55-Year-Old Man Lost 75 Pounds and Reversed His High Cholesterol and Blood Pressure With Simple Gym Training

After retiring, a man started his fitness journey at 55 years old and managed to transform his health. He lost 75 pounds, reversed his high cholesterol, brought his high blood pressure under control, and no longer had to worry about being pre-diabetic. Now in his early 70s and still in excellent shape, Mitch Kahn has shared the straightforward gym routine that made it all possible.

How a Retired 55-Year-Old Man Lost 75 Pounds and Turned His Health Around

Mitch Kahn, who now has more than 933,000 followers on his @foreverfitwithmitch Instagram account,decided to get healthy at 55 years old. He shared his amazing story in a January 2025 Men's Health article he penned for the outlet. After working in risk management, he retired in 2008 while weighing 265 pounds and dealing with pre-diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Once his career came to an end, he realized that he was in poor health and decided to change that.

After doing extensive research into bodybuilders, Kahn adopted a plant-based diet and began working out several times a week. He focused on workouts that he could consistently maintain, as he described in his Men's Health piece.

"I switched to upper/lower body splits, lifting four times per week with a day of recovery in between. I did mainly compound moves using both barbells and dumbbells, like flat and incline bench chest presses, shoulder presses, back and hack squats, lunges, a variety of deadlifts, rows, pull ups. I also walked at least three miles per day and would run 8 x 100 yard wind sprints twice a week."

After discovering his simple workout routine, Kahn saw dramatic results. "I built a strong, consistent routine. My work compounded: not only did I lose 75 pounds in nine months, but my high blood pressure and my high cholesterol went away too."

Upon realizing how his health had improved, he felt motivated to share the knowledge he'd built. He now routinely posts practical workout tips on social media. In one popular recent post, he suggested six exercises older adults should be doing. In the accompanying video, Kahn demonstrated the exercises using nothing but his body weight and a chair.

As a part of his Men's Health article, Kahn explained what inspired him to create his social media presence. “I really want to be a role model and show people you can change your health and your life, regardless of your age... People at the gym started seeing my transformation and coming up to me, asking for my help. I would help them, and I kind of spiraled into basically training people for free."

Kahn continued, "Eventually I started applying to jobs. I worked for a few years at a fitness center of a large retirement community, training people and teaching fitness classes. A little while later, Covid hit and I started making videos to post on Instagram under @foreverfitwithmitch to reach my clients and help them get moving in quarantine."