Kevin Bacon, 67, Shows the Power of a No-Frills Fitness Routine

Kevin Bacon keeps things simple when it comes to staying fit.

At 67, the actor — whose decades-long career includes Footloose, A Few Good Men, Apollo 13 and Mystic River — recently showed off his lean physique in a shirtless Instagram video. But the more useful takeaway for anyone seeking to become more active is how accessible his routine seems to be.

While filming the 2025 Prime Video series The Bondsman, Bacon joked in another Instagram video that his on-set gym consisted of just two dumbbells and a kettlebell.

“You spend a lot of time on set if you’re doing a TV show or film,” he said in that video, posted in May 2024. “Twelve hours is usually the minimum. So it’s very hard to stay in shape, and there’s a lot of free food, which doesn’t help.”

That stripped-down setup fits with how Bacon has talked about fitness before. Back in 2015, he told WebMD that he hikes, lifts weights and does calisthenics. “I don’t work out for long periods of time because I’m just too bored by it. High-intensity, short periods of time are much more beneficial for me,” he said.

His approach is basic, but that is part of the point. For many adults, especially those who are busy, traveling or trying to restart a fitness habit, the best routine may be the one that is easy enough to repeat. Bacon’s approach also lines up with what fitness pros say older adults need: a mix of strength training, aerobic exercise, balance training, and mobility and flexibility work.

Hiking, like other sustained aerobic activities, can support cardiovascular fitness if it raises your heart rate. Weight training helps preserve muscle and improve bone density, both of which become more important with age. Body-weight moves such as squats, push-ups and lunges can build strength, and some movements may also challenge balance. Balance work matters because it helps with everyday movements, including walking, climbing stairs and getting in and out of a car. It also plays an important role in fall prevention.

Bacon learned the value of self-care at a young age. In a recent AARP interview tied to the film The Best You Can, in which his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, 60, plays a physician navigating her husband’s dementia, he reflected on watching his own parents age. “My mom had me when she was 43. My dad was 50,” he said. “By most standards, my parents were considered elderly when I was a kid. And I probably dealt with some of these aging issues earlier in life than most people.”