At 70, Jim Owen was in terrible shape, and had no idea what to do about it. But he knew he had to do something, or watch his quality of life go down the drain. He vowed to do whatever it took to get fit—and to devote himself to helping other older adults stay healthy and functional. Now, six years later, Jim is in the best shape of his life. As Jim has learned, we all get older, but we don’t have to get old. His remarkable journey holds practical insights, and plenty of inspiration, for anyone who wants to stay mobile, independent, and pain-free as the years go by.

The Ultimate Fitness Challenge

As we age, how physically fit we are has a huge impact on our quality of life. Staying active and fully functional into our seventies and eighties is a boon no amount of money can buy. The fitness of our older population is also an enormous issue for our country—or ought to be. Seven in ten Americans over 50 have one or more serious chronic health conditions, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, or cancer. Equally shocking, those diseases account for some 86% of our annual healthcare spending. Let’s not forget that those maladies all have some links to lifestyle, which means there are ways to avoid or mitigate them. When there is so much ruckus over paying for chronic diseases, why is there so little focus on prevention?