‘I’m 64 and in the Best Shape of My Life—This Is the Exact Workout Routine I Swear By’

If you watched the Paris Olympics this summer, you no doubt marveled at the athletes and everything their bodies can do. Although a 65-year-old made the roster of Olympians this year, most of the athletes were in their twenties or thirties, and perhaps you thought: “I wonder what their fitness routines will look like 30 or 40 years from now.”

Well, in the case of Janis Klecker, you can see exactly how an Olympian from the past continues to prioritize fitness in her life. Now living in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Klecker was a marathoner in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, placing 21^st among her fellow runners. Twice, she was the U.S. champion in marathon running (1987 and 1992). And she continues to run today—with some slight modifications here and there and a dedication to regular fitness classes.

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Then and Now

Klecker says that these days, being able to do a box jump has been her biggest achievement. It’s when you bend into a squat position and jump onto a box with all your might, landing in a squat position before stepping down. It can be an incredibly difficult move for even the most seasoned athletes, but Klecker is doing it at 64. “Making the Olympic team years ago was hard, but the box jump was almost just as hard!” she emphasizes.

The Olympic athlete has been on a long fitness journey. She shares that she first became interested in running in her late teens, inspired by her mom who ran regularly. “I started to get into fitness when women in fitness in the 70s was an unusual thing,” she says.

Today, in addition to keeping her physical health in tip-top shape, Klecker believes that exercise benefits her mental well-being. She says, “Mental health can help your physical health and your physical health can help your mental health. It’s as important to me now as it was in my twenties.”

With a love and passion for fitness, Klecker completes a wide range of different types of workouts to keep her body continually guessing. She says that at her age, it can be tough to say exactly what her workouts are—“They need to vary!” she says.

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Janis Klecker’s Workout Routine

Regular fitness classes

Variety is undoubtedly the spice of Klecker’s fitness routine. First of all, she usually does some sort of workout every day. This can include the Alpha Strong lifting classes at her LifeTime gym several times a week, where she works on endurance lifting by completing different exercises.

Although she aims to work out every day, she does say that she takes a day off here and there. On light days, she prefers to take a yoga class. And she says that with three young grandchildren, that can even be a workout in itself.

But most of the time, you’ll find Klecker doing weight-lifting, barre, aqua jogging and spinning at regular classes. And she’s still running, of course.

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Weighted vest walking

As a distance runner, Klecker is no stranger to putting in the miles. But she says that as she’s aged, she needed to expand her repertoire.

“I can’t just run,” she says. “I can still run without pain, but I think the reason I’m able to stay active is because I really vary what I do.”

This includes doing weighted vest walking, something that she has found to be both challenging and enjoyable. “I have a 25-pound vest and it’s hard!” she says. “I do a hilly route and I don’t need to go 10 miles. Three miles is a hard workout.”

Her Words of Wisdom

“I often tell people you need to get more creative to stay fit as you age,” Klecker says. “You need to be curious and not be afraid to learn something new. It can be easy to get stuck in the known and things our bodies are used to doing. Mixing it up and being creative is helpful.”

Next up, discover what happens to your body when you run a mile every day.

Sources

• Janis Klecker, former Olympian.

• The Olympics: “From young prodigy to golden veteran: The youngest and oldest stars shining at the Paris 2024 Olympics”