Want to bounce out of bed in your 80s with the flexibility and stamina of someone decades younger? Take a leaf out of Angela Rippon’s book. A model of healthy ageing, the former BBC newsreader and ex-Strictly contestant puts her strength and agility down to key habits that she’s stuck with for decades.

‘I’ve done 10 minutes of stretching every morning for more than 50 years,’ she’s said previously in an interview. Her routine incorporates Pilates and ballet exercises, which 'just untangle everything after a night’s sleep, get the blood flowing, my muscles working and my joints active again’.

And if you’re tempted to lie in and do nothing instead, Angela issues a stern warning. ‘Your body is a machine, full of thousands of working parts,’ she says. ‘And, like any machine, if you don’t use it, then the moving parts will seize up and stop working. So you have to keep all those different parts working – you have to feed them, oil them, exercise them, so they continue to work and you can go into your senior years, maybe not as a Formula 1 as you were in your 20s and 30s, but as a very well-preserved vintage model.’

If you’re in good general health, and if you keep yourself ‘fit, strong and flexible’, says Angela, staying consistent with exercise means, ‘You can go into your later years... still enjoying all the things you’ve come to accept as being part of your life from when you were younger.’

Angela uses a combination of Pilates, ballet classes, tennis, power walking and cycling to stay fit. And in an exclusive interview with Good Housekeeping, she revealed more about her stretching habit. ‘I do it every day without fail,’ she said. ‘Even if I’m on a really tight schedule and in a very small hotel room. There’s no need for bulky weights or any special tools, just a small amount of space.’

She also takes inspiration from a very surprising source... ‘Think about a cat,’ she says. ‘A cat might sleep for five hours, but when they get up, they stretch absolutely everything. I feel that after I’ve been sleeping, that’s what I need to do to get everything moving again.’

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Physiotherapist Sam Bhide says we can all benefit from dedicated stretching. ‘As we age, muscles, joints and tissues naturally get stiffer,’ she says. ‘Stretching improves muscle length and flexibility. Muscles are like elastic bands – if tight, they need to be stretched to be elongated and you always need to use gentle, controlled movements when stretching them.’ Sam recommends these exercises to stay flexible…

Knee hugs

First thing in the morning and last thing at night, lie on your back in bed, then bring both your knees up towards your chest, with the help of your hands. Don’t force them – the aim is just to feel a gentle stretch. ‘This stretches the back muscles and releases any stiffness,’ explains Sam. ‘To engage your neck and upper body, too, gently bring your chin towards your chest. This will stretch the back of your neck, which allows a full posterior (or back muscle) chain stretch.’

Still lying on your back, bend your knees with your feet flat on the surface you’re resting on. Let your knees come together, then gently and softly roll them over to one side of your body, then the other. ‘Imagine your lower body is twisting left and right, keeping your upper body still,’ says Sam. ‘This improves any stiffness in your trunk muscles, so is recommended for hip and lower back pain.’

Touch your toes

Once you’re out of bed, stand with your feet hip-width apart, then bend down with the aim of touching your toes. If you’re feeling a little unbalanced, having the support of a wall behind you can help, says Sam, though if you’re feeling especially wobbly, give this one a miss.

Banana stretch

Standing up, raise both your arms above your head, interlock your fingers and then arch your arms over to one side, feeling a stretch in your neck, upper body, trunk and hip muscles. Then repeat, stretching over to the other side, using gentle and controlled movements. ‘This is a good one to do first thing in the morning, while waiting for the kettle to boil or in between desk jobs during the day,’ says Sam.