At 61, Hesbon Limisi reveals secret of ageless strength

He smiles when I offer him compliments.

“It has been a long time doing this (working out),” he calmly responds and his smile soon fades as he recalls when his fitness journey started.

In the 1980s when he joined Starehe Boys Centre as a Form One student, he was a victim of bullying. Hesbon says he realised he needed to toughen up to survive.

“I had no choice but to find a way to protect myself because the bullying was the order of the day. I immediately enrolled in Karate training. Back then, Sh10 was enough for a three-month subscription,”  chuckles the retired Human Resource manager who worked at the Judiciary at the pivotal moment 45 years ago.

By the time he did his Form Six final examination, the father of three boys had earned himself a green belt in the martial arts discipline.

He never used his defence skills as a student, but he returned to the school as a Karate club coach for two years before joining the university.

“Even at my age, I am still very good at Karate. It’s one of those disciplines that ensures you are flexible because of its explosive nature,” he explains.

Karate employs kicking, striking and defensive blocking with arms and legs.

He finally got to use his karate skills in 1991.

“It was around 10 pm I was returning home in Buru buru from work. Three thugs on a motorbike attacked me. In those days motorbikes were few. If you owned one, you were considered wealthy. So when I saw people on the motorbike slowing down, I didn’t feel insecure. I knew I was in danger when they ordered me to stop and hand over the small bag I was carrying. Bullishly, I told them to come get it,” he says.

One of them advanced towards him wielding a metal rod and hit him on the head. He was stunned and started bleeding. The injury, he says, would have been worse had he not reacted swiftly to neutralise him.

“There were a lot of flying kicks and I am certain that one of them went away with a broken leg. As he fell down screaming in pain clutching on his leg, his accomplices just took off. At this point, my face was soaked in blood,” he recalls.

But Hesbon wasn’t chiselled until he took another step in his fitness journey.

At the university, he realised he needed to get into weight training to build muscles and ensure he would age gracefully.

“If you can’t build muscles, even doing the simplest things like lifting a chair becomes a problem. Men will always have issues with thigh and back muscles as they age if they don’t engage in physical fitness. That is why you will find men in their 60s and 70s with walking sticks and curved backs,” notes the fitness enthusiast who is now a businessman after retiring from his job at the Judiciary.

Hesbon weight trains four times at the gym every week. During the weekends, he goes for a 10-kilometre run.

“For me physical exercise is non-negotiable. I encouraged my wife who is 58 years to work out and she is doing well. We did the same with our sons to ensure they didn’t end up in bad company. My two elder sons are gym rats. The last born is a notorious swimmer. He is trying to get into the Kenyan team,” Hesbon remarks proudly.

After graduating from the university, he worked for Finlays, the tea multinational, in Kericho where he met his wife.

“One way or another I have always been active. When I worked for Finlays I managed vast tea estates and that involved a lot of walking. We also had a gym,” adds the teetotaler.

However, when he joined the Judiciary, he found a different culture.

“I found at the Judiciary lacked amusement. People are always stone-faced and serious with life, it’s a suits corridor, you know. I needed to see people smile, laugh, exchange banters and things like that. I needed people to feed on each other’s energy. I introduced a culture change where every Wednesday staff should come to work with loose clothes. Then at 10 am, we would all go out and do stretches, breathing and other relaxing exercises for 30 minutes to an hour,” he vaunts.

“So Wednesdays became a bonding session for us.”

Before retiring, Hesbon says he and his team had introduced desks that allow staff to work while alternating between sitting and standing.

“I encouraged my staff to always move around instead of continuously sitting. We also introduced Height-Adjustable tables that allow you to change your posture from sitting to standing throughout the day with the simple touch of a button. Moving around, sitting and standing periodically improves blood flow and circulations and mobility.”

Hesbon eats anything that is ‘good food’.