With a career spanning seven decades, British actor Sir Ben Kingsley knows a thing or two about the long game. At 82-years-old, Kingsley has starred in over a hundred films, from Sexy Beast to Schindler’s List and Gandhi — and has collected an impressive amount of silverware, including Academy Awards and BAFTAs, along the way.

Staying at the sharp end of Hollywood for decades (and decades) requires more than captivating scripts and an endless black book of contacts. Rather, it demands a fit and robust body, powered by a mind that can wrap itself around complicated dialogue and, in the case of Kingsley, multiple languages, including Russian and Turkish.

Fundamentally, this means that Kingsley is one of the most well-versed people to reflect on the relationship between physical and mental health, longevity and, as we explore below, the crucial signs of mental burnout.

One daily habit keeps Sir Ben Kingsley’s mind and body sharp

Ben Kingsley’s Exercise Routine

It’s no secret that, with robust mental health and unrelenting focus, must come some form of physical training. It’s a topic that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II touched on during a press junket interview for Marvel series Wonder Man.

Reflecting on the lessons he learned from his co-star Kingsley, Abdul-Mateen told the host that he was noticing self-care patterns of his castmates — ‘how do they take care of themselves?’ he said he would ask himself between takes — and used Kingsley’s daily workout as an example of not only anchoring his day, but creating a break between ‘a life’, he says, and ‘the craft’.

‘When we were working together, I learned that Sir Ben [Kingsley] swims daily,’ Abdul-Mateen said to the host. ‘That may be a little simple thing, but the guy’s got a life and I could tell by the way that he carries himself that it’s important.’

Kingsley’s clearly onto something, as swimming provides a unique form of resistance training that builds functional strength while significantly lowering your body age. According to a study published in the International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, regular swimmers have a lower biological age—sometimes by up to 20 years—compared to land-dwelling peers.

Beyond the aesthetics, swimming is also a big win for your ticker. Research featured in the British Journal of Sports Medicine indicates that swimmers have a 28% lower risk of early death and a 41% lower risk of death from heart disease and stroke. Consider it a low-impact insurance policy for your longevity.

Sir Ben Kingsley lost approximately 9kg (20lbs) to portray Mahatma Gandhi in the 1982 film Gandhi

Mind Games

Kingsley’s portrayal of Gandhi was concrete proof that the 82-year-old actor has wisdom in spades — not just in acting, but in life. He credits this, in part, to his impressive health and fitness — ‘what surprises me about ageing, because I’m blessed with great fitness and very good health, is the beginning of wisdom,’ he said in an interview with Esquire. ‘It’s this small, faint tap on my door, saying: “Wisdom here.” I might be getting a little bit wiser.’

Kingsley also compared his mental state to a piece of elastic — it can stretch far, especially when particular scenes demand it, but not to the point of snapping or being unable to return to its former state.

‘I love to disengage from a scene and let my elastic snap back to its original shape, and then stretch my elastic between action and cut,’ he said. ‘If elastic matter is stretched beyond its point of elasticity, it can no longer shrink back to its original self. Now apply that to acting: it can be very dangerous.‘

On the flipside, decades spent working on high-pressure film sets and with emotionally heavy storylines mean that emotional imbalance and exhaustion could be around the corner.

‘I do have warning signs [of exhaustion] and I pull back. Usually it means that I am doing too much,’ Kingsley said in an interview published on The Talks. ‘If I become economical and just stick within the essence of the story and the character, then I’m not stretching myself too much.’

Ed Cooper is the former Deputy Digital Editor at Men’s Health UK, writing and editing about anything you want to know about — from tech to fitness, mental health to style, food and so much more. Ed has run the MH gauntlet, including transformations, marathons and er website re-designs. He’s awful at pub sports, though. Follow him: @EA_Cooper