Even though he\u2019s best known as a chart\u2011topping artist, Phil Vassar<\/a> has always remained an athlete at heart. You can even argue that his athletic mindset and his work in the gym are major reasons why his heart continues beating today, and how he\u2019s able to continue performing at a high level.<\/p>\n Sure, the physical grind of 100\u2011plus shows a year may have caught up with the 63\u2011year\u2011old\u2014performing a two\u2011hour show on a set of artificial knees will wear down even the greatest champions of their craft. But for the award\u2011winning singer\u2011songwriter and former college decathlete, being three years removed from a stroke and heart attack<\/a> that left him \u201cdead\u201d twice has now become the creative catalyst behind his drive to keep pushing for more opportunities.<\/p>\n He\u2019s about to go on tour with Old Dominion, just part of what he hopes will be a significantly busier schedule as he looks to double what he considers an \u201coff year\u201d of touring in 2025\u2014which featured 25 Years of Paradise Tour,<\/span><\/i> that celebrated the 25th anniversary of his breakout No. 1 hit.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe did about 40 shows last year,\u201d he says. \u201cI told my agent, \u2018Let\u2019s just double that this year.\u2019 I\u2019m kind of jonesing to get out there and get in front of people and play. Hopefully we\u2019ll do at least 60 or 70 shows\u2014that\u2019s my groove.\u201d<\/p>\n Two knee replacements in 2014 may have grounded the former James Madison track standout from performing his famous piano leaps on stage, but today\u2019s version of Vassar is very much back and ready for a heavier workload. He\u2019s regained the more than 50 pounds he lost during his health scare\u2014which left him, in his words, \u201cunrecognizable\u201d\u2014and has added some new material to go along with his country catalog of No. 1 songs he\u2019ll once again be showcasing for his fans.<\/p>\n Over the past three years, Vassar has rebuilt his body through rehab and a renewed and refined commitment for the weight room. Even though he may not be able to leap pianos, he\u2019s cleared enough health hurdles to regain his competitive edge, ready to burst out of the blocks and back onto the stage with the same enthusiasm he had as a 38\u2011year\u2011old in 2000\u2014the year \u201cJust Another Day in Paradise\u201d reached No. 1.<\/p>\n He knows he\u2019s lucky to be alive today, let alone having the physical ability to go on tour\u2014doctors have referred to his recovery as a \u201cmiracle.\u201d So this year\u2019s American Heart Month hits differently as Vassar takes the stage this Saturday in Jackson, MS. It\u2019s an important reminder the singer is eager to share with fans, and that perspective is expressed in his new song, \u201cWhat It Means,\u201d<\/a> inspired by his \u201cdying twice\u201d in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s autobiographical in that way,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t know that my arteries were clogged\u2014I didn\u2019t have any idea. But now it\u2019s different.\u201d<\/p>\n His forced slowdown also did something he never got from life on a tour bus: The downtime allowed Vassar to spend more time at home with his family, a reset he didn\u2019t know he needed after decades of grinding on the road. These days, after clearing a series of health obstacles that nearly ended his life, Vassar has found the time to enjoy life at a slower pace than his days of leaping hurdles during his track\u2011star years.<\/p>\n \u201cI think getting back out to nature and taking those long walks has changed everything,\u201d he says. \u201cI love doing that. It\u2019s part of my everyday thing.\u201d<\/p>\n The slowdown, however, isn\u2019t a shutdown for Vassar. The athlete mentality that once pushed him through pain hasn\u2019t disappeared, but his experience has allowed him to rewire his mindset into a smarter, purpose\u2011driven approach. His comeback began with slow, basic physical and cognitive work. Today, those walks are longer and the weights lifted are again heavier, but not extreme.<\/p>\n For an old\u2011school singer, Vassar has leaned hard on new\u2011age tech and recovery. In addition to tightening up his nutrition, he\u2019s added infrared sauna sessions, ice\u2011cold pool plunges, and heavy use of a hyperbaric chamber, which he considers a game changer.<\/p>\n \u201cI do eat well, but I don\u2019t do anything stupid anymore,\u201d he says. \u201cI feel great. I\u2019m working out again, and I\u2019m kind of liking feeling sore again. That\u2019s when you know you\u2019re doing something right.\u201d<\/p>\n Vassar doesn\u2019t remember the details of his Feb. 4, 2023, heart attack or the stroke that followed five days later\u2014or what being dead twice felt like.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish I could tell you,\u201d he says. \u201cEverybody goes, \u2018Did you see anything? Did you talk to James Brown or see Elvis?\u2019 But I don\u2019t remember anything.\u201d<\/p>\n In hindsight, the signs were there, even as he looked aesthetically shredded at 60. In the year leading up to both stroke and heart attack, Vassar said he felt exhausted, short of breath, while constantly battling relentless acid reflux. Instead of getting checked, he chose to dig deeper into his track\u2011and\u2011field mindset\u2014working harder on his music, pushing harder onstage, and stacking more weight onto the bar, thinking that more effort would erase symptoms.<\/p>\n \u201cI was about 210 and working out all the time\u2014I was buffed out pretty good,\u201d he says. \u201cI kept working out harder and harder and thinking I could get through it if I kept working out\u2014and then I died.\u201d<\/p>\n Only afterward did doctors spell out a major cause: bad genetics. However, statistically, the extent of his health scare was so severe he should never have walked out of the hospital, let alone get back onto a stage.<\/p>\n \u201cYou should not be here. There\u2019s no way you should\u2019ve lived through this\u2014you are in a percentage of under 1%,\u201d Vassar recalled in 2024.