Exclusive: Olympian Dara Torres Embraces Aging and Working Out in Her 50s: 'You Need to Listen to Your Body'

Dara Torres is the fastest swimmer in American history — and the oldest swimmer to ever make the U.S. Olympic team at 41 years old — and she's still on top of the world.

"It was kind of hard at first when I would see loose skin on my body. I was like, 'Oh my gosh.' I was working out the other day and I was looking in the mirror because I was boxing and there are mirrors everywhere — it just is what it is. That was probably one of the first times where I sat that and looked in the mirror. I'm like, 'There's nothing I can do about getting older.' I have some loose skin but that's just aging — and it is what it is," the athlete, 57, exclusively told Morning Honey at an event in New York City where she spoke about partnering with BOOST® brand to launch BOOST® Camp, an online destination offering a series of customized strength building workouts for the 50+ community, developed by the swimming legend herself.

Torres understands that she might not be able to work out as hard as she once did when she was training for events and the Olympics. "When I was younger, I was able to go to two workouts a day and go for a run at one point, but it's a lot different now," she revealed. "I realized as you get older, you need to listen your body more. When you're younger, you run through the aches and the pains, but I'm not young anymore. I don't worry about it, but as you get older, you need to listen to your body. I think that's an important lesson I learned. You also need to allow your body to recover. It was very hard for me when I started training in the beginning of my career because I would do nine swim workouts a week and we had strength training and aerobics on top of that. It's important to allow your body to recover."

These days, the California native is adamant on not sitting around, which is why she's very active. "I don't swim. I didn't get back into it, but I live in Florida, so I am outdoors a lot," she noted. "I do TRX classes, I do solidcore, I do some Pilates, I do boxing."

"For me, it's about mixing it up so my body doesn't get bored — and mentally I don't get bored," she added. "I love to bike ride or get my skates on. I just want to do something outside."

Since Torres has an up and at 'em routine, she loves to inspire others to do the same. "My thing right is participating in motivational talks," she shared. "I love being able to get in front of a group of young kids or high schoolers or college kids. The other day I gave a talk to people who were in the military. It's fun to be able to tell stories — and tell stories in a way that people can relate and hopefully that inspires them. It's about getting messages out there."

"Each talk is different, but the main message is that people put athletes on pedestals, but we're going through the same thing that everyone else goes through — but it's how you deal with it and move forward and any kind of hard times you go through, you look back on and learn from it and then you move forward. It's all about living in the now and looking forward," she continued.

Since Torres is all about lifting others up, it made sense for her to partner with BOOST® brand, a leading nutritional supplement beverage brand that helps provide balanced nutrition, including protein, calories, and essential vitamins and minerals, to launch BOOST® Camp — a first of its kind program for adults 50+ who are looking to explore exercise and nutrition designed for their specific needs, centered on the importance of protein intake which, in addition to exercise, can help them maintain the strength essential to enjoying their best life now.  

"It's been so exciting," she gushed. "When BOOST® Nutritional Drinks asked me to partner with them, it was such a great idea because you don't see a lot of advertising for fitness classes for people over 50 years old. I think people over 50 get intimidated when you walk into a classroom or even a gym. You have these muscle heads or these young women that always look so great, and you're like, 'Well, is this for me? Can I do this?' When they talked about BOOST® Camp, I was like, 'This is awesome because you explore strength training, nutrition, protein and building muscle.' It was a natural fit to be able to create a workout with BOOST® and with a trainer to help people over 50 not feel intimidated to go to a place to work out."

"It's also very important to get your protein. When I was younger, I didn't build muscle as quickly. I was like, 'Wait, what is going on?' If I didn't do something for a week, my muscles were gone! Now I'm 57, that's more prevalent. I just had foot surgery five weeks ago, and I was like, 'What am I going to do?' I pulled out my protein drink and started drinking my BOOST® Nutritional Drink because our lives are busy and we're on the go!" she continued. "For me, I take a bottle with me because it doesn't have to be refrigerated and drinking that protein right away, you get 27 vitamins and minerals. There's also no artificial flavors and it's easy and simple. I love being a part of BOOST® and teaching people about strength training."

While working with the company, they came up with a workout with "some great exercises that are easy on the joints," she explained. "They're easy and simple to do and you don't have to have equipment to do them, which I think is very important. It really works muscles that go away quickly – and we made it fun!"

Visit BOOST.com/Camp and learn more about the importance of strength training and nutrition, especially protein, that will help you live your best life here and now!