Gyles Brandreth: I've taken up exercise — but only for five minutes a day

The rigorous fitness regime Rod Stewart undergoes so he can prance around the stage at Glastonbury at the age of 80 is matched only by his fellow rocker Mick Jagger, who at 88 does running, kick-boxing, cycling and ballet so he can still party late into the night with his young wife.

For performers with less strenuous routines, it can take just five minutes of exercise a day to make a big difference, as Gyles Brandreth discovered after embarking on an innovative health and fitness programme.

The former MP and broadcaster, 77, faced a physical crisis after he fell over and broke his arm three years ago. “It was a real wake-up call,” he admits. “I realised I needed to do something.” Having focused more on nourishing his mind and spirit, he realised he had neglected his body.

Gideon Remfry, who has been transforming the lives of homeowners at Auriens retirement community in Chelsea, southwest London, was tasked with building Brandreth’s strength.

The Celebrity Gogglebox star has avoided exercise since childhood. He and his wife Michele Brown don’t cook but live off ready meals and supermarket sandwiches, not an ideal diet for a fit and healthy lifestyle.

So he embarked on an eight-week wellness programme with Remfry and his team, which involved having blood tests to measure his visceral fat levels, stress levels and other markers that looked at muscle ageing, mental and physical resilience, and metabolic flexibility (the efficient use of dietary fats as energy).

Remfry, one of the top 25 trainers in the world, according to Men’s Fitness magazine, is a founder of the Kyros Project — a collective of health experts, which includes former Olympic athletes, nutritionists and biomedics. His business partner, Aidan Goggins, co-founded the Sirtfood diet, which its credited with transforming the singer Adele’s physique. Brandreth was in good hands.

For Brandreth, it was vital for any exercise programme to fit into his busy schedule and not the other way round. He is a busy chap and does not have much spare time. In fact he is so busy he couldn’t even manage seven minutes a day. It had to be five.

“I have never been interested in exercise. When I was very little I ran for Hampshire in the 440 and 880 yards. But I didn’t like team sports — I exaggerated a stomach ache to get out of rugby at school to such an extent that I ended up having my appendix removed when it wasn’t necessary,” he adds.

“I realise that exercise needs to be central to my life,” he acknowledged, three years after falling and breaking his arm. “It was a real wake-up call because I brought my wife down with me. But I sought out the help of a professional because unlike my wife they accentuate the positive. She just tells me to stand up straight.”

Another wake-up call was when Brandreth was mistaken for Joe Biden on a visit to Ireland. “That was a dreadful humiliation,” he says.

Figures from the Nuffield Trust in 2016 reveal that more than two fifths of the NHS budget is spent on those over the age of 65. They also account for some 40 per cent of hospital admissions. And half of people aged over 80 suffer a fall each year.

Brandreth needed to build muscle and strength. People fall over and break limbs in old age because they are weak. “I can only manage five minutes of stretching exercises a day,” he adds. “But Gideon suggested if I ‘perform’ them I will do them better.”

He adds: “There are deep breathing exercises, lunges, holding the plank for a minute, 15 push ups, standing on one leg for a minute. And I do resistance and weight training with my trainer who comes to my house once a week.”

He has not fallen since seeing Remfry. And his wife doesn’t tell him to stand up straight any more. He can jump up onto the stage and makes sure he combines some vegetables with his ready meals.

Retirement communities are pioneers when it comes to devising health and fitness regimes for older people. Remfry has been at Auriens for three and a half years. He has created and tweaked his programme over that time to help older people improve low muscle and low strength.

Even the gym equipment is user-friendly, with accessible treadmills, cross trainers and bikes. Although not a resident with Auriens, Brandreth is a brand ambassador.

All Auriens homeowners get a six-week training programme for free, which is valued at £1,200. It includes blood tests to measure anti-oxidant status, cellular stress and fat management as well as four massages and six personal training sessions. There are also group strength classes and aqua aerobics.

“Most of our owners are over 80, pre-diabetic and on cholesterol medication,” Remfry explains. “They also have sarcopenia — muscle loss and strength.”

His aim is to improve grip strength to lower the fall rate and improve recovery.

Brandreth’s tests results showed he was eating just 50 per cent of the protein he needed to build his muscle strength. And wasn’t doing enough exercise.

“Some may think that five minutes isn’t very long but studies show that short bursts of high intensity exercise can be very effective,” Remfry adds.

After the eight weeks Brandreth had lost over a kilo in weight and improved his muscle strength.

The Geriatric Society reports that there will be double the number of over-85s by 2045. So they will need to keep fit to stay out of hospital.

Auriens conducted a survey measuring the mental and physical resilience of 20 of its residents aged 75 and over after they had done the fitness programme and lived at the village for a year. It found 64 per cent had increased skeletal muscle mass and 40 per cent had reduced blood cellular stress (indicating increased stress resilience).

This is an excerpt from a longer article that you can read in full on the The Times website.