A 73-year-old fitness instructor shares her simple longevity routine, from extra protein to lifting heavy weights

• A 73-year-old fitness instructor stays fit with daily movement and strength training.
• She started dancing at 12 and later branched out to Pilates and bodybuilding.
• Her common-sense diet includes protein with every meal and veggies from her own garden.

“I don’t do a lot of sitting,” Nancy Mimms told me.

At 73, the lifelong dancer, former competitive bodybuilder, and fitness industry pro likes to keep busy.

The day of our interview, she’d had a busy morning, teaching group exercise classes and training clients at the Bay Club, then working in her garden. After our interview, she said she was going to go for a walk, to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather in San Anselmo, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.

When she’s not at the gym with clients or working out herself, she’s at the local humane society, where she teaches a range of classes, including basic obedience and canine exercise. She helps old dogs age gracefully and works with four-legged athletes in agility or diving.

Writing about longevity, I speak to a lot of senior athletes. And yet, I’m struck by Mimms’ remarkably youthful energy; she appears decades younger.

She started dancing at age 12, training in ballet at first, and later fell in love with modern dance. Mimms initially had a career in the restaurant industry before returning to the studio, ultimately training to teach dance and, later, fitness.

Now, she keeps in shape (and puts off retirement), to inspire others, and offered three longevity tips for staying spry over the years.

“If you can breathe, you can move,” she said. “Dance is for everybody.”

Keep moving throughout the day

Mimms estimated that she spends eight to 10 hours on her feet during a typical day.

“Even when I’m training people, you’re not going to see me sitting on a bench,” she said.

Sitting, like most of us do for most of the day, is linked to an increased risk of early death.

Mimms said she’s invigorated by the consistent movement throughout her day: teaching, walking to the store, and gardening (a favorite hobby of centenarians) are all a regular part of her routine.

When I asked her how she has such an enviable amount of energy, she told me it’s because she pursued her passions, learned new skills, and tried out many different types of exercise and dance over the years. She added that it helps that she never married or had children, giving her more time for her own interests.

While research is mixed on how marriage and childbearing impact longevity, it’s likely that she had genetics on her side. Mimms said her mother lived to be 98, just shy of her 99th birthday, and kept good mobility with her daughter’s help.

“She was able to bend over and touch her toes. I had her doing squats, holding onto a chair,” she said.

For Mimms herself, staying active, mentally and physically through dance and other hands-on activities, is a big part of what’s kept her strong over the years.

“Movement is medicine,” she said.

Don’t be afraid of heavy weights

Mimms said she’s been lucky to avoid serious injury over the years and barely has joint pain. She believes that’s thanks, in part, to weightlifting, making her body more resilient.

She started seriously strength training in her 50s when a fellow instructor suggested that she had the physique for bodybuilding, and went on to place second in her class at a competition.

“I never got super big, but it was just a way for me to change the shape of my body with weights. And once I did that, then I was really hooked,” she said.

Working with female clients, Mimms encourages them to take up heavier weights. She thinks it’s a shame that so many people believe the myth that lifting heavy makes women bulky, and does her best to steer her clients away from cardio equipment toward bigger weights, which helps build a lean, athletic physique

At her peak, she was leg pressing 350 pounds and bench pressing 100 pounds. These days, she focuses more on exercises like cable rows, wood chops, lunges, and kettlebell lifts or swings. A typical session is a circuit-style workout of these exercises for about three rounds each, or 30 minutes total, adding up to about three hours a week of strength training.

“I don’t need to spend more than that. It’s just enough to push myself a little bit without being so sore the next day that I can’t move,” she said.

Eat enough protein and veggies

You can’t out-train a bad diet. Mimms takes her nutrition seriously, which for her means eating enough, enjoying her food, and getting the right balance of nutrients.

“I eat whatever I want and as much as I want,” Mimms said.

She aims to prioritize protein with every meal, alongside plenty of fresh produce grown in her own garden. Her lunch before our interview was a turkey burger, topped with a little cheese, sliced avocado, and caramelized onions, with a few sweet potato fries on the side.

Mimms grew up eating home-cooked food and doesn’t eat a lot of sugar, but isn’t afraid to enjoy a scoop of ice cream on occasion, she said.

The key is that all her meals and treats are part of an overall balanced diet: she doesn’t drink alcohol, enjoys a daily coffee in the morning, and eats mostly whole foods. Her motto, in fitness and in life, is one of moderation.

“I think one of the things that’s had me last as long as I have in the industry is I never did anything super crazy,” Mimms said. “I did things when it was safe and sane.”

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