Former Australian Ironman champion Guy Leech, 62, says ageing well comes down to straightforward foundations—movement, nutrition, sleep, recovery, preventative healthcare, and staying mentally and socially engaged—after turning 60 prompted him to look a decade
Guy Leech didn’t wait for a health scare to take ageing seriously. The former Australian Ironman champion says the turning point came when he reached 60, when he started asking what he wanted to be able to do by the time he was 70.
On Monday, Leech told the Today show: “When I hit 60, I wanted to hit a goal of what I could do when I was 70.” Instead of chasing what he called “miracle supplements” or expensive wellness trends, he said he focused on the fundamentals that actually underpin longevity.
“I looked out into the space of longevity and it’s become such a big thing.. There is so much noise out there,” he said.. Leech warned Australians against getting pulled into the “rabbit hole” of confusing advice—especially online—where people can spend large sums without really knowing what they’re doing.
“If you go down the rabbit hole on it. you can spend so much money and not really know what you are doing. ” Leech said.. He described the pillars of healthy ageing as “boring,” but effective.. In his view. they start with “movement and exercise. ” then “food and nutrition. ” “sleep and recovery. ” and “preventative health. ” including going to the doctor and getting checked early.
Leech also linked longevity to mental and emotional wellbeing. “Curiosity, an education into your mental state, and also just social interaction, being happy,” he said. For him, the goal isn’t simply to stay alive longer—it’s to remain active and healthy for as long as possible.
“You want to live longer, we all want to hang around,” Leech said. “But we don’t want to hang around in a bad state. It’s quality of life which is the most important thing.”
Leech’s message arrives alongside a lifetime of endurance credibility.. He first rose to national prominence at 19 by winning the inaugural Coolangatta Gold in 1984.. He defended the title the following year, then won the inaugural Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Ironman event in 1986.. In 1991, he added another major endurance title by winning the Molokai to Oahu World Championship of Ocean Paddling in Hawaii.. Even now. decades after dominating Australia’s brutal Ironman races. he says he still trains regularly and remains in remarkable condition.
When he explained how his priorities shifted, Leech returned to the idea of planning ahead rather than reacting later.. “So the game is really how healthy you can be for as long as you can on the earth. ” he said.. “That’s why I set the goals when I was 60. I looked 10 years ahead and said ‘what am I going to be doing when I am 70’ and ‘what do I need to do every day to achieve that’.”
He also urged caution toward social media health advice. saying there are “fitness influencers out there telling them to do this. and to do that. and people are trying to make money out of this product.” Leech acknowledged that modern longevity science still lacks definitive answers on popular practices such as saunas. fasting. ice baths. and “earthing. ” describing them as areas where even experts are still learning.
“We still don’t know [what the best method is],” Leech said.. “There’s been a big thing on saunas, and the ice baths, and earthing, and intermittent fasting.. But when I say to you guys ‘which is the most important’, you’re not going to know.. It’s early days. but what I can say is there are certain things that you need to do. that are just the pillars of longevity.”
The timing of when people start matters too, he said. Leech warned that many only focus on their health later in life, but still believes meaningful change is possible quickly once someone decides to act.
“If you start late you get a benefit pretty much straight away,” he said. “But they don’t know what to do.”
The story’s through-line is consistent: once Leech hit 60. he shifted to a decade-ahead goal for life at 70. and he kept returning to the same set of “pillars” he said are reliable—movement. nutrition. sleep and recovery. preventative healthcare. and mental and social wellbeing—while treating trendy longevity practices as uncertain because “we still don’t know [what the best method is].”
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