The CEO behind Grand Theft Auto has an 8-part longevity routine for shredded abs and sharp decision-making. Here's why peptides aren't part of it.

• Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Take-Two Interactive, said he prefers working out to playing video games.
• He is a longevity buff, deep into fitness and anti-aging habits.
• In a candid conversation with Business Insider, he said skip the peptides, and try these 7 things instead.

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.

“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.</p><h2>1: Do not smoke</h2><p>"Smoking is the factor most highly correlated with a short, unhealthy, and frankly, unhappy life," Zelnick said. "Don't smoke."</p><h2>2: Don't abuse alcohol and drugs</h2><p>These lead to "a bad old age, or no old age," he said.</p><h2>3: Get some exercise</h2><p>Zelnick said: "You don't have to do what I do," with 6 a.m. wakeup calls for group training sessions, or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhCRcB_k0W8&t=12s">twice-a-day workouts</a>.

“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.”

4: Eat a “responsible” diet

5: Sleep at least 7 hours a day

Zelnick says he treats this as a non-negotiable for his business.

6: Have “some kind of emotional or spiritual life”

Longevity experts stress this is key for mental health, and establishing a sense of purpose in the world.

7: Find community

Zelnick said it’s critical to get support from “people who love you.”

8: Skip overhyped health hacks

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.”

Read the original article on Business Insider