BRANDON, Fla. (WFLA) – While most people are just stepping into the gym to get to work on their New Year’s resolutions, a Brandon man kicked off his 82nd birthday with his usual routine of keeping active.
Louie Ruybal works out three days a week at Fitness for 10 in Brandon.
“It’s just something I’ve always done. I’ve exercised a lot my whole life. It seems like I’m always doing something,” he said. “It’s something to do in the morning and that’s the first thing I want to do is work out.”
Before the sun comes up, he’s works mostly on his core strength. He said he does very little lifting, but will pick up weights sometimes.
Ruybal served for four years in the Navy and 16 years in the Air Force, where his journey with fitness began.
“When I was in the military, I did a lot of exercising because I was trying to, I was real skinny when I went in,” he said. “So when I went in to the Navy, I started working out real heavy to kind of build up myself. That’s where I got hooked, I think.”
Ruybal was going to the gym Monday through Friday, but cut down to three days when he rescued a German Shepherd mix.
His pup has thyroid problems, so even on his “off” days from the gym, Ruybal walks her two miles a day.
When he’s not walking or working out at the gym, Ruybal said he loves to fish and often goes to the firing range.
He believes it’s important to stay active for one’s own health.
“I think that everybody should exercise or do something just to keep busy, to keep this thing pumping,” the 82-year-old said.
