Admin- Sally Froelich has aged remarkably well. At 95, she still plays golf three times a week.
- Froelich gave Business Insider some of her tips for staying healthy and happy.
- They include being social and exercising every day.
Sally Froelich has been talking about aging for a long time. That makes sense: she’s 95.
She credits that focus as part of the reason she has aged so well: She used to host a TV show where people talked about reaching age milestones.
Froelich, a New Yorker, spoke with Business Insider to share the lifestyle habits she believes helped her live to 95.
Froelich hosted “The Sally Froelich Show” on television for 21 years. Sally Froelich
Be social
“The most important thing is fun. Friends are very important. You need someone you can confide in, there is always someone who will listen to you,” said Froelich. ‘And when something goes wrong, you have to make it right. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Professor Rose Anne Kenny, a gerontologist at Trinity College Dublin, thinks having good friendships is as important as eating healthy and exercising to live a long life.
In a 2023 study of more than 450,000 adults in Britain, researchers found that being socially isolated was linked to a 77% higher risk of death in adults aged 37 to 73 over a 12-year follow-up period.
Froelich himself is part of a study – the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s SuperAger study of over-95s, which looks for hereditary factors that can help slow aging.
Do some exercise every day
Froelich started playing golf when she was 24 and now plays three times a week.
On days when she doesn’t play golf, she is still active.
“I do ten sit-ups. I do stretches. I lift eight pounds on each hand, then bend over and lift five pounds on each leg, 20 times per leg. I walk in place very quickly,” she said . “And I cycle, not as often as I should. But I do something almost every day.”
Experts agree that exercising regularly is one of the best things you can do to age healthily, especially strength training.
Froelich’s tips for longevity include being social and staying active. Sally Froelich
Nathan K. LeBrasseur, director of the Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging at Mayo Clinic, previously told BI that exercising 3% of the day, or 30 minutes, can have a “profound impact” on overall health.
Stay busy
“Not everyone can be very athletic, but hopefully most people can do something to keep busy,” Froelich said. “Help people, do charity work.”
She plays canasta and bridge, talks to friends on the phone and does volunteer work. After she was diagnosed with cancer, she worked with the American Cancer Society for 38 years to run a Hope Lodge in New York City, where people stay while they receive treatment.
Until recently, she was a board member of a Jewish retirement home, where she redecorated residents’ rooms and threw parties for 100-year-olds.
A 2016 study published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience found that a busy lifestyle was associated with better cognition in 330 participants aged 50 to 89.