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Media mogul Strauss Zelnick spends his days hyper-focused on making the most creative, innovative, best video games in the world.
As the CEO and Chairman of video game-maker Take-Two Interactive, he's readying to release Grand Theft Auto 6 next month.
At home though, he doesn't play games. He prefers to spend his time working out and staying healthy for a long time.
At Business Insider's "The Long Play" event on Thursday, Zelnick said his formula for healthy aging is both simple and effective.
While he calls biohacker Bryan Johnson, the man behind the "Don't Die" movement, a friend, he said trying to live forever is a pretty silly strategy.
"There's almost no evidence that anything anyone is doing will increase your lifespan," he told Business Insider's Senior Leadership & Workplace Correspondent, Sarah Needleman. "How many of us really want to increase our lifespan from like 96 to 101? Look, that is not on my bucket list, thank you very much."
Instead, Zelnick, who wrote a book on "Becoming Ageless" in 2018, focuses on the same core behaviors for "taking care of yourself" that longevity experts around the world swear by for maintaining health and happiness for the long haul.
"Smoking is the factor most highly correlated with a short, unhealthy, and frankly, unhappy life," Zelnick said. "Don't smoke."
These lead to "a bad old age, or no old age," he said.
Zelnick said: "You don't have to do what I do," with 6 a.m. wakeup calls for group training sessions, or twice-a-day workouts.
"I do what I do because I love it, it's my passion," he said. "If you walk 30 minutes a day, four or five days a week — just walk — you're like 80% of the way there."
Zelnick says he doesn't have an "insanely healthy diet," but he tries to maintain some balance. "I eat a lot of vegetables and salads and protein — I also like sweets, and I do eat carbs."
Zelnick says he treats this as a non-negotiable for his business.
"If you're getting less than six hours, you're making bad decisions," he said.
Longevity experts stress this is key for mental health, and establishing a sense of purpose in the world.
Zelnick said it's critical to get support from "people who love you."
Carl Timpone / BFA
Zelnick says don't waste your time with all the overhyped, unproven health hacks.
"All the other stuff, like, peptides? A: No," he said. "We have an FDA for a reason. Don't take something that is not double-blind tested."
And, he said, be careful with some of the internet's most famous longevity gurus. He name-checked controversial Harvard professor David Sinclair, who has made bold promises about the anti-aging effects of unproven supplements, including resveratrol, a plant polyphenol found in grapes and red wine, and NMN, which is a precursor to NAD, the vital coenzyme that's in every cell of our body.
"A medical doctor actually is a degree: M-D, an MD degree," Zelnick said. "Not a David Sinclair degree, he is not actually a doctor."
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People under 50 aren't only at a higher risk of colon cancer today than they were a few decades ago. They're also developing a different, sometimes more aggressive form of it compared to older patients, scientists say.
A new study published in Nature Medicine analyzed 189 tumors from colorectal cancer patients aged 29 to over 90, including measurements of gene activity in more than 850,000 cancer cells.
The goal was to look at how tumors varied "across the entire spectrum of age," Dr. Ana Anderson, a co-senior author of the study who leads the cancer immunology program at the Gene Lay Institute at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, told Business Insider. "Is it the same colon cancer but just happening in younger people, or is there something different about it?"
As a result, the study was able to map out gradual, subtle differences in colorectal cancer tumors correlated with age. While the researchers couldn't pinpoint exactly why tumors in younger people look different, Anderson said the study is an exciting starting point for further research.
"There's a lot of interest in lifestyle factors and environmental exposures as potential contributors; however, nothing specific has been pinned down," Anderson said. "What we did is take a rather simple but comprehensive approach just to try to understand the disease itself."
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The study's researchers couldn't definitely state that colon cancer in younger patients is always more aggressive — that would require more study.
However, what they did find was that younger patients "generally have more aggressive disease and they are generally more resistant to the standard of care therapies, which is mostly chemotherapy," Anderson said.
Tumors in younger patients generally had a higher presence of supporting and connecting cells known as stromal cells. Stromal cells, such as fibroblasts, can produce factors that suppress the immune response, making it harder for chemotherapy drugs to work. "They essentially can form a shield that protects the tumor from infiltration," Anderson said.
The study found that the presence of stromal cells generally declined from younger to older patients, and the youngest patients tended to have the highest number of stromal cells in proportion to cancer cells.
The reverse was true for the oldest patients, who generally had the fewest stromal cells and the highest numbers of cancer cells.
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Younger patients also had higher activity of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are associated with cellular signaling in cancer. The study also found gene activity in younger patients that suggested stronger signaling between cells — potentially helping cancer cells move and invade nearby tissue.
The problem is, lncRNAs are still a fairly recent discovery; they only became linked to cancer research in the late 2000s, with some poorly understood ones referred to as "dark RNAs." "A lot of them have just not been researched, and that's why they're called 'dark RNAs' — it's a big mystery," Anderson said.
