‘I’m 100% natural’: 90-year-old Japanese bodybuilder wins 19th national title

Japanese bodybuilder Toshisuke Kanazawa celebrated his 90th birthday last month by winning yet another major competition, taking his 19th national title at the Japan Masters Bodybuilding Championships.

According to The Guardian, a day before his latest victory, Kanazawa turned 90. He defeated seven other competitors in the 85-and-over category and says he has no plans to stop competing.

At the gymnasium he runs in Hiroshima, Kanazawa remains committed to his training routine, working out for two hours a day, six days a week.

Born in Shimane prefecture in 1936, Kanazawa was a talented swimmer who excelled in the 1,500-metre freestyle as a high school student. A muscular problem ended his hopes of competing in the Olympics, prompting him to pursue bodybuilding instead.

“My mother was sceptical but supportive, but my father was dead against it – he thought young men should work,” he said. “I told them I wanted to be the best in Japan but would need a few years to achieve that.”

Kanazawa spent the following five years largely secluded, training for six hours a day and eating simple meals prepared by his mother. Money from occasional work delivering electrical appliances was spent mainly on milk and cheese.

At 24, he won the Mr Japan title, fulfilling his promise to his parents. He won the title again three years later and went on to collect numerous medals.

In 1967, Kanazawa competed in the Mr Universe competition in Montreal alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and eventual winner Sergio Oliva. He finished fourth and has since won six World Masters championships after turning 80.

Kanazawa attributes his longevity and physical condition to a disciplined lifestyle. He has never smoked or consumed alcohol and gave up meat and fish decades ago.

His diet mainly consists of brown rice topped with furikake, natto and miso soup with a couple of raw eggs. He has reduced his protein shakes from six a day to three because he finds it harder to consume large amounts of liquid as he gets older.

He has also modified his training. He no longer performs squats or bench presses and relies on machines instead of free weights.

“I do what’s best for me and my body at this age,” he said.

Kanazawa says he has never suffered a serious illness and that his latest health check showed results more commonly associated with younger people. He now takes longer to recover from weight training, so he rests between sets and gets around seven hours of sleep each night.

“I’m a 100% natural,” he said, stressing that his bodybuilding career has relied on training rather than performance-enhancing drugs.

Returning to competition at 50

Kanazawa retired from competitive bodybuilding in his mid-30s after winning two Mr Japan titles. He returned to competition at 50, partly to encourage his wife, who had suffered from chronic illness.

“My wife had always supported me but she was often sick,” he said. “I saw how I had let myself go since retiring, so I wanted to show her that anything was possible.”

Seven years after returning, he won the masters championships. “That was when I was at my physical peak,” he said.

Kanazawa is part of a wider group of older Japanese athletes who continue to compete and pursue demanding physical challenges.

At 59, footballer Kazuyoshi Miura remains the world's oldest active professional footballer, while swimmer Shoko Yonezawa has set world masters records at 91. Sailor Kenichi Horie announced plans this month, on his 88th birthday, to attempt another nonstop solo voyage across the Pacific next spring. Last year, Shintaro Okuyama completed a certified marathon in eight hours, 43 minutes and 46 seconds at the age of 96.

Japan has one of the world's oldest populations, with almost 30% of its 123.7 million people aged over 64. The number of centenarians has also surpassed 100,000, with women accounting for almost 90% of them.

Kanazawa said he was concerned that some older people stop pursuing activities they enjoyed when they were younger.

“Older Japanese people are doing incredible things, but I worry that too many of them give up on the things they did when they were younger,” he said.

This month, Kanazawa also finished fourth in the mixed-pairs category at the Japan Open Championships with Asuka Miyamae, who is 39 years younger than him.

“It’s like when the muscles in your legs start to weaken and you just let it happen because you think it’s inevitable. I never wanted to be like that, which is why I do what I do,” he said.

“I want to be a bodybuilder until the day I die.”