Dick Van Dyke wants everyone to keep moving.
The “Mary Poppins” star, 100, posted a workout clip to his official Instagram account on August 28 that showed him using an inversion table, a gravity-driven device meant to stretch the spine deeply. He captioned the brief video: “#DVD100 1/2 workout inversion table #keepmoving.” The post landed just ahead of his milestone birthday and offered followers a direct look at how the West Plains, Missouri-born actor maintains his physical condition.
Van Dyke has been candid about his exercise habits for years. On Ted Danson’s podcast “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” in January 2025, he detailed the routine he has stuck to for decades. “Somebody said, ‘To what do you attribute your age and physical condition?'”
“I’ve always exercised three days a week,” he continued. “[My wife and I] go to the gym still, and I think that’s why I’m not stove up like my equals.”
The actor’s longevity has put him well past the average American male life expectancy of 76, per CDC data. Women in the U.S. Average 81 years. Van Dyke, born in 1925, has now lived through a century that included world wars and the dawn of the digital age, all while building a screen career that produced “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”
His mindset appears to matter as much as his gym schedule. In an interview ahead of his 100th birthday, Van Dyke described waking up with unusual energy and a light emotional load. “I feel really good for 100,” he said.
“Sometimes I have more energy than others — but I never wake up in a bad mood,” he added. “I feel like I’m about 13.”
Van Dyke has singled out anger as a particular danger to health. “I’ve always thought that anger is one thing that eats up a person’s insides — and hate,” he explained. “And I never really was able to work up a feeling of hate. I think that is one of the chief things that kept me going.”
The August 28 Instagram post drew immediate reactions from followers stunned by his activity level. One user wrote: “This man is 100 years old and doing things most ppl in their 70s or 80s wouldn’t do staying active really is key.” Another commented: “100 nearly 101 and still working out wow.”
Van Dyke has indicated he does not consider his century mark an endpoint. During a “Good Morning America” appearance, he addressed the milestone with restlessness rather than satisfaction. “The funny thing is, it’s not enough. 100 years is not enough. You want to live more,” he shared.