Veteran golfer Gary Player explains why it's crucial to look after yourself
Veteran golfer Gary Player has just turned 78 and still follows a strict fitness regimen
Merely listening to veteran golfer Gary Player recite his daily fitness regimen is enough to induce feelings of weariness and breathlessness, not to mention awe and admiration.
Player, who turned 78 this month, does about 1,000 press-ups or sit-ups almost every single day and often puts in a round of golf at one of the 300 courses he has designed in different parts of the world - including Kau Sai Chau, off Sai Kung, in Hong Kong.
The way we are going, the world is becoming desperately sick
The lean and lithe South African sporting legend, the most successful international golfer of all time, has been a fitness advocate for more than half a century. It has given him the physical stamina and mental sharpness to continue playing, and working, into old age.
He has a formidable annual schedule which involves zig-zagging across the globe, often by private jet, from his two home bases: a vast estate in South Africa or the golf-oriented Jupiter Island in Florida. Last week, he was in Shanghai hosting the annual Gary Player International.
Yet, when he first joined the international golf circuit, his devotion to a strict daily routine was considered extreme, even eccentric.
"When I first started on the golf circuit I used to go the YMCA and work out there - I was ridiculed and called a nut in those days; nobody did weights. Now [golfers] have a travelling gymnasium," says Player.