02 May 2023 , 19:08
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The secret to staying in shape in your 70s is swimming in freezing cold water and lifting weights, says actor Charles Dance.
The Game of Thrones star, 76, says he goes wild swimming at Hampstead Heath in North London for as much of the year as he can stand the temperature.
He told the Mirror: “I’ve managed March until November, but there’s a point… six degrees is about my limit.
“It’s quite cold, it takes you a long time to warm up. But you feel great afterwards.”
Good genes also help, he conceded, but added he takes other steps to stay in shape too.
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He said: “I try to eat sensibly and I do a range of basic weightlifting exercises to work on different bits of your body, but I’m not bodybuilding.
Derrick Branche, Charles Dance and Geraldine James in The Jewel in the Crown (Granada Television)“It’s just, you get to an age where you have to look after yourself, because your muscles begin to diminish.
“Don’t stand me next to Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
In 2020 he was photographed in the surf with girlfriend Alessandra Masi, now 54, at Italy’s Venice Film Festival.
He said he looked “OK” but lamented: “I’ve got things called love handles now, and I didn’t think that would ever happen.”
Of the attention on his body, he joked: “It’s better to be looked over than overlooked.”
Dance rose to fame in the 1980s with roles both in films and in TV series such as The Jewel in the Crown.
He went on to play Tywin Lannister in GofT and Lord Mountbatten in The Crown.