Rod Stewart reveals his fitness secret and wants to turn Glastonbury into his big birthday party

In a few weeks' time, Sir Rod Stewart will be “happily 80 years old”, as he himself recently called it. Rod the Mod celebrates his birthday on 10 January and will initially celebrate it in a small circle on a trip to the Caribbean, as his wife Penny revealed in an interview some time ago. But there will still be a big celebration next year, as Rod Stewart announced in the podcast ‘Let Me Be Frank’ with former Celtic striker Frank McAvennie and also gave a deeper insight into why he is still so incredibly fit at his age - and what Frank Sinatra has to do with it.

In good spirits and just a few hours before Celtic's Champions League match against FC Brugge, Sir Rod took a seat in the Atlantic Bar in Glasgow, just a few miles from Celtic Park. In a humorous chat with former Hoops attacker McAvennie, Rod was in a chatty mood. 

One big topic was the fitness that Stewart still displays in his old age. Sir Rod revealed that none other than the legendary singer Frank ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ Sinatra is the reason why he is still able to perform on stage today. ‘Frank's daughter Tina is the godmother of two of my children,’ said Rod. ‘When I met him, he gave me a great tip. He said: ‘Rod, if you want to continue your career, swim underwater a lot - a lot and hold your breath from one end of the pool to the other, because that will improve your lung capacity and make you a better singer’. And I still do that today’. But that's only part of the fitness programme, the Maggie May singer added, revealing his intense fitness regime also includes 100-metre sprints on an athletics track he has built in the grounds of his Essex mansion, as well as three sessions a week in his gym.

He said: ‘I've had all this specially built in. I can do 100 metres in 19 seconds and I'm trying to get it down to 18, but I don't think I can do it. You learn a lot on the side in 100 metres. I don't get out of the starting blocks because I fall straight on my face. I use the spikes and that really improves the running.’ 

So giving up on fitness is not an option for Rod, even at almost 80 years old. ‘It's all the little things you have to learn to get that one second out of it. But I enjoy it. My dad, a Scotsman from Leith, said: ‘Son, keep your legs strong - they're what's going to get you through life.

So anyone who thinks that Rod puts his feet up and becomes a couch potato when he's not travelling from city to city and arena to arena with his band is definitely mistaken. ‘I train three times a week. If I don't train for ten or eleven days, I feel bad - I'm not depressed, I just think something is wrong here, something is wrong. And that's because I haven't been training. When you work out, you feel great thanks to the endorphins.’ Of which Sir Rod Stewart is a visible example. 

You can't really believe it when you see him running, jumping and dancing across the world's stages these days, but this man will actually be 80 years old in a few weeks. 

The big party will follow in the summer when Sir Rod performs at the legendary Glastonbury Festival. Looking ahead to his second appearance at the ‘Woodstock of England’ since 2002, he says: ‘It's a special feeling, honestly. I'll be 80 next year and Glastonbury is a wonderful way to celebrate that.’

Let Me Be Frank is a weekly podcast dedicated to current affairs in sport, music and entertainment. ‘Host’ Frank McAvennie was under contract with Celtic Football Club from 1987 to 1989 and played 56 games for the Hoops during that time, scoring 27 goals. The now 65-year-old played five international matches for the Scottish national team (1 goal).