Fitness Motivation From 4 Senior Athletes

Make movement a habit: ‘Get up and move every day’

At the state level, Philipp Djang, 69, from Las Cruces, New Mexico, has participated in triathlon, racquetball and swimming competitions, the last being his greatest passion: “In terms of the National Senior Games championships, I have won 40 gold and 11 silver medals and set 21 National Senior Games Association records in swimming races across four age groups.”

He undergoes periodization training during which he tries to improve his swimming technique at a slow and steady pace in the offseason, amping up the intensity as a swim meet or competition day approaches. He’ll compete in the backstroke and individual medley (a combination of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle swimming) in both 25- and 50-meter (Olympic-size) pools in June 2024. 

“I can’t do the same things I did when I was younger. But that’s OK, I’m getting older. And the bottom line is every day I get up, I do something,” Djang says. “For myself, fitness is [the] result of cultivating a habit. I exercise every day just like I brush my teeth.”

He says he likes to focus on the process as opposed to the result. “I’d rather work out than compete, but I do like the camaraderie of competition,” Djang says. “By the way, it takes a lot of courage to put on budgie smugglers [men’s fitted swimsuits], stand up on a starting block and swim your heart out. It’s not for everybody, but that nervous excitement and adrenaline rush is when I feel the most alive.”

Though Djang says he finds happiness in training for a goal and pushing his own limits while competing, he says that’s not the only way to find fulfillment.

“I think the real goal in life is longevity and happiness. And you don’t have to compete to meet those goals,” he says. “But what you do have to do is get up and move every day. Go out and find something to do.”

Joyce Jones shows her medals from the 2022 National Senior Games. She says that aside from pickleball being a great workout, she enjoys the social aspect of the game.

Courtesy of NSGA

Find a work-around: ‘You shouldn’t let anything stop you’

Joyce Jones, 93, from Seattle, was playing pickleball before it was popular. 

“When I started playing it 45 years ago, I didn’t dream that it would ever get this big,” she says. In fact, she played a large part in having the sport added to the National Senior Games, petitioning for it to be included as a medal sport and seeing that finally happen in 2013.

She’s quite a figure for senior athletics, having competed in all but one National Senior Games competition, winning in badminton, tennis and pickleball. She only missed the 1991 national games in Syracuse, New York, due to a knee injury. She sympathizes with those with injuries but encourages them to find a work-around.

“I wouldn’t let that stop them. I have one knee that was replaced 22 years ago, and it’s still going strong,” she says, adding that she’s had to change how she holds the pickleball paddle due to gripping difficulties. “I find that I can still play OK and enjoy it by changing my grip. And so you shouldn’t let anything stop you if you want to play. You just have to adjust and figure out a way to get around that.” 

Jones says she doesn’t train much nowadays aside from playing pickleball two or three times a week. (And she always makes sure to stretch before and after playing.) She’s led an active and healthy lifestyle, never smoking or drinking and always thinking positively.

“I’ve had such a wonderful life. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have something different. I enjoy the playing, I enjoy meeting people, and I enjoy the competition, and I enjoy seeing old friends over and over. So I don’t know what my life would be like if I didn’t have this.”

She knows exactly why pickleball has gained pop culture status: “Because it’s so social, and it’s easy to pick up. Just about anybody can go out and hit the ball back and forth over the net and have fun and get a good workout from it.”

For those who have not tried it: “I would say just give it a try. And if you’re not successful the first or second time, don’t give up. Just keep at it. Because anytime anybody practices and keeps trying, they’re going to succeed.”

In the summer of 2024, she’ll be facing other top pickleballers in the Washington State Senior Games.

Brian Hankerson competes in the long jump at the 2023 National Senior Games. He emphasizes the importance of rest, saying his coach noticed more explosiveness in his jumps after he took some rest from training.

NSGA/Brit Huckabay

Understand technique, when to recover: ‘Rest is just as important’

Brian Hankerson, from Coral Springs, Florida, started running in his mid-40s, training with his children at track meets. At the time, he didn’t know how to train properly, neglecting fundamentals such as stretching, and he frequently got injured. At 64, he’s training to compete in various events within track and field including the 50-, 100- and 200-meter runs and the long jump, triple jump and high jump at the senior games, and he’s a much wiser runner. He knows the importance of implementing proper technique.  

“Learn how to do things properly, and you become much more efficient at it,” Hankerson says. “When you use a proper technique, you have better success, so you can maximize less ability with proper technique and potentially beat better ability.”

Hankerson says he has a comprehensive training regimen. He lifts weights about three days a week, and he runs, incorporating a mix of jumping drills and sprints.

He recalls not training for six weeks. When Hankerson met his long jump coach, his coach noticed he was “much more explosive than six weeks ago,” and suggested that he rest and recover before his next competition. He will compete in the Florida Senior Games in December 2023.

“Rest is just as important, especially at our age,” Hankerson says. “You might want to train all the time, but rest is really, really important.”

He enjoys testing his physical limits at the senior games and appreciates the camaraderie of all the people competing. He says “only good” comes out of keeping active and participating in the games. Hankerson says he’s never felt belittled for his age or ability, and he encourages others 50-plus to have the same outlook when it comes to keeping active and trying something new.

“I never embraced the posture that I’m too old. I train with high schoolers, I train with college athletes, I even train side by side with professional football players. And I did not embrace that I didn’t belong. The funny part is they will look to me and say, ‘Man, I want to be like you when I grow up!’ ”

Hankerson says he’s excited about what the future holds and is inspired by the people who compete at the senior games.

“I am around people that are 80, 90, 100 years old and still very, very active. It just gave me a whole different perspective on what we can do and what our bodies are capable of,” he says. “You have no idea what you’re capable of, until you really apply yourself to it. And you never know what gifts you’ve been blessed with that will allow you to do things you’ve never done before. You have to try it.”