<\/a><\/p>\n Vassar says his return to exercise began slowly. Following both events, his rehab consisted of short walks and simple movements\u2014like shooting a basketball. Both were exhausting at first.<\/p>\n Over time, those baby steps turned into a real training plan. Vassar says the ego lifting and heavy lifting\u2014at one point during his high school and college career he was benching near 400 pounds\u2014were gone. He trains like the athletic artist who still wants to stick the Steinway landing onstage\u2014but realizes that longevity now is the objective. The former college track star has rebuilt his routine around joint\u2011friendly strength work and low\u2011impact cardio, to handle a heavier touring schedule without his body breaking down.<\/p>\n \u201cHeck, man, it\u2019s different training when you\u2019re 30 and then you\u2019re 60,\u201d he says. \u201cBut today, I feel different.\u201d<\/p>\n That reality check pushed him out of the \u201cmore is better\u201d mindset and into a smarter, age\u2011proof routine. With two new knees and a new outlook, machines have taken over free weights.<\/p>\n \u201cI love doing leg presses and stuff like that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n He\u2019s retired from sprinting and jumping, but conditioning plays a heart-healthy role in his routine. \u201cI can\u2019t really run anymore, but I can walk and do that stuff, and I can do the bike. So I get on the Peloton a lot and just try to do better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n Outside the weightroom and recording studio, recovery tools have become a key part of the \u201cCarlene\u201d singer\u2019s rehab.<\/p>\n \u201cI do the infrared sauna. I\u2019ll do \u2018cold plunges\u2019 in the pool,\u201d he says. \u201cI found that that stuff really helps me recover. It shocks your system.\u201d<\/p>\n There was another symptom that went largely unnoticed before his heart attack: Phil Vassar needed rest. Whether at home or on the road, getting up in the middle of the night became routine, even if it was anything but normal.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t sleep, I slept maybe a couple hours a day,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019d stay up all night. I was like a vampire, and I didn\u2019t know what it was.\u201d<\/p>\n Only later did he learn that clogged arteries were starving his brain of oxygen. The biggest solution, he believes, has been implementing hyperbaric oxygen therapy into his routine. He completed more than 100 sessions during his recovery and still uses it today.<\/p>\n \u201cThat stuff brought me back so much quicker, I think,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n In hyperbaric oxygen therapy, you\u2019re breathing pure oxygen while the air pressure is raised above normal in a small chamber that you lie in. That pressure forces far more oxygen into your bloodstream than you can normally get at sea level. This process is said to help speed tissue repair, reduce inflammation, and clear metabolic waste. Many elite athletes are now incorporating hyperbaric therapy into their regimens\u2014including NBA legend LeBron James and Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps<\/a>\u2014and MLB clubs like the Philadelphia Phillies have begun rolling hospital\u2011grade units into their training facilities.<\/p>\n With his heart on the mend and his blood supersaturated with oxygen session after session, the constant fog and wired\u2011but\u2011exhausted feeling gradually lifted.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel different,\u201d he says now. \u201cI feel I can breathe. My head\u2019s clear.\u201d<\/p>\n Through his brush with death came an unexpected benefit: time. The downtime let the constantly touring showman make up for moments he\u2019d missed with his family.<\/p>\n \u201cI missed so much time with them when I was on the road for 25 years,\u201d he says. \u201cI missed the birth of your child. I\u2019d fly home for a day for a game or a dance competition, then I\u2019d fly right back out. It was quite tumultuous for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n The heart attack and stroke forced him to slow down, and in that stillness\u2014his second chance\u2014he realized how much normal life had been missing from his stage life.<\/p>\n \u201cI have so much more patience now,\u201d he says. \u201cFinally, I can breathe, I can relax, and I can sit down and watch TV. I never was able to do that stuff. It\u2019s a whole different feel, and I feel great.\u201d<\/p>\n For a while during his road to recovery, his house became his rehab center\u2014and the piano became his therapy for creating new music like \u201cWhat It Means.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of it was just sitting around, just playing piano,\u201d he says. \u201cI walk from room to room. I got different pianos in different rooms, and change it up a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n That same patience now shapes how he\u2019s approaching this next chapter on the road. Last year, his 25 Years of Paradise Tour<\/em> was a major success. As he prepares to tour with Old Dominion in April, his goal is to add more shows than in 2025. This time, and going forward, his career won\u2019t come at the expense of his health.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to get back out and do the right things,\u201d Vassar says. \u201cI feel completely like a new person. I\u2019m definitely grateful, and more in the moment than I was.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nPhil Vassar Ignored the Signs Before His Heart Attack<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Phil](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.muscleandfitness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7111-Edit-10-e1771944892877.jpg?quality=86&strip=all\")
<\/div>How Phil Vassar Trains Like an Athlete at 63\u2014Without Breaking Down<\/strong><\/h3>\n
How Recovery Tech\u2014and 100 Hyperbaric Sessions\u2014Cleared His Head<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The Second Chance That Brought Phil Vassar Back Home<\/strong><\/h3>\n