Jane Fonda On the importance of staying strong as you age

Jane Fonda On the importance of staying strong as you age

Jane Fonda has been a fitness icon for decades, bringing exercise into people's homes since the 1980s with her famous VHS tapes (remember those?). Ahead of her 85th birthday later this year, the actress and activist shared why she's so grateful for how strong and flexible she still feels, along with a message for young people, in a new interview with Vogue.

Jane Fonda realized the importance of prioritizing health after taking a "life review."

“I want young people to stop being afraid of getting older,” Fonda told the magazine. "What matters is not age, not this chronological number. What matters is your health," she said. Prioritizing exercise throughout her life — she did ballet and aerobics in her younger years and focuses on less intense exercise these days — has helped her maintain her health, she explained in the recent interview. And she hopes it inspires her fan base, which spans multiple generations and ages.

"I know better than I did, even when I was younger, that exercising age-appropriately is absolutely critical to your healthy life expectancy, no matter how old you are or who you are or where you are," she shared. For Fonda, that means changing up her fitness routine as needed. "My motto now is not burn. It's slower," she told Vogue.

Fonda's version of slowing down recently included long early morning walks before working on the set of Book Club 2: The Next Chapter in Italy. And that doesn't come naturally to them. "I didn't realize it when I was young," she explained, adding that "boys never realize the importance of keeping your body strong because there's nothing wrong with them," she said. "Your body works. You take it for granted. As you get older, you realize how important it is."

Now she is aware of and grateful for her strength and flexibility in everyday activities. "I mean, every day when I get out of a car, I thank the goddesses that I have strong thighs, that I have trained to keep strong thighs," she continued. "When I'm backing a car and have to look over my shoulder, I'm grateful that I stayed flexible and can turn my head and it doesn't hurt. Just basic things like that are obvious when you're younger, but can't be done when you're older unless you've stayed strong and flexible."

In addition to staying active, Fonda also maintains other healthy habits, especially when it comes to sleep and diet, she shared with Vogue. "I sleep eight or nine hours every night. I eat pretty healthy," she said, adding that she's "not rigid" when it comes to her diet. "I've cut back on a lot of red meat. I've cut back on fish because fish supplies are dwindling. I eat vegetables. I eat salads. I eat fresh foods."

She concluded: "I stay hydrated, I sleep, I exercise, I stay out of the sun and I have good friends who make me laugh. Laughter is a good thing too." (While you're here, read about Fonda's refreshing perspective on aging.)