There’s ageing well – and then there’s Sir David Attenborough. On May 8, the beloved British broadcaster turned 100 years old, showing little sign of slowing down as he continues to produce acclaimed documentaries on the natural world.

Reaching 100 may not have seemed realistic a decade ago. Speaking to The Guardian around his 90th birthday, Attenborough said he credited his physical and cognitive health largely to ‘luck’.

‘I don’t believe it, really,’ he said. ‘The only conclusion you can have is that, by God, you are lucky. When you think, I have relatives and friends who are 90 and they can’t remember what day it is and they can’t walk – this is not Christian virtue, just luck.’

But luck alone probably doesn’t explain it. Attenborough’s most recent projects – Wild London and A Gorilla Story – underline his continued appetite for storytelling and work. Genetics likely play a role, but his long-standing lifestyle habits have almost certainly contributed too.

A giant sand portrait of Sir David Attenborough appears on Morecambe Beach ahead of the broadcaster and naturalist’s 100th birthday

Prioritising Natural Movement

Above all else, Attenborough has prioritised movement throughout his life. He’s never been known for spending hours in the gym or following structured workouts, but his daily routine has long revolved around physical activity – whether through filming expeditions across the globe or regular walks closer to home in Richmond.

His physical resilience became especially clear to Rupert Barrington, a producer on 2022’s The Green Planet.

‘We were concerned that David might baulk at our plans for a shoot in the US,’ Barrington told The i. ‘We had a list of locations we wanted to take him to, but David had just a 10-day slot available. The only solution was an intense road trip – arrive, drive, shoot, sleep; get up early, drive, shoot, sleep and so on.

‘With trepidation, we presented him with a schedule. He glanced at it and said: “That’s fine, I’ll do that.”’

Research consistently shows that regular physical activity improves both longevity and quality of life – something Attenborough appears to embody.

Changing His Diet

Attenborough has also changed his diet over the past decade. He has largely cut out red meat, including beef, pork and lamb, mainly to reduce his environmental impact.

‘I have certainly changed my diet,’ he said in 2017. ‘Not in a great sort of dramatic way. But I don’t think I’ve eaten red meat for months.’

He later added in 2020: ‘The planet can’t support billions of meat-eaters. If we all ate only plants, we’d need only half the land we use at the moment. I do eat cheese, I have to say, and I eat fish. But by and large, I’ve become much more vegetarian over the past few years than I thought I would ever be.’

While Attenborough’s dietary shift has largely been environmentally motivated, it may also have benefited his health. The World Health Organisation classifies red meat as a Group 2A carcinogen, meaning it probably causes cancer, particularly bowel cancer. Some research has also linked high red meat consumption to several chronic diseases.

Spending Time Outdoors

As Britain’s best-known naturalist, Attenborough has spent much of his life outdoors. Alongside his global expeditions, he regularly walks in Richmond Park and has spoken about the value of simply sitting quietly in nature.

‘Keep quiet. Wait 10 minutes. You’ll be very surprised if something pretty interesting didn’t happen,’ he said on the Call Of The Wild podcast in 2021. ‘Doing that in a woodland, if you haven’t done it, it’s extraordinary. Don’t get too impatient, either.’

Time in nature has repeatedly been shown to reduce physical and psychological stress. A 2020 study from Cornell University, for example, found exposure to nature improved students’ wellbeing and lowered stress levels.

Chronic stress is associated with accelerated ageing and increased cellular damage – something Attenborough may have mitigated, at least in part, through a lifetime spent outdoors.

Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.

During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.

Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…

You can follow Ryan on Instagram @ryan.dabbs or on X @ryandabbs_