Like it or not, we’re all aging each and every day. With that ever-present ticking clock comes the realization that some activities are best left in the past. Try as we might, each passing year puts those ballgames, snow days and other youthful endeavors further in the rearview.
Yet, some extraordinary humans refuse to let time win, and there’s quite possibly no better example than Tony Hawk. Even after retiring from competitive skateboarding in 2003, the Birdman continues to skate regularly — alongside other action-packed pursuits including surfing and snowboarding.
Sure, you wouldn’t expect the 54-year-old to continue going for 900s or rallying for another X Games Gold (keyword being “expect“), but if you listen to your body and take care of it properly, there’s almost no limit to what you can do — and keep doing.
Hawk notes that his high-flying longevity is a result of a few changes he’s made with his mindset — outside of just “never quitting,” as he puts it. One such change is maintaining a more well-rounded sense of nutrition and supplements, including CoQ10 and Turmeric from Qunol.
Through Hawk’s partnership with the brand, I got to sit down with the world-famous skater to get the scoop on how he’s kept riding all these years, as well as the benefits he’s seen from just staying in motion.
To get started, how did your partnership with Qunol come to fruition?
I started using Qunol CoQ10 a few years ago realizing I didn’t have to buy all the supplements directly from my doctor. And then, [Qunol] reached out to me recently and asked if I even knew about the product and was interested in endorsing it … I literally sent them a photo of me holding up a bottle. It’s the real deal, I believe in it and at my age, I’m thankful to have discovered it.
Courtesy
I understand you also supplement with Qunol’s Turmeric Gummies for joint health. Are there any other supplements in your daily regimen?
I try to make it all well-rounded, but I would say multivitamins and a few other little supplements I take that the doctor recommended. But by far, the statin and my CoQ10 intake is the one that’s keeping me on par and healthy with my heart health. I think that’s the most important.
Courtesy
Do you feel you’re listening to your body more as you continue with your active lifestyle, or has that always been top of mind across your multiple decades in skateboarding?
Now more than ever do I realize the importance of my diet and listening to my body. I think that I went through many years of, I don’t want to say “careless,” but I was definitely reckless at times with what I was eating, how I was treating my body with my lack of sleep, my schedule … and I’ve learned to be more mindful; I’ve learned to balance everything a lot better now.
I’m not in denial of my age and the activity that I choose. I have to be as careful as I can about it in terms of what I put in my body and what risks that I put out there. So, I’m definitely much more aware and thankful to have learned what it takes to get this far in terms of how to keep my heart healthy — because my dad, I mean, that’s really how I got high cholesterol was through my bloodline, my genetics, and my dad did not take care of himself. By the time he was my age, he had already had two heart attacks.
Even after all these years, you’re still plenty active. What’s been the driving force when others may want to slow down with age?
I think that my only secret is that I never quit with skating, and as I got older, I sort of, I don’t want to say I toned it down but I definitely started to focus on different types of tricks that were more low-impact as opposed to the big spins and the things that are much more risky. I’m going to leave that to the younger generation. I learned to sort of reformat my style and do more technical stuff and that has given me new life in terms of my skating. So, being consistently active is like the only answer I have to that.
Also, I’ve been surfing for almost as long as I’ve been skating. I’ve been snowboarding since it began basically, and those are just extensions of skateboarding as far as I’m concerned. I mean, standing sideways on a board, that’s it and I’ve lucked into some pretty magical trips in terms of surf destinations and heli-snow trips, so I feel very fortunate to be able to do those things at my age.
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What’s your opinion on the idea of staying active each day, no matter the discipline?
I think it’s paramount to your health, and to your mental health, too. I feel like you feel so much more relaxed and in control and able to handle challenges if you’re exercising. It’s obviously healthy for your body and it’s the secret to growing old, being active however you can. And yes, I’m an anomaly because I’m doing a sport that’s considered much more risky and youthful but I think anyone can kind of find their specialty and find their interest at any age, and it doesn’t have to be something that will put you at great risk. My friends, even the ones that don’t skate, have found that if they go swimming a few laps per day, that’s helping. Everything.
From a health and wellness perspective, what’s one thing you would like to tell your younger self?
A couple of those injuries, I needed to go through just to learn from my mistakes. But there are a few that I feel like I was definitely careless in my approach, and I get ahead of myself. Most recently, last year when I broke my femur,* I was trying a trick that was — it wasn’t a trick that is outlandishly difficult to me — but my approach to it was careless. I didn’t have enough speed and thought that, somehow, I was invincible and that it wouldn’t matter. I wish that I could go back and sort of shake myself and be like, “Dude, you’re not 20.” All the circumstances have to be correct for you to do this kind of thing anymore and they certainly weren’t on that day.
*Don’t worry, the injury isn’t stopping him…
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