Fit at 50

Fitness is an ongoing process which requires lots of dedication and discipline. This article is dedicated to top five people who are fit despite being fifty and symbolize the physical culture. The kind of drive required to be in top shape at fifty is no joke, one needs to focus on lots of areas like weight training ,cardio and nutrition; figuring a way to work around injuries or at least not to trigger an old injury. The top five fit celebrities on my list are Jackie Chan, Jean Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph lundgren and Madonna.

Jackie Chan needs no introduction; he’s a stuntman, actor, director and action choreographer. Jackie is known for his breath taking action and stunt sequences, the nature of his stunts are so dangerous that no insurance company insures him in movies in which he performs his own stunts. Jackie has been injured numerous times while performing stunts; he almost died while filming armour of god he fell from a tree and fractured his skull. Jackie has a back ground in martial arts, acrobatics and ballet. He always emphasizes on exercising everyday and working on flexibility. He’s mantra of fitness is more of rigors and regular exercise rather than too much focus on dieting. According to Jackie boxing is one of the best ways to get in shape and can be a great stress buster. Jackie still continues to do death defining stunts and is in top shape for a 57 year old.

Known as the “muscles from Brussels” Jean Claude van damme aka JCVD, started martial arts from the age of ten. His styles consist of kick boxing, Muay Thai, shotokan karate and taekwondo. While studying martial arts and ballet van damme added weight training to his regime. In many of his movies he displaces his perfect physique and flexibility, thus ruling out the theory of weight training make’s one muscle bound. Now 50, van damme looks 10 years younger than what he is and his physique gets better and better day by day. He still can do the famous 360 degree helicopter kick and the splits he’s know for, he’s scheduled to fight Olympic gold medalist Khamsing who’s 38 years old. The fight is rumored to take place in Bangkok; it will be a Muay Thai fight.

Sylvester Stallone aka Sly is an inspiration both in the world of fitness and movie making. He is a classic example to prove what can be accomplished with sheer determination and hard work. Bodybuilding god Arnold Schwarzenegger once quoted “Sly has awesome will power”. Sly has a physique that can easy put a 25 year old to shame; he has had his fair share of injuries from his incredible physical pursuits. While filming training scenes for the movie rocky 4 sly had tore his pectoralis resulting in four hour operation. Sly has displayed great physique in his movies like Rambo, rocky and specialist. Sly always had an apollonian physique, no wonder he was inspired to take up weight training after watching “Hercules in chains” starring Steve reeves. Sly is in incredible shape for a 65 year old and is currently training for the movie expendables 2. 

  

Dolph lundgren is a Swedish actor, director and martial artist. He holds a 3^rd Dan black belt in kyokushin karate and was European champion in 1980 and 1981. His breakthrough in movies came when he starred in rocky 4, co-starring as villain with Sylvester Stallone. Dolph is very similar to van damme in terms of martial artist turning into action super star however Dolph is a huge guy towering at 6’5’’ and weighs anywhere from 225 to 240 pounds. His awesome physique can be seen in movies like rocky 4, he-man and universal soldier co-starring with van damme. Dolph follows straight weight training routine with martial arts training.

Madonna the pop icon, actress and entrepreneur she’s also know for her incredible passion for fitness besides her super music career. While age is catching up with her, she takes pride in keeping herself in top fitness condition. She practices ashtanga yoga, which is very intense form of yoga that build’s great cardio and helps to retain muscle. She also does karate, running, cycling and occasionally horse riding. Her lifelong commitment to health and fitness is commendable job and at 53 years of age she is an inspiration to many women.