Tsumoto Tosaka isn't your average septuagenarian. At 74, he's in such amazing shape that he recently took the top spot in the Japan Masters Bodybuilding Championship (held, fittingly, just a day before Japan's Respect for the Aged Day).

And just in case you're thinking that the only way to create a body like Tosaka's is to start lifting at an early age, know this -- Tosaka didn't begin weightlifting until he was in his 40s!

Tosaka told Reuters that he wants to send a message to other senior citizens: "Anyone can stay young and healthy if they exercise from time to time," he said. Many of his fellow countrymen are obviously already aware of this -- Japan has the longest life expectancy in the world, with more than 40,000 people over the age of 100.

Looking for more finely-aged inspiration? Just guess how many marathons this 81-year-old has completed!

We all want our workouts to be fun, but in order to get a senior citizen without much of a fitness routine interested in fitness, you'd better have something really interesting. And, one group of senior citizens in Miami definitely got an interesting workout from the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus clowns.

The clowns came to the YMCA's Silver Sneakers program and showed the group of grandparents how they could use circus tricks to stay fit. They balanced peacock feathers (for improved alignment) and juggled scarves (to improve hand/eye coordination and balance as well as mental fitness). They also used the hula hoop -- something "kids" of all ages can enjoy.

Smartly, it sounds like the gray-haired group avoided a few tricks, such as the unicycle, but they all went home with some great new views on staying fit as seniors. For other fitness tips (that don't involve creepy clowns), be sure to check out America Takes it Off!

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So you bought a healthy gift for your boyfriend, your sister, your mom ... why stop now? Resist the temptation to buy Grandma yet another holiday sweater and give her something that will contribute to her overall fitness instead.

Why? Because when it comes to fitness, age is just a number. Just like you need to get out and move at least five days a week, so do your parents and grandparents. Staying healthy and fit is a lifelong goal, and balance and flexibility become especially important as a person ages.

So when you go shopping for Gram and Pop-Pop, keep your eye out for one of these fit gifts.

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Here, experts explain what happens to the body as it gets older and highlight what workouts work best for each age, beginning at two years of age -- because just as you're never too old to break a sweat, it's also never too soon to exercising.

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THE USDA Food and Nutrition Service administers a program where low-income seniors can receive coupons for shopping at participating farmers' markets. Currently, there are nearly 3,000 markets that participate in the program.
Fruits, vegetables, and herbs are among the foods that are covered by the coupons. State agencies can impose restrictions where the coupons are only good on foods that are produced locally. Certain foods -- such as dried fruits, potted plants, and honey -- are not covered by the coupons.

Personally, I think this program is a great idea. While the traditional food stamps are still available for low-income citizens, they don't cover farmers' markets. Giving people greater access to fresh, locally-grown foods is not only good for their health, it's good for the local economy and for the environment.

The USDA also has a farmers' market program for WIC (Women, Infants and Children).

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When it comes to life changes, retirement is certainly a big one. Though retirement means the end of your career, it's also a beginning of sorts. Studies show that it's never too late to start being physically active. In spite of that fact, only about 1/4 of people over 50 get the recommended 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day.

Whether you're going to maintain a fitness routine or want to start a new one, with your doctor's advice you should be able to have a fit, healthy retirement. Forbes has some excellent tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle in your later decades, and they include:

• Check into corporate wellness programs before you retire and get a health evaluation done.
• Experiment with different workouts to find your workout style.
• Rediscover your passion, you know, the one you never had time for when you were working.
• Walk as much as you can, wherever you can.
• Leave intimidation at the door and be proud of your workouts.
• Find a workout buddy to join you.
• Keep track of your progress.
• Build fitness into your daily routine and make it a habit.

Come to think of it, that's good advice for people of all ages!

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A lot of people may not buy into the zen-like approach to medicine and meditation. It can seem a little hokey to some. However, while they believe meditation can lend itself to dealing with chronic pain sufferers, elderly citizens are not usually the ones to drop down on a yoga mat every week.

That's what provoked an interesting study that tried to address senior adults and chronic back pain in regards to meditation. It was led out of the University of Pittsburgh, but many people didn't think elderly individuals would take interest. Apparently there was a common myth that senior citizens would scoff at meditation -- but that wasn't the case!

Instead, they discovered over three dozen signed up, and 30 actually finished. This is an accomplishment for them, because it took an eight-week commitment to stick with the program. Even though they continued to take regular medication, many senior citizens were so pleased with the results that they continued to practice meditation on their own time!

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I don't think it's any surprise anymore that pets can be a great thing for the health of older adults, especially seniors living alone. But for those on restricted incomes (and that's quite a few) the cost of owning a pet can simply be too much. But the Humane Society in Colorado Springs, CO is making a difference in the lives of pets and people through a program called The Senior Citizens Pet Companionship Program. The program not only does the obvious of matching up seniors with happy companionship animals as new pets, but it gives them an annual allowance to help offset the costs of caring for them.

