Donna Quaife is 81 years old and had both knees replaced. But she walks on the treadmill an hour a day and still competes in pickleball.
Her secret?
Play.
She’s been moving her body for the joy of it since she was 4 and sees no reason to stop.
“We had a shot-put pit in the backyard. We had a high jump. We had a basketball hoop in the driveway,” Donna recalls. “I got my first broken nose in the eighth grade — my brother elbowed me playing basketball.”
Think back. Kick-the-can, pickup basketball, neighborhood games until dark. You probably had a foundation of joyful movement built into you before you even knew what exercise was.
That foundation is still there, and Donna is proof: she played soccer at 70 and is still involved in softball.
Research shows that adults who bring a spirit of play to physical activity stay more consistent, have better moods, and keep sharper brain function. Playful activity triggers endorphins, lowers cortisol, and stimulates the brain’s ability to adapt.
Do it with other people and it also fights social isolation.
Play as Mentality
Play is a mindset as much as anything. Approach a new exercise with curiosity instead of dread. Treat a personal record as a game you’re playing against last month’s version of yourself. Enjoy the process of getting better at something — because getting better at something is inherently fun, if you let it be.
Ways to build that mentality:
Try something new regularly. Novelty is the heart of play, so try a different exercise or piece of equipment.
Keep score in small ways. Track a lift, a distance, a time. Give yourself something to beat for fun.
Train with someone. Conversation, a friendly nudge, shared effort … powerful medicine!
Let go of perfect. Let play be about experimenting, trying new things, and having fun.
Working out gives you the strength, balance and endurance to keep playing whatever games you like.
Say ‘Yes’ to Yourself
Susan Frieder, 80, kite surfs 300 days a year in Maui and plays pickleball daily. She describes herself as “really 19 years old inside.” She isn’t choosing play over fitness — she’s made fitness the engine that keeps play possible.
Frieder has a message especially for women, who she says often sacrifice their own needs to take care of everyone else. “Say ‘no’ so you can say ‘yes’ to yourself,” she says.
Reclaiming play, she believes, is a form of self-care as important as any prescription. Fill up all your tanks — physical, mental, emotional — and you stay balanced. Let them run dry and everything suffers.
That’s the goal after 50. Stay strong enough, mobile enough, and energetic enough to keep showing up for the things that make you feel alive.
And try to approach all of it — the gym, the court, the trail — like someone who never forgot how to play.
Holly Kouvo is a personal trainer, functional aging specialist, senior fitness specialist, brain health trainer, writer, and speaker.