Acclaimed actor Dick Van Dyke has remained a constant presence in American entertainment for more than seven decades. At 99, it’s safe to say the Mary Poppins star knows a thing or two about living a long, fulfilling life. When asked recently about his secret to living nearly a century, he had a straightforward answer.
“Somebody said, ‘To what do you attribute your age and physical condition?’ I said, ‘I’ve always exercised three days a week,'” he explained to Ted Danson and Mary Steenburger in a Jan. 22 appearance on the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast. “We go to the gym, still, three days a week, and I think that’s it.”
Van Dyke went on to explain his usual routine at the gym. “I’m doing a lot of stretching and yoga-type things. Sit-ups. And they have machines, something for almost every exercise,” he said.
Danson went on to describe what he’s witnessed when seeing Van Dyke at the gym. “If I got [to the gym] early enough, I would see you literally work out on some weight machine, and then, almost like you were doing circuit training, you would, not walk, to the next machine, but dance. You literally dance to the next machine! And you said that you would go the gym and work out and then you would go home and swim laps. Then you would get back into bed and take a nap,” he recounted.
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Van Dyke celebrated a major milestone last year when he became the oldest person ever to win a Daytime Emmy Award. When looking back on his career in an interview with Variety, the longtime star shared he was satisfied with everything he’s left the world.
“I left a good example for a young generation. I think I have a positive effect on kids. And I can tell by the mail I get from kids that I’ve had a good effect,” he said. “They want to emulate that behavior. And that, I think, is why what we really accomplish is worthwhile. I’m so happy the impact I had was a positive one, and I’m perfectly satisfied with that.”