Kanazawa defeated seven other men in the over-85 category at the Japan Masters Bodybuilding Championships, securing his 19th national title.
Toshisuke Kanazawa is recalling his long career when he suddenly asks: “Should I take my top off?”
He strips to the waist, revealing a lean, muscular physique and prominent veins – the result of countless hours in the gym, The Guardian wrote.
Last month, the day before winning another major competition, the Japanese bodybuilding champion turned 90.
Kanazawa defeated seven other men in the over-85 category at the Japan Masters Bodybuilding Championships, securing his 19th national title.
Born in 1936 in Shimane Prefecture, Kanazawa was a talented swimmer before a muscle problem ended his Olympic ambitions and pushed him toward bodybuilding.
For five years, he trained six hours a day and lived on simple meals prepared by his mother. At 24, he won the Mr Japan title and repeated the achievement three years later.
In 1967, he competed in the Mr Universe contest in Montreal alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and winner Sergio Oliva, finishing fourth. After turning 80, he went on to win six world masters championships.
Kanazawa attributes his longevity to a healthy lifestyle. He has never smoked or consumed alcohol and gave up meat and fish decades ago.
His diet now consists mainly of brown rice, furikake, natto and miso soup with raw eggs. He drinks three protein shakes a day, down from six when he was younger.
He has adapted his training with age, giving up squats and bench presses and relying more on machines.
“I do what is best for me and for my body at this age,” he said.
Kanazawa trains for two hours a day, six days a week, at his gym in Hiroshima.
“And I am 100% natural,” he said, stressing that his success comes from hard work rather than performance-enhancing drugs.
After retiring from competitive bodybuilding in his mid-30s, he returned at 50 to encourage his wife, who was suffering from a chronic illness.
“I saw how much I had let myself go after retiring and I wanted to show her that anything is possible,” he said.
Seven years later, he won his first masters championship.
Kanazawa is part of a wider group of elderly Japanese athletes who continue to compete at a high level. Nearly 30% of Japan’s 123.7 million people are over 64, while the number of centenarians has exceeded 100,000.
“Older Japanese people are doing incredible things, but I worry that too many of them give up the things they used to do when they were younger,” Kanazawa said.
This month, he finished fourth in the mixed-pairs category at the Japan Open Championships alongside Asuka Miyamae, who is 39 years younger.
“I never wanted to be like that, and that is why I do what I do.”
“I want to be a bodybuilder until the day I die.” | BGNES
