis Quaid, 66, finds staying fit a crucial part of his day-to-day life.
Quaid's Evolving Workout Regimen
Quaid emphasizes the importance of consistency and adaptability as he ages. He recalls his earlier years, saying, “I used to box when I was in my 20s." He remembers a man at the Hollywood Y, who was in incredible shape in his 50s, and asked him how he did it. The man told him, “You take care of yourself in your 20s and 30s and the rest will take care of itself.” Even as he began to break out with roles in Breaking Away (1979) and The Right Stuff (1983), the actor kept the advice in the back of his mind.
Quaid said, "It doesn’t mean you have to be there every day, but you do have to live your life with that in mind. Because if you let it go, every time it gets a little harder to get back. So I’ve always stayed with it.”
Over the years, Quaid has adapted his fitness routine to suit his changing needs. “I was a runner for about 35 years, but that gets hard on the knees and joints. So I turned to cycling and yoga, which I’m currently doing. Along with that, you still have to get into the gym and lift. Do the sit-ups.” His go-to workout is cycling, and he says, “I always feel better when I get off a bike than I did when I got in.”
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A Typical Day for Dennis Quaid
Even during the coronavirus lockdown, Quaid maintained a consistent schedule. He and his fiancée Laura Savoie “try to just keep an even schedule,” he explains. “I’m still getting up early in the morning."
Quaid's daily routine includes:
- Early rising: Maintaining a consistent wake-up time.
- Healthy eating: The host of Audio Up’s “The Dennissance” podcast loves to eat healthy too.
- Cycling: His preferred form of exercise.
- Weightlifting and sit-ups: Incorporating strength training into his routine.
- Yoga: Promoting flexibility and balance.
- Downtime: Spending time with a book. Right now, the devout Christian has opted for the Bible.
- Hobbies: Playing guitar, as the Dennis Quaid and the Sharks frontman enjoys picking up his guitar to play a few tunes.
Diet and Nutrition
Maintaining his health isn’t only about eating right and keeping active. The Parent Trap star likes to spend his downtime with a book.
Quaid emphasizes the importance of a balanced diet. He starts his day with a hearty breakfast, including eggs and bacon, plus an everything bagel with cream cheese, half an avocado, and a side of fresh fruit. For dinner, he often enjoys burrito bowls prepared by Savoie, noting, “They’re a quick and easy dinner [Laura] makes a lot.”
Quaid once had to lose 42 pounds for a role, saying, “I ate 1,000 calories a day and then exercised off 600 of those calories on the treadmill. It was basically a POW diet. I would not recommend it."
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Lessons from Other Hollywood Stars
Quaid's approach to fitness aligns with those of other Hollywood stars who prioritize consistency and adaptability. Here are some examples:
- Keanu Reeves: Focuses on recovery workouts using cable and band resistance exercises along with free weight use.
- George Clooney: Dabbles in Bikram yoga, swimming, running, and tennis.
- Idris Elba: Combines kickboxing, full-body workouts, and bodyweight exercises, along with a spiritual approach to wellbeing.
- Paul Rudd: Emphasizes consistent strength training, cardio, and a clean diet, with a focus on making it a lifestyle.
- Lenny Kravitz: Combines regular weight training with high-rep sets of basic exercises and significant outdoor activity.
- Rob Lowe: Focuses on a high-protein, low-carb diet, alcohol abstinence, and varied workouts.
- Matthew McConaughey: Mixes cardio and strength workouts, including running and push-ups.
- Tom Cruise: Follows a dedicated nutrition and training plan that includes sea-kayaking, caving, fencing, treadmill, weights, rock-climbing, hiking, and jogging.
- Robert Downey Jr.: A big fan of Wing Chun, a Chinese form of self-defence, and functional, circuit-based workouts.
- Harrison Ford: Maintains a strict diet and rigorous workout regimen focused on injury prevention.
- Sylvester Stallone: Dedicated to fitness, incorporating free weights, cables, and sleds into his training plan.
- Hugh Jackman: Underwent six months of intense training to reprise his role as Wolverine.
- Kevin Costner: Takes a more balanced and modest approach, incorporating outdoor activities and lifting his kids.
- Denzel Washington: Maintains a consistent daily fitness routine that includes boxing and biking.
- Kevin Bacon: Incorporates dumbbells and kettlebell workouts on set.
- Jason Statham: Relies on his background in karate and kickboxing, incorporating weights, plyometrics, and stability ball exercises.
- Jamie Foxx: Starts his day with swimming for cardio, followed by giant sets with his trainer.
- Will and Jaden Smith: Both have a passion for fitness and occasionally hit the gym together, getting fit for roles.
- Tom Hanks: Started working out more when he got a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.
Advice for Up-and-Comers
Having made it through thirty-odd years in the public spotlight, Quaid is now an elder statesman. He offers guidance for the up-and-comers: “My advice would be to do something every day that is proactive." He recalls a time of empty California afternoons, decades ago, when he would scan the “Upcoming Film” lists in the back of Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, cold-calling around ten casting directors a day. “Nine out of 10 would say no, but one would say yes.”
“So that’s my advice,” he said, speaking for wannabe actors and fitness freaks alike. “There’s always something you can do."
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