UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
CAN YOU RUN UP THE STAIRS?
I CAN. I have a gym at home and do 75 minutes in there at least six days a week — I feel guilty if I miss a single day. I do cardio and use an attack bike — it’s like a treadmill, but you use your arms as well. I’ve also got a kinesis machine which you use to pull wires connected to weights.
GET YOUR FIVE A DAY?
AND more. I love oranges, apples and bananas. I love Brussels sprouts. I love broccoli. I eat blueberries, raspberries and seeds, too. I’ve got a good diet.
EVER DIETED?
I’M VERY lucky, I don’t put weight on. Maybe that’s because of the amount of exercise I do. I’m the youngest of three brothers and my mother said to me when I was a kid: ‘There’s something wrong with you: you can never sit down’. Even today I never sit down for five minutes. I’m 5ft 11in and when I played football, I was about 13st, but I’ve bulked up now — it’s all muscle — so weigh about 15st.
ANY VICES?
I’VE always been disciplined. I’m not much of a drinker although I will have a glass of champagne every day at about 5pm. I’ll have one glass and then in the morning my wife will say: ‘You must have finished that bottle’. I know I didn’t — I have one glass and she has four. Or we’ve got someone coming in the middle of the night drinking our champagne.
ANY FAMILY AILMENTS?
I HAD open-heart surgery when I was 38 — three of the arteries were blocked so I needed a triple bypass. It wasn’t anything I had done as I’ve always looked after myself. It was genetic — two of my uncles died in their 30s from heart attacks and my dad, who died aged 73, ended up having heart bypass surgery when he was about 70. It was only when I started getting breathless doing very little that I went for checks and found out I had high blood pressure and cholesterol.
Looking back, the only symptom I had was that if I had one glass of white or red wine or a pint of lager, I’d feel a headache coming on. By then my arteries had already furred up. That’s why I’m supporting the campaign to urge people to check their blood pressure. It’s 32 years since I had heart surgery, and it’s had no impact whatsoever on my lifestyle. How lucky am I?
WORST ILLNESS/INJURY?
APART from the heart disease, in 2015 I had atrial fibrillation, where your heartbeat goes out of sync. I had a procedure for it, but doctors told me to avoid playing sports such as squash, where you need sudden bursts of energy, as it may trigger the atrial fibrillation.
POP ANY PILLS?
RAMIPRIL, which lowers blood pressure; apixaban, a blood thinner; and a statin (80mg).
COPE WELL WITH PAIN?
I AM man enough to say that women are far better with pain than men are. I’m a big wuss.
TRIED ALTERNATIVE REMEDIES? NO. EVER BEEN DEPRESSED?
NO. I come from a great family, and because I was the bairn I got away with everything — that’s why I’m so confident in my own skin. Even when life has been stressful, I’ve viewed it as a period in my life.
WHAT KEEPS YOU AWAKE AT NIGHT?
WORRYING about my six children.
LIKE TO LIVE FOR EVER?
I WANT to be around as long as I’ve got good health. There are stories about footballers getting Alzheimer’s and, if I became seriously ill, mentally or physically, I don’t think I’d want to be around.
▪ GRAEME SOUNESS is supporting the NHS Get Your Blood Pressure Checked campaign.