Iconic footballer turned People’s “Sexiest Man Alive,” David Beckham has about done it all. Retired for 12 years, the soccer star turns 50 in May. But the “Bend It Like Beckham” namesake isn’t letting age keep him from the gym. Despite his age, he’s bulking up and building his athleticism in new ways five to six days a week.
“My body’s actually feeling better than it has done for a long time,” Beckham told Men’s Health in February. “People ask where I feel it the most — is it my knees or my ankles? My Achilles was a bad injury toward the end of my playing career, but it never troubles me now, despite rupturing it. It’s actually the lower left side of my back and my left hip that give me the most grief. I’ve had it all X-rayed, MRI’d — it’s just wear and tear.”
The back pain inspired Beckham to take a different approach to his workouts than what was required during his soccer days. It was a tough decision, forcing him to face one of his biggest adversaries in the gym: pullups.
“The strength work that I do for my core and upper body helps with the backaches that I’ve got,” he said, speaking on his newfound passion for muscle building.
Beckham works with personal trainer Bobby Rich to bulk out, a style of exercise he traditionally only used to build up his legs.
“When I was playing, the only strength work I did was on my legs,” he continued. “It was never really upper body. I never had pecs until I met Bob [Rich]. You could say I’ve gone up a couple of cup sizes as a result. I’ve never had a chest. I never really had a desire to, either. I was determined to be as lean as I could be.
“But since I’ve retired, I’ve put a bit of meat on my pecs. I hated pullups with a passion. I could literally only do two or three — three at most. Bob decided to focus on press-ups and pullups. I hated both, and now we do them most days. I’ve been trying to get Victoria to work out with Bob for years, and she finally agreed to adjust her workout. Now we do five days a week, sometimes six, together.”
So how well are the workouts going? Beckham’s not bothered by turning 50 “one bit.”
“People are asking me about it gently, like it should be a big issue,” he said. “It’s not something that I’m worried about — as long as I’m fit and healthy and my family is healthy, that’s all I care about. For my 50th, I’m going to keep it really simple. I want good food, good wine — that’s it. All my closest friends.”
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