For that reason, she said it was the finding she considered most promising. "There's a world of biology to be discovered there — we know where to focus our research efforts," she said.
Anderson, an immunologist, also hopes to explore the presence of immune cells in younger colon cancer cases, as immune cells are involved in killing cancer cells but were "under-captured" in this study, she said. "There are many types of immune cells," she said. "Are there different subsets that are more present in the young tumors or absent in the young tumors versus the older tumors?"
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While the study doesn't present any immediate new takeaways for young people concerned about colon cancer, Anderson suggested following existing guidance for lowering your risk.
She noted that the recommended screening age for most people was lowered from 50 to 45 a few years ago, but that it's wise to see a doctor sooner if you experience common colon cancer symptoms like rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, bloating, or changes in bowel movements.
If you're "extra cautious," she said, it's never a bad idea to stay active and cut down on inflammatory foods such as ultraprocessed snacks and alcohol.
Provided by Lau Wen Loong
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lau Wen Loong, 37, who, over the past two years, has competed in 21 Hyrox races in 11 cities around the world. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I hadn't exercised regularly in two years when a friend said to me, "I think you'll be interested in this." He was taking part in Hyrox, an endurance race that combines running with fitness stations. You can race individually, as doubles, or in a relay, and there are both amateur and professional racers. He asked if I wanted to race with him.
My friend ended up doing the race with his wife, so I decided to do it on my own. "Don't be crazy," he told me. But I signed up six weeks before the event and completed my first race in Singapore in August 2024. My final timing was just under 73 minutes. I was a cross-country runner in high school, but for the first time in my life, I understood why some people hate running.
After finishing one race, I started asking myself what I wanted to do next. I'd put so much time into training for that first race, and I didn't want to lose that momentum.
It's been two years since I got started in Hyrox, and I've completed 21 races in 11 cities, including Chengdu, Bangkok, and Mumbai. I have seven more lined up for this year. I'm in between jobs at the moment and working on an AI startup with my brother.
Each race costs about $150, while flights and other expenses can add up to $1,500. In terms of race prep, I recently bought a yearlong membership at a gym in Seoul, where I'm currently based, for about $55 a month. I've become an ambassador for several Hyrox-related brands, and they help cover some of my costs.
Hyrox is a good mix of running and weights. I think I may be the fittest I've ever been. I never imagined I could be faster than my younger self.
So far, these have been my three favorite host cities:
Every Hyrox venue is different. Similar to F1 tracks, the setup is tweaked, and the runs between stations are never the same for each race. It was my first winter Hyrox, and I hit a personal best of 61:51.
The winter part was interesting, because the race was held between two halls in a small venue. You ran in one hall, crossed to the other side to do the workout, and crossed back to run again, getting a blast of fresh air in the process.
I spent seven days in Osaka, most of it around the race area, but I managed to do a bit of shopping in the Dotonbori district. I had dinner at a famous crab restaurant with my father, who sometimes comes to support me at my races, depending on his schedule and whether he likes the city.
Provided by Lau Wen Loong
It was my friend's first Hyrox. He raced before me, and I got to see it. Not only that, but I also came in first in my age group and did a personal best
Like many Hyrox races, the Incheon edition was held in a major convention center. The layout provided for a very smooth race, unlike at other races, which can sometimes disrupt your rhythm
I'm based in Seoul, so I went there daily. It was one hour each way. On the first day of the race, when I hitched a ride back with a friend, I got to try out the hyugaeso, or rest stops along the highway. They are like mini shopping malls, and the one I went to had three floors and lots of small stalls.
In the course of my races, I have made a lot of friends, like my doubles partner Ian, and Yvonne, a Singaporean working mom who has done 55 races. A couple on the plane from Seoul to Singapore also noticed my Hyrox bag, and we started chatting and became friends.
Provided by Lau Wen Loong
The race venue was in a beautiful part of Indonesia I'd never been to — I hope to return.
It was the very first Hyrox race in Indonesia, so it was new for everyone. It was held in a convention center in one of Jakarta's green spaces, which is very scenic.
It was my first time doing two doubles races, and I didn't even know the guy I was racing with until I met him on the day. We were introduced through a mutual friend, and we only trained together once.
I was competing in separate races at the September 2026 Hyrox event in Beijing, where Joanna Wietrzyk soiled herself. I saw her from afar, but didn't see what happened firsthand.
I've tried to put myself in her shoes and wondered if I would continue. I don't think I would or could. I do hope that she'll bounce back from it.
I've seen a lot of people crying at Hyrox. Whether it be tears of joy or tears of frustration, it still surprises me. Hyrox is a bit like therapy, as you are processing through your body. I intend to continue racing for at least another year.
I think the biggest benefit is that it enables you to be more self-aware.
© Nate Schweber for The New York Times
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