One 77 year old woman named Joan lost almost 40 pounds, stabilized her diabetes, and feels happier and less lonely since adopting a little Jack Russell Terrier named Monty through the program. Now doesn't hearing a story like that just give you the warm fuzzies?

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Are you looking forward to your golden years, the time when you can finally stop working and start living your life? If you're obese, those golden years might not be so golden, new studies are showing. In general, findings found the obesity significantly hindered senior's ability to participate in normal physical activities like getting dressed and walking between rooms. Non-obese elders, on the other hand, were unlikely to become functionally impaired.

So, if you're planning for your retirement, make sure you're not just putting away money -- It's more crucial that you have your health.

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If you're over 65, now is the time to look after health, especially if haven't been doing so up until now. And the most important thing if to talk to your doctor, to be fully honest about your health history and to get the important tests done, no matter how unappealing they may seem. Want to know which are the most important? According to AOL Body, these are ones you can't miss; your life could depend on it:

• A hearing and eye exam
• A skin cancer screening
• A colonoscopy
• Regular blood pressure screenings
• A bone density test
• A blood sugar test
• Cholesterol screening

For more advice on tests and screening, click here.

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It used to be that the courtesy clerks at my local grocery store were all high school students. Now it's a mixture of students and seniors. The seniors seem happy to be there (certainly more happy than the sometimes surly students) but I sometimes wonder why they're there -- if it's because they like people, then I'm happy for them. But if it's because they don't have enough money to support themselves in retirement, I feel a little sad for them and hope they are at least enjoying their work.

Lately, lots of seniors are joining the workforce, both out of necessity and out of personal satisfaction. While I have broad dreams of spending my retirement sailing the world on a yacht, if that doesn't pan out, I can see myself working part time, whether I need to or not. Working is a great way to meet people, to keep occupied and truth be told, I like working -- it keeps me sane. The Huffington Post has a great piece on seniors in the workforce, including stories of people in their 90s who are still earning wages.

What do you think? Do you plan on working after 70?

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A recent study shows that age-related illnesses like heart problems, depression and dementia can lead to self-neglect, meaning that seniors afflicted start to lose the ability to perform the tasks necessary to live on independently. And often, a lack of social and family support is to blame for their declining mental state.

This doesn't come as a surprise to me, or I imagine anyone else who has a senior with dementia in their life -- my great aunt would avoid meals at her assisted-living facility because she didn't like being surrounded by what she called the crazy old people (riiiiiight ... ) She often forgot to do her laundry and wore dirty clothes. She left dairy products in her fridge for months and didn't bother to check the expiration date before eating them. She could go for weeks without showering. Now that she's in a full nursing home, we don't have to worry about much because the nurses make sure she eats healthy food every day, and they ensure that she is clothed and clean. But if she had a choice, you bet she'd be living on her own again. Thank goodness she has a family who can see what's going on and make the necessary arrangements for her.

But it's important to note that while some seniors are unable to take care of themselves, others do a fantastic job of it. What do you think separates the capable from the incapable?

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Ideally, humans would eat only wholly nutritious real foods rich in protein, vitamins and minerals. The fact is, most of us do not meet all our nutritional needs through food, so we rely on multivitamins and supplements to achieve more complete nutrition. The problem is that it's just not that simple.

Question: Did you know that vitamins, minerals and nutritional supplements produced and distributed in the U.S. are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and that some multis don't actually contain what is on the label?

While it's not an overwhelming problem, it's still something to take into consideration as these 11 multivitamins were flagged for problems, and you may be (or may have been) taking them.

Health magazine (July/August 2007) gives us a breakdown of which multis to avoid and why.

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Having a good group of friends, or even just one best friend, is one of the great pleasures in life. They're there to make you laugh when you're down and keep you smiling when you're happy. It's even better when you share similar passions (traveling for instance) that you can participate in together. But did you know that as you age, your social group and social activities can help you live longer?

Apparently social ties with friends -- as well as partners and other family members -- and spending time participating in things like traveling and even gardening played a fairly significant role in mortality rates in a study conducted with seniors over the age of 65.

Study participants who spent the most time socializing with friends, shopping, traveling, attending church and taking part in other activities, not only lived longer but had lower rates of dementia than those who were less active and spent more time on their own. Looks like friends and fun are good for more than just a laugh.

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The phrase "aging gracefully" means different things to different people, but regardless if you're resolved to fight it every step of the way or cruise along and take what life hands you without a second thought, there's no doubt that growing older happens to all of us -- heck, it's happening to all of us right now.

Understanding that all of us have our own ideas, it's still good to at least listen to what the experts have to say. So here are the three biggest things you can do to age gracefully:

• Accept the inevitable changes of growing older, instead of viewing them as crises. Change will happen, things can't always stay the same.
  
• Avoid stereotypes and get over your prejudices and feelings about what "getting old" really means. Define it for yourself!
  
• Find meaningful activities, and keep finding them as you get older. Retiring from work isn't a cliff you jump off into nothingness -- it's just a shift from one way of spending your time to another.

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