Workout routine: How I keep fit at 71 — Charly Boy

There have been many tales about Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly boy’s youthful looks. Some of the juicy gists are that because he portrays the voodoo character in Charly Boy personality, then he must have taken some spiritual cleansing that keeps him young.

Others have been led to believe the gossip that he gets younger as days go by because he has vampire blood flowing in his veins.

Though Charly Boy must have in some way given these gossips wings to fly, he reveals to our reporter the true secret behind his aging backwards, saying: “The secret that is no longer a secret is that I fell off a good tree. My genes are rock solid. 50 per cent of what God has blessed me with is in my genes.

“Then, like many would say, if God blesses you and gives you grace, and you don’t use the grace properly, He will not bless you more. God gave everybody grace. So, if you like, abuse yours. As for me, I have refused to abuse my grace. This is why, even though I come from a family with good genes, I don’t take it for granted. The other 50 per cent is your lifestyle that would make up for it.

“And I don’t take my lifestyle for granted. I do things to honour and worship my body. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t womanise. I don’t do a lot of things that people ordinarily do.

“Things I do to honour my body is that I go for massage every other week. My workout is constant. I don’t miss a day of workout, except I am not in a good frame of mind. I try to do 10,000 steps every day during morning hours. I walk from Adeniyi Jones to Sheraton hotel at Maryland and back. It’s part of my routine almost every day. Or I use my scooter,” he said.

The 71-year-old singer, who is often regarded as one of the most controversial entertainers in Nigeria admitted that added to watching what he eats, he is also careful about what he feeds his mind. “I watch what I put into my body. It is not just about food. It’s about what goes into my mouth as per food. I watch the company I keep. I don’t have more than two friends.

I don’t socialise like that because I am very picky. I watch the people I talk to. They must be people who are adding value to my life. I watch what I look at.

“All these gory pictures about people being killed, especially on WhatsApp, nobody should send me those kinds of things. I stay away from heartbreaking gory photos because it feeds the mind because being healthy starts and ends with mental health.

“There are a lot of Nigerians going through horrific times right now. Many people we think are normal are not because the environment has turned toxic. This country has become a graveyard for young people’s dream. That is why I am shouting about the youth.

“The enemies we surround ourselves with don’t care about young people. The people we have in government are very old. In fact, they are our ancestors.”

In a previous interview the Areafada explained that his young looks also have a lot to do with his being young at heart. This he says is the reason it is easy for him to relate with younger people. “I will always be young at heart. My heart is that of a boy.

“That is why the boy in me will never leave. That is why it is easy for me relating with very young people whom I find very interesting,” he says.

For many years, sex experts say sexual activities are therapeutic but to Charly Boy, sex has become a full day’s job and no longer come top on his list of hobbies. Responding to the question if he is still sexually active, the grandfather, who recently unveiled his latest EP said: “No, not as I used to be. And anybody after 50 years, who is saying he is a superman in bed, the person is lying.

“Hear me. Let me tell you that, you don’t have to get to 50 before you start experiencing erectile dysfunction. My case is not erectile dysfunction. It’s just my mindset that has changed. Sex has become like an assignment to me now.

“I started having sex at age 10. I had my first baby when I was 16 or 17. My first son now is 53. So, I have seen it all and I am tired.” (Courtesy Sunday Telegraph, excluding headline)