First lady of fitness Elaine LaLanne, 97, has been working out for decades. Here's her daily 20-minute routine.

• At 97, Elaine LaLanne starts every day with 20 minutes of exercise, including sit-ups and stretches.
• She and Jack LaLanne, the godfather of modern fitness, helped shape the healthy-living movement.

Elaine LaLanne, 97, known as the first lady of physical fitness, starts every day with 20 minutes of movement.

"Twenty minutes a day gets me on my way," she told The New York Times in an interview published on Monday.

For nearly six decades, she and her husband, Jack LaLanne, who died in 2011 and was known as the godfather of fitness, fronted the modern fitness movement in the US and built an empire, including a TV show, fitness equipment, supplements, and a gym chain with over 100 locations.

Despite slowing down a bit over the past five years, her many decades in the gym have kept her strong and helped her to recover from several falls, she told the outlet.

LaLanne still works out daily.

"You have to move," she said. "If you don't move, you become immovable."

LaLanne does daily sit-ups and push-ups

She starts her morning exercise routine from bed, lying stretched out on top of the covers, with a dozen jackknife sit-ups: a low-impact variation of a sit-up that targets the lower abs. She follows this with some incline push-ups, which target the upper chest muscles, at the bathroom sink. To do an incline push-up, elevate your arms by placing your hands on a surface such as a bench or stairs.

LaLanne then gets dressed and puts on some makeup before heading to her home gym, where she walks uphill on a treadmill for a few minutes. Insider previously reported that Dr. Howard Tucker said running 2 to 3 miles on a treadmill a few times a week was one key to the 101-year-old neurologist's longevity.

Then LaLanne does lat pull-downs on a machine, which target all the muscles in the back.

She also stretches every day and hangs from a pull-up bar, letting her body hang like a rag doll.

A wealth of research suggests that exercise is a major factor in living a long life and has benefits including preventing cardiovascular disease and boosting mood.

As well as staying physically active, LaLanne has a positive, can-do attitude. She told the Times: "Everything starts in the mind."

She said that daily affirmations such as, "You have to believe you can," and, "It's not a problem; it's an experience," helped her live as if she were decades younger.

Her approach appears to be science-backed. A large 2019 study found that people with the highest levels of optimism lived 11% to 15% longer and were more likely to live to 85 or beyond than people who practiced little positive thinking.