How To Live A Long Time: Very Old People Share Their Secrets For Staring Down Death

A 90-year-old Florida man went viral this week after his son recorded him doing 24 pull-ups for his birthday. The video showed him celebrating his Feb. 26 birthday by doing more than two dozen pull-ups at an Anytime Fitness gym in Haines City, Florida.

"We go to the gym regularly and he loves to do pull-ups," Vern's son wrote in the YouTube caption. "I think he does pretty good considering he broke both elbows as a kid."

Vern is the latest old person to captivate the internet by staring down death and teaching us all how to live a long life. An Indonesian man who claims to be the world's oldest person ever celebrated his 146th birthday in December. Mbah Gotho replaced French centenarian Jeanne Calment, who was 122 when she died, as the world's oldest person.

Gotho held an epic party to celebrate his birthday after outliving 10 of his siblings, his four wives and his children. He blew out all the candles on his cake in one puff. Asked about the secret to living for many decades, he said, “The recipe is just patience.”

Others have claimed to be the world's oldest person, but their birthdays have not been confirmed. Nigerian James Olofintuyi said he was 171, while Dhaqabo Ebba from Ethiopia said he was 163.

Other elderly people have helpful tips about what to eat or not eat. Emma Morano, who turned 117 in November, eats three raw eggs a day, as well as a steady diet of bananas, ladyfingers and brandy, “But I do not eat much because I have no teeth,” she has said.

Susannah Mushatt Jones who recently reached her 116th birthday, lives in Brooklyn in New York City. She eats four pieces of bacon (her favorite food) for breakfast every day. “I never drink or smoke,” she said, “I surround myself with love and positive energy. That’s the key to long life and happiness.”