Toshisuke Kanazawa, 90-year-old Japanese bodybuilder who beat age once drank 6 protein shakes a day, competed with Arnold Schwarzenegger

The 90-year-old Japanese bodybuilder Toshisuke Kanazawa recently won the All Japan Masters Fitness Championship in the 85-and-over category, securing his 19th national title. The Hiroshima-based bodybuilder, who doesn't eat meat or fish, has spent decades building a career in fitness. He has also shared same stage bodybuilding legends Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sergio Oliva, according to The Guardian. The report stated that Toshisuke Kanazawa participated in the 1967 Mr Universe competition in Montreal with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Kanazawa secured fourth position in that event.

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From Olympic dream to bodybuilding champion

Born in Shimane prefecture on the Japan Sea coast in 1936, Toshisuke Kanazawa was a gifted swimmer and initially dreamed of becoming an Olympic swimmer. He excelled in the 1500m freestyle when he was a high school student. But muscular issue ended his hopes of competing at the Olympics, prompting him to turn his attention to bodybuilding. “My mother was sceptical but supportive, but my father was dead against it – he thought young men should work, he says. “I told them I wanted to be the best in Japan but would need a few years to achieve that," he was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

Kanazawa spent the following five years almost completely focused on training, working out for as much as six hours a day. He did not follow a fancy diet and rather ate simple meals prepared by his mother. At 24, he won the Mister Japan title, fulfilling the promise he had made to his parents. Again after three years, he won the title again. Kanazawa's career eventually took him onto the international bodybuilding stage. In 1967, he competed in the Mr Universe competition in Montreal alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sergio Oliva, who won the event. Kanazawa finished fourth.

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That competition came at a time when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sergio Oliva were turning out to be two most popular names in bodybuilding. Schwarzenegger won the 1967 NABBA Mr Universe, while Oliva was the overall winner of the 1967 IFBB Mr Universe in Montreal, according to historical competition records. But Toshisuke Kanazawa did not stop here and continued competing for decades. He has won six World Masters championships since turning 80. His return to competitive bodybuilding came after he had retired in his mid-30s.

“My wife had always supported me but she was often sick,” he said. “I saw how I had let myself go since retiring, so I wanted to show her that anything was possible.” Seven years after his return, he won the masters championships for bodybuilders. “That was when I was at my physical peak.”

No meat/fish, smoking and alcohol

Kanazawa attributes clean living for his longevity and his ability to complete sets of pull-ups and leg presses. He has never smoked or drunk alcohol, and gave up meat and fish decades ago. His meals mostly contains brown rice with a sprinkling of furikake, natto and miso soup into which he cracks a couple of raw eggs. “I used to have six protein shakes a day but now I have three. As I get older, it’s harder to stomach that much liquid.”

His training routine has also changed with age. Kanazawa no longer does squats or bench presses and has shifted from free weights to machines. “I do what’s best for me and my body at this age.”

He has never been seriously ill and says his most recent health check produced data usually associated with a much younger man. “It takes longer to recover from weights sessions than it used to, so I make sure I rest properly between sets and get around seven hours’ sleep a night,” says Kanazawa, who trains for two hours a day, six days a week at his Hiroshima gym, a short walk from the peace memorial park devoted to victims of the atomic bombing.

“It takes longer to recover from weights sessions than it used to, so I make sure I rest properly between sets and get around seven hours’ sleep a night,” says Kanazawa, who trains for two hours a day, six days a week at his Hiroshima gym, a short walk from the peace memorial park devoted to victims of the atomic bombing. Kanazawa said he has achieved his bodybuilding physique and success without using performance-enhancing drugs or steroids. “I’m 100% natural”. With two Mr Japan titles to his name, Kanazawa retired in his mid-30s, only to return to competitive bodybuilding aged 50 as a way of encouraging his wife, who suffered from chronic illness.