100-Year-Old Veteran: 7 Keys to a Long Life

Joe is 100. He bowls, does push-ups, and still drives. For the next 24 hours, I'm going to eat, train, and nap with Joe. Oh, whoa. But the craziest part of all of this is that I let him take control of the day, so I didn't know what to expect. Hi, Joe. Hi, hi. It's so nice to meet you. Thank you. Nice seeing you. Joe wasted no time in showing us the first part of his routine, starting with toe touches. All right, a little toe touch. How many do you do? I do about 20 of those, sometimes 25. Next was push-ups, which blew my mind. Wow, Joe. That's so good. I see your muscles shaking. Having this much balance and strength at 100 is amazing, since we tend to lose muscle rapidly as we age. Eight, nine, and do you got it? Do you got it? Ten. Can I try your push-ups real quick? Yeah. Okay. Here we go. One, two. This is hard, Joe. That's, like, actually hard. That's a difficult angle. So I was curious to know what else he did to keep his muscles so strong. I do weights. Okay, let's see the weights. I do 15 and 10. Joe bent down and picked up his weights like they were nothing, and he showed me his bicep curls, followed by this cool rotator cuff movement, which strengthens and stabilizes this area. What does this do for you? This part of it. Just loosens it up, loosens up your shoulder? Rotator cuff. Oh, okay. And I do eight pounds. And then you do eight pounds after this. But after a hundred years of this, I had to know. Do you like to work out? Yeah. What do you like about it? Keeps you somewhat in decent shape. Then it was my turn. Yas, Joe. If I could do this at a hundred years old, I would be so happy. And after a few reps, it was time for the last part of this morning exercise. And then you walk in the house, is that right? Yeah. It's incredible that you still walk at a hundred. Well, I can't walk. I can't walk a mile. Right. So I do shorter and shorter. And I'm trying to build myself to walk a thousand steps. Wow. And then if I could do 1,500, then I'll try to do half a mile outside. Wow, amazing. That's coming. How old do you think you'll be when you reach that goal? Six months. In six months? Yeah, if I'm still around, I'll be doing that. Heck yeah, Joe. That's amazing. Shall we do it? Yeah, I'm going to show you. A thousand steps might not sound like much, but at 100 years old, walking unassisted is remarkable. OK. I normally go that far. That far? After all that exercise, I'd built up an appetite, but the food Joe eats was not what I was expecting. Time for breakfast? Ready. OK. So what do you like for breakfast? I have fruit. Fruit? Frozen fruit. Joe proceeded to make his breakfast. All right. How long have you been having this breakfast? Very long time. Very long time? Yeah. Like how many years do you think? Like a couple decades? No, at least 10 or 15 years. What stands out about Joe is that he keeps things simple, neat, and organized. He's not in a rush and does things right. Wow. What do you like about fruit for breakfast? Oh, it's good for you. Yeah? Once in a while, I have an egg with bacon. Do you eat a lot of food? No, I eat two meals. Two meals a day? Yeah. I eat one in the morning, which is late. I get up late. What time do you get up? Normally about 9.30, 10 o'clock. Wow. What time do you go to bed? 12 or 1 o'clock. And when do you eat your second meal? At night, about 5 or 6. Interestingly, for dinner, Joe has TV dinners, which he likes because they're convenient. But he also takes supplements, which seem to fill in the gaps of some of his nutritional needs. More on that later. Do you feel like your diet has kept you healthy? I think so, yeah. Yeah, why? Well, I'm not fat. This is true. You're very lean. Yeah. Have you been lean your whole life? No, I weigh as much as 150, 160 pounds, and I weigh 128 now. Right, yeah. Have you always watched your weight? Not particularly, no. Yeah, you said you used to be 5'6"? Yeah, when I was young, yeah. How tall are you now? 5'1". And with that, he added some cottage cheese for protein, and it was time to eat. Hang on, though. On your Quest to 100, you might want to take this. This is Armour Colostrum, and it's become my go-to hack for supporting my microbiome. A few months ago, I felt like I was doing all the things. Working out, eating clean, tracking my sleep. But my gut wasn't quite where I wanted it to be. Sometimes I'd get bloated, and even though I was healthy, I didn't feel like my immune system was fully in check. By chance, I saw Armour Colostrum on social media, and my first thought was, what the heck is colostrum? Turns out, colostrum is the first nutrition all mammals produce after giving birth, often called liquid gold. And it's packed with 400-plus bioactive nutrients like immune antibodies, peptides, prebiotics, and growth factors. And consuming colostrum helps seal your mucosal barrier, which strengthens your gut and defends against environmental toxins. I had to try it for myself. Every morning, I've been putting a scoop or two of the best-selling unflavored powder into my post-workout smoothie. And sometimes, I'll also enjoy a watermelon pack with water during the day. I specifically like Armour Colostrum because they follow strict testing and quality standards, which is important to me. And the scooper is small, so I like that one jar can last a long time. Thanks to Armour Colostrum for sponsoring this video. Head to armour.com slash human, or enter code human for 15% off your first order. Now, back to the story. Joe is remarkable in many ways, but one thing that stands out about him is how he thinks about life. This brings us to Joe's third key to longevity. So how does it feel to be 100? I guess it's better than 99. And why do you think you've lived so long? I think I was lucky. Not everybody gets to be 100. Do you like being 100? So far, I do, yeah. Good. And what about in your mind? Do you think of yourself as a 100-year-old? Or do you think of yourself as being younger? No, I just want to be able to keep going if I can. And so I'm curious. I'm 31. I would love to be 100 like you one day. What advice do you have for me? Try to stay healthy, no matter what it involves. If you're healthy, you'll be happier. 