I’m 29 this year, and as the big 3-0 looms, I find myself thinking more deliberately about getting older — about the new wrinkle I recently noticed on my face, whether I’m getting enough steps and sleep, and how all of it might shape the way I feel decades from now.
The number of people 60 and over is expected to rise from 1 billion in 2020 to 1.4 billion by 2030. By 2050, that figure will double to 2.1 billion, according to WHO projections.
But statistics don’t capture what aging can look like in real life — like watching an 86-year-old man swing himself over a pull-up bar at a public fitness corner in Singapore.
I try to keep count of his flips on the bar, but somewhere along the way, I lose track.
Several minutes later, Peng Lin Hua finishes his set and walks toward me with barely a trace of sweat on his face.
He tells me he started practicing headstands with his wife in his 50s. Later, he offers to demonstrate. He bends down, plants his hands on the ground, and slowly lifts his body until he’s upside down, legs extended toward the sky.
Peng is one of four older men, aged between 76 and 85, who call themselves Team Strong Silvers. They are united by their discipline: They work out almost every day.
In Singapore, preparing for an aging population has become a matter of policy as much as personal health.
The country has launched national campaigns encouraging older adults to remain physically and socially engaged. In July, the Asian nation is set to raise its retirement age by a year to 64.
The four men didn’t set out to form a team. Over a decade ago, a senior gym had just opened at a neighborhood community center, but few residents were using it.
Robert Ho, who managed the center’s active aging and wellness initiatives at the time, wanted to encourage more seniors to use the gym. So he brought in a few older volunteers who were already active to run calisthenics sessions.
“We wanted to show people that even though they’re older, they can still do this,” Ho, 56, said.
As local media took notice, the informal group gradually evolved into what is now known as Team Strong Silvers.
Ho, now a program executive at Fei Yue Community Services in Singapore, still manages the group’s social media account. The organization is also where the four men now volunteer, demonstrating exercises and inspiring other older adults to keep moving.
It’s a glimpse of how one country is adapting to an aging population — a challenge that extends far beyond its borders.
More and more Americans are working past traditional retirement age, and longevity has become big business, fueling biohacking trends and even tech-backed life-extension research.
But adding years is only part of the story. What those extra years can look like is just as important.
In the stories below, you’ll meet each member of Team Strong Silvers in his own words. None of them is interested in slowing down.
