For seniors who live in The Villages, Florida, a home run for healthy aging is all about staying active.
As Americans’ life expectancies continue to increase and as the average age of retirement creeps up, more people are thinking not only about living a long life, but making sure they're healthy and fit enough to enjoy their longevity.
In The Villages, Florida, some seniors who call the retirement community home are less concerned with how old they are than their batting averages — and, yes, they play ball regularly.
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John Panariello, 88, is one of many octogenarians who's defying what it means to reach old age, hitting line drives at an age when many wouldn’t even dare to drive a car.
Originally from Coney Island, Brooklyn, Panariello has called The Villages home for nearly two decades. He said he has hardly noticed "getting old."
His secret? He doesn’t slow down long enough to think about it.
"I never stop moving," Panariello told Fox News Digital as he bobbed his left leg up and down, staying in a constant state of movement.
"An object in motion stays in motion — so as long as I can, I’m going to keep going."
Panariello starts each day with some light stretches, a balanced breakfast and a series of puzzles like crosswords and Sudoku.
From there, the native New Yorker may devote the day to any number of hobbies or activities — from perfecting his swing at the batting cages to staying inside to work on his latest drawing for his five-year-old great-granddaughter.
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No matter what he's doing, he makes sure to tackle a new challenge and strive for one goal or another.
Dr. Mehrdad Ayati, a board-certified Stanford University geriatrician and author of the book "Paths to Healthy Aging," said finding stimulating activities like these to do on a daily basis is the "main core" of healthy aging.
The adjunct clinical assistant professor at Stanford's School of Medicine said modern neuroscience now rejects the "old theory" that humans stop making new brain cells after childhood and that we continue to build neurons into our hundreds.
The older people get, however, the faster they lose those neurons — which is why it’s critical to engage in challenging activities that are outside one's comfort zone.
Those challenges can come in the form of doing puzzles, taking art classes, learning to play an instrument or anything else that involves solving problems.
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John Panariello isn’t alone in not acting his age.
His teammate, Dale Appleby, a former college baseball player, never imagined much of an athletic career past his graduation date. Now, at age 92, he’s still getting on base — with no signs of slowing down.
Appleby said his longevity may be due to genetics; he said he has an uncle who is still healthy at age 103.
But Dr. Ayati of Stanford isn’t convinced the secret to a long life is written only in the DNA.
"Genetics make up only 20% of what influences how people age," Ayati said — adding that lifestyle choices have a far greater impact.
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Recent epigenetic research has shown that consistently healthy choices such as regular vigorous exercise can affect the body so powerfully that it effectively suppresses the expression of harmful genes — great news for anyone with a family history of disease or shorter lifespans.
Appleby of The Villages also credits his health and mobility to the fact that he's always watched his waistline.
"The main thing is keeping your weight where it should be," Appleby said.
"And that’s what most people don’t do when they get older. They let their weight get away from them."
He said this idea is backed by science. Being overweight not only makes people more susceptible to certain diseases, it also affects balance and gait, which in turn can lead to debilitating injuries.
In studies of people who live in "blue zones," or parts of the world where humans live exceptionally long lives, researchers have found one commonality is maintaining a healthy weight.
In Okinawa, Japan, where it isn’t unusual for natives to live to be 100, people practice what is called "hara hachi bu," which roughly translates to "eat until you’re 80% full."
By following this method, Ayati said people can take steps toward managing their weight without necessarily giving up favorite foods or attempting to stick to a fad diet.
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Ayati also recommended partaking in forms of cardiovascular activity that raise the heart rate 50% above its baseline for at least 30 minutes a day, five days per week.
Examples of these activities include walking, jogging and cycling. The activities are effective at reducing fat as well as staving off heart disease, stroke and dementia.
But Ayati said people should not to forget about strength training, either.
As people get older, the muscles in the body naturally shrink, said Ayati. That mass tends to get replaced by fat, making it all the more essential to remain active and participate in resistance training to rebuild lost muscle.
In addition to cardio exercise, Ayati recommends lifting weights or working on machines at the gym at least 10 to 20 minutes a day, three days a week.
Even with an immaculate diet and rigorous fitness regimen, some disease can be inevitable.
In some cases, genetic predisposition and environmental factors outside people's control are strong enough to cause life-threatening illnesses.
That’s where preventative care comes in, Ayati said.
For Robert Buhlmann, 88, doctor visits are a blessing, not a nuisance — and he doesn’t mind at all that he sometimes goes for checkups to different specialists three times a week.
That’s because Buhlmann, despite a lifetime of loving sports and working out, had a health scare of his own.
Although he filled his retirement with gym sessions and softball practices, Buhlmann found out he had prostate cancer during a routine six-month checkup.
"It didn’t hurt me and I had no idea, but they caught it in time because I kept all my appointments," Buhlmann said. The cancer was identified and treated in the earliest stage possible — and Buhlmann has lived a healthy, cancer-free life ever since.
Ayati said preventative care is essential for catching major problems such as cancer and other deadly illnesses. Screening for early warning signs of chronic illnesses allows people to manage any symptoms before they get out of control.
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While conditions such as heart disease may first present themselves later in life, they're often the result of milder symptoms such as high blood pressure that appear years earlier but go ignored, experts say.
It is why Ayati said he recommends seeing a geriatrician sooner rather than later; he suggested scheduling a first geriatric assessment around age 60, rather than waiting until older age.
Having the opportunity to identify "reversible risk factors" before they develop into full-blown illness is "at the core of preventative medicine," said Ayati.
When John Roberts, 87, isn’t playing his beloved softball, he’s staying in shape by swinging a golf club or going on uphill runs with his dog.
Athletics aren’t a recent hobby for Roberts. The California native has made time for recreational sports all throughout his life, including playing tennis and going dirt biking.
"I guess that’s why I don’t have a lot of money — because I played a lot," Roberts said with a grin.
Roberts’ approach to fitness has been a smart investment that will pay dividends in terms of health and longevity, Dr. Ayati said.
"The one thing I always recommend [when designing a fitness regimen] is to always do it with pleasure in mind," Ayati said.
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"Whenever the brain feels happier, studies find it actually wants to do more of that activity," added Ayati.
One of the best ways to make the brain enjoy exercise is as simple as bringing a friend along to work out with, said Ayati.
By adding a companion or group of friends into the mix for a bike ride or fitness class, people get the same mental benefit that some experience when playing their favorite sport.
Ayati shared another tip for living a long life.
By keeping a "positive attitude toward aging," seniors will find it exponentially easier to make the lifestyle changes required for living well into old age.
"Part of the key to healthy living is the connection between mental health and physical health," said Ayati. "We need to focus on building that bridge."