100, no 100. It doesn't make any difference. It's just you. You want to stay that way and have friends. You just want to have that type of a feeling. To be friendly with people, and they're friendly with you. Born in 1925 in Fort Worth, Texas, Joe was brought up in an all-boys Catholic orphanage. At 17, Joe enlisted in the Navy aboard the USS St. Louis. The ship was struck multiple times in the Pacific and narrowly escaped Pearl Harbor. Despite this experience, Joe re-enlisted, serving 23 more years. I wound up being a chief. That's where you wear a cap. Wow, incredible. It was kind of interesting. I had a good life being a chief. And what did the Navy teach you about living a good life? Actually, discipline. In what way? You just taught discipline. Because you have to salute an officer, and you better not get in trouble. Yes. And you get used to that. The Navy taught Joe the power of routine. Today, he follows an exercise, food, and sleep schedule that works for him. And he sticks to it. But what about health and marriage? How many times have you been married? Three times. And your last marriage, how long were you married for? 42 years. Incredible. Do you have any marriage advice for me? Stick it out. Stay married. Thank you. So when does it make sense to stay married? If you love each other, you want to stay married. And it gets to the part where you don't love each other, it's time to break up. There you go. Yeah. Let me know when that happens. Okay, Joe, I will. No, but no, you stay married if you can. Yeah. If you're happy, stay that way. When you have faced a hardship in your life, how do you think about moving forward? I really don't think about it because I'm just lucky to be here. I enjoy my life the way it is now. What do you think people get wrong about being 100? You don't have to be a lot bigger. Just be yourself and be nice to people and they'll be nice back to you. And for someone who is having a hard time being healthy? I don't want to advise anybody except to their doctor. But I just hope for them that they do better. Well, I believe in supplements like Japanese people do because they live pretty well over 100. Speaking of supplements, I was eager to see what exactly Joe takes daily. Do you take these every day? I take this for energy. This calms me down. Magnesium? Yeah, this is what a good it does for you. But I'm trying to finish this off. So creatine? Yeah. What about this one? This greens. Greens? This one here keeps you from having too much acid in your stomach. And do you take these every day? Yes, I do. Wow. Okay. Do you take anything else? Take these right here. This is after I eat, okay? After you eat. Both of these things. Okay. Joe walked me through everything that he takes, which was more than I expected. Here's his full supplement stack. Having taken his supplements, Joe was ready to bowl. Threw on his jersey. Kept us moving. Lifted his bag like a pro. Gave a quick high five. You're so strong, Joe. All right, I'm ready. And we were off. Whoa, Joe. You drive so well. Yeah, like you go the speed limit. You drive kind of fast, actually. How long is your driver's license? Just got it renewed for five years. So your driver's license is valid until you're 105? Yeah. I've never heard anything like it. I think you drive better than me. How about that? But it gets even better. You drive on the freeway? All of that? Yes, I do. And away we went, speeding down the highway. We made it to the bowling alley just in time. Cool. Thank you. Go for it. Joe typically bowls three to four times a week, so we met up with some of his bowling buddies, and I couldn't wait to see what he's got. Thank you. Then it was my turn. But turns out, it's harder than it looks. All right, can you help me put it on? Solid. Joe, already beating me. This brings us to Joe's fifth key habit, and one of the most underrated keys to longevity. Routine. Every week, come hell or high water, Joe is at the bowling alley. His routine is the drumbeat of his life, and that persistence has paid off. He's gotten a perfect 300 score multiple times in the past few years. From what I've seen of him, he just doesn't let anything restrict him. He doesn't let anything hold him back. But if he wants to do it, he's going to do it. When we got involved in the match club, the traveling team, and we approached him about, did he want to join? I mean, he didn't even hesitate. He's all in. Like, let's go. Where do I sign up? I mean, who does that at 100? Who does that? As I spent more time with Joe and his crew, it became clear that strong community ties are a critical part of Joe's longevity. Joe has lots of friends here. You know, he bowls on Wednesday afternoons. You know, people from afar watch him bowl. They come to me and go, are you sure he's 100 years old? I said, yeah, yeah. I saw his driver's license. How do I describe Joe? Joe, you won't see too many 100-year-olds like him. He drives every day. He bowls four times a week. You know, he bowls three times a week in the league. He comes in two, three times a day, you know, a week, practicing. And he flirts with all the young girls, you know? Heck, I want to be like him when I'm 100 years old. Shoot! You know? Wayne, he's a great guy. He's a great guy. Yeah. No, we love Joe. And with love in the air, something surprising happened. Then it was back home, just in time for a special guest and Joe's last key habit. Hey, Dad. Hi, dear. How are you doing? Hi, Dad. Nice to see you, dear. Nice to see you, Dad. I'm just so amazed. My thing has really been, especially after his wife passed, that all that he's done now in the last 15 years, been it's never too late. You know, it is never too late to still do the things you enjoy, to do the things you want to do. And so I think that's what really drives him. And it's made it, I'm very proud of him and very, yeah. He's just a really good guy. And I just, you know, it just makes me feel good to know that I've had this really this time with him, especially in these years, because I didn't have as much when I was little. So, yeah. Is it time for your nap? And just like that, we were on to Joe's final key to longevity, resting when he needs it. But not without some sound advice. Okay. Nap time? That's fun, yeah. That was fun. I think. Thank you for everything. I think it's maybe nap time. Shall we close our eyes for a little nap? Okay. How do you like to nap? You just go here, right? Just doze off, just doze off. Okay, I'll just, just doze off. Okay. Just close your eyes and that's it. Easy. Okay. That's a good nap. Ready to go bowling? Ready. Joe teaches us that a full rich life goes beyond exercise and food. What makes life truly worth living is the relationships we nurture with others and with ourselves, even as our world changes. So get out there, go after what you want, and together, let's stay human.