Not everyone above the age of 30 has Red wine along with their meal. So how does one who does not have the access to the powerful anti-aging compound in it known as resveratrol, stay young and fit? Shivani Arora finds the secret to keeping fit after the age of 30 with tips from David O'Meara.

Travelling across 6 continents in 6 weeks, spreading the world of good health and exercise in people over the age of 30…all this by running a mile, yes that is David O'Meara for you. David O'Meara is a well known coach, athlete, author and speaker. He has spent over a decade trying to achieve different feats in running, continuously testing his endurance and telling people that even those over the age of 30 can exercise and run!

Chennai is special to David because he began his career 24 years ago at the Britannia Amritraj Academy and has trained no less a person than Leander Paes himself. "I am visiting Chennai after 14 years and the place has changed so much. Earlier the conception was that Indian's over the age of 30 do not exercise, but with the change that I see now I can go back to Florida and tell the world that people in India over the age of 30 exercise a lot," says a visible excited David.

DAVID'S MANTRA

David believes in teaching people the right way to warm up because some basic exercise can help one be ready to run and also be injury free. He teaches them the right style of running.

"Injury prevention is my mantra and I teach people how to warm up and strengthen before they run. There has never been a programme on injury prevention and hardly do you see anyone running without injuring themselves," says David. "The more I see people running the more I feel people need to know how to run and I propagate the injury prevention programme more in people over the age of 30 because when you are in the 20's the recovery is faster but post 30 recovery is slower. I want people to continue their exercise or sport even post 30 just by learning the injury prevention techniques," he adds.

ON WARM UP

David has never believed in simply stretching. He says the body is made of muscles and the muscles contain blood and protein so the key is so mobilise the muscles and joints and to enhance blood flow. He warms up in three stages- blood flow exercises, mobilisation exercises and strengthening exercises. A variety of squats, lunges and stretches form part of his warm up.

ON IDEAL WORK OUT

"According to me a work out which is the same through the week may get monotonous, so it important to train differently all 6 days of the week and also if you do the same exercise every day your body gets accustomed to it and you do not lose weight. Alternating exercises helps to raise the BMR and aids in weight loss."

ON ROLE MODEL

"I have never considered anyone to be the fittest or to be my role model. I am in fact trying to create a model and I tell people you can accelerate at any age so all athletes who are older and are still going on with their running are great role models according to me," says David.

ON SHOES AND RUNNING

"It is a myth that any special shoe can help you run better. These days such cushioned shoes are made that people do not know how their foot is landing on the ground and this makes their running technique wrong. I do not recommend any special shoe nor do I believe that these shoes make you a good runner. It is the right technique of running which makes you a good runner," says David.

ON DIET

"Eat what is good for your body. I have been a vegetarian for the last 25 years and it is good for me. When someone trains under me I do set up a personalised diet chart for them with the help of a nutritionist because I believe that each body requires food that works best for it," says David.

David has completed his 6th one mile run and that's a third feather in his cap. "Do not stop exercising and age should never be a barrier to exercise. Like I always say accelerate at any age, warm up right and you can run, you can exercise and stay fit whether you are 30, 40, 50 or older! Chennai is getting fitter and I am happy to see so many people over the age of 30 exercising. Cheers to a healthy and fit Chennai," says David as he signs off in style to head back home to Florida!

We now hope that we can draw some inspiration from David and dedicate a little bit of our time to keeping fit. Like US President Thomas Jefferson once said, "Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning."