Everytime someone tells me to behave my age, I tell them to look at Mick Jagger.

And everytime a hotelier friend complains to me of their lifestyle and how difficult it is to stay fit with all the wining and dining they have to do, I also tell them to look at Mick and his Rolling Stones buddies.

I mean, these boys have been around since 1962 and are still belting it out like they can't get no satisfaction – most recently at the Super Bowl performance in the US, where the censors even had to snip out bits of their act.

A bunch of old men who were too naughty for America? No wonder their performance elicited a slew of press reports calling it the changing face of ageing.

Mostly, it's amazement that they are still even alive given their legacy which "includes a long trail of dead or burned-out band members, wives, and groupies who just couldn't keep up with their rock-and-roll lifestyle", according to a report.

Here are some more stats on Mick Jagger, courtesy of the British tabloid, the Daily Express. Age: 62. Weight: 140 pounds. Waist size: 28 inches. Distance he struts or sprints in a typical stadium show: about 12 miles.

So how does he do it?

Well, Mick has a personal trainer on hand as he tours. His trainer is Torje Eike, a Norwegian whose previous clients include Olympic athletes, national soccer teams, and former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell.

Before a tour, Jagger runs eight miles a day, swims, kickboxes, and works out every other day in the gym, according to the Daily Express. He is also kept on a diet low in fat and high in whole grains. 

 
It's also about giving up some vices. Jagger gave up the evil juice 15 years ago. Guitarist Keith Richards, 62, reportedly kicked his heroin habit in the 1970s. The youngest, 58-year-old guitarist Ron Woods, announced last year that he had just played his first Stones show while sober.

To their baby boomer fans everywhere, the Stones "symbolize their own potential in their later years – and the possibility of redemption for youthful indiscretions", said the news report.

Mostly, they represent the changing face of ageing across the world, say researchers.

"More and more, how we grow old is a personal choice. Older folks are going back to school in their 50s, starting businesses in their 60s, training for triathlons in their 70s and, yes, having sex in their 80s," said one report.

For the sake of brevity, I will home in on the sex thing.

A study presented recently at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association, which polled more than 4,000 people between the ages of 40 and 80 in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, found that around 30 percent of men aged 70 to 80 reported having sex five times in the past month, although only 8 percent of women reported doing so.
Most women said the lack of sex was due to the absence of a partner.

As Mick says, I can't get no satisfaction....


The SHY Report
A regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry by one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, Yeoh Siew Hoon.

Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her company's mission is "Content, Communication, Connection".

She is a writer, speaker, facilitator, trainer and events producer. She is also an author, having published "Around Asia In 1 Hr: Tales of Condoms, Chillies & Curries". Her motto is ‘free to do, and be'.

Contacts: Tel: 65-63424934, Mobile: 65-96801460

Check out Siew Hoon's new website, www.shy-connection.com, which features a newly-launched e-zine with a difference.