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99-year-old Bay Area man still lifts weights: 'I just love it'

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Updated  April 18, 2025 6:58pm EDT
Hernando County
FOX 13 News

99-year-old Bay Area man still lifts weights: 'I just love it'

FOX 13's Lloyd Sowers reports.

The Brief

    • Joe De Leo says the secret to his long life is lifting and eating a ham sandwich every day.
    • The 99-year-old works out for three hours daily.
    • He was born in 1926 and started lifting in the Navy during World War II.

SPRING HILL, Fla. - Joe De Leo may surprise you with how long he can lift 10-pound weights.

He started with 50 reps, but that was a long time ago.

"Did you see me there? I did 300," Joe said his muscles don’t burn. "I could do 400." 

De Leo works out for three hours every day at Planet Fitness in Spring Hill. De Leo’s adult grandson shows pictures of his grandfather with his shirt off. He could be the oldest fitness model you’ll find.

The backstory:

When’s his birthday?

"April 20, 1926," he said, not missing a rep as he speaks.

De Leo started lifting in the Navy during World War II. Then the Brooklyn native got a job at A & P Supermarkets where he lifted boxes for more than 40 years.

He lifted just about everything a supermarket sells, with humor no matter what he lifted.

"Bananas? I asked."

"Yes, and I was a boxer. I used to box oranges," he laughed.

De Leo has been lifting one-liners for a long time too. Calvin Coolidge was the president when he was born. And he remembers Roosevelt.

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"Truman was after that," he recalled. "And there was that guy George Washington."

De Leo's not that old. He's just joking around.

"Abraham Lincoln?" he offered.

Seriously, he bought a new 1955 Buick Special for $1,900 dollars.

"$10 Dollars a month," shared De Leo. "It was the one with chrome bullets on the grill."

He’s not a big guy, but his muscles are as hard as rocks, and his ears love music.

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"How about Louis Armstrong," he said. "Duke Ellington."

He said he works out eight days a week, referencing another of his favorite acts.

"The Beatles made it eight days. That’s how I got it. Everybody laughs when I tell them that," beamed De Leo.

What's De Leo's secret to longevity?

Every day he eats a ham sandwich on white bread and a lemon pie from Walmart. He tells people that’s part of his secret to longevity. The other part is lifting, perhaps like no other 99-year-old anywhere.

People at the gym expect him every day. He works out from 7 a.m. and 10 a.m.

He helps the younger folks. He recently took one fella under his wing.

"He’s about 77, just a kid. He’s a baby!" shared De Leo.

"I just love it. I just love it," he said, barely breathing heavy after 300 reps.

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The Source: FOX 13's Lloyd Sowers collected the information in this story.

Hernando County