Fit couple share admirably active lifestyle

Josh and Susan Braunstein radiate a kind of healthful energy that almost shrieks “fit.” Yet they don’t have a fitness program or an exercise routine or any structure of that sort. They simply have a life in which some form of daily activity is as natural as breakfast, lunch and dinner. Without so much as a Fitbit strapped to a wrist, they have achieved the much-vaunted “active lifestyle.” And, at age 66 and married 44 years, they enjoy it in large part together.  

The No. 1 activity they share is cycling. The Braunsteins estimate they have covered close to 38,000 miles in almost 30 years of shared pedaling. 

“Biking is our passion,” says Josh. 

They ride road bikes with turned down handlebars and “clipless pedals,” wearing shoes with clips that lock into the pedals. And they ride wherever they are. 

Up North, in Margate, N.J., that means the Atlantic City Boardwalk and excursions with the Shore Cycle Club. Most “day rides” are 20 to 60 miles. They participate in the American Cancer Society Bike-a-thon from Philadelphia to Atlantic City.

Their local Jewish community center runs the Atlantic City Marathon. One of the country’s oldest, it attracts 3,000 runners annually. Cyclists ride ahead of the pack, contributing to the safety and security of participants, and the Braunsteins chalk up another 26 miles.  

In Florida, they ride close to home, up and down the keys. They take local excursions, one of their favorites being the Legacy Trail that starts in Palmer Ranch and goes south to Venice, where it connects to the Venetian Waterway Park trail. That’s a 28 mile round trip that they do at least once a week. They also participate in area “bike-a-thons,” most recently the 43-mile “Ride 2 Recovery” benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project Feb. 13, in St. Petersburg.

Their bikes have taken the Braunsteins all over the U.S. They figure they have hit all of the East Coast states plus Arizona and California. They have ridden out of Anchorage, Alaska and along the Pacific Crest Bike Trail out of Vancouver, British Columbia. Their cycling adventures abroad include Provence and the Loire Valley in France and Puglia in Italy. 

If cycling is the couple’s No. 1 shared enthusiasm, tennis and yoga are tied for second place. They took tennis lessons together when Josh was in dental school and continue to play frequently. They have played separately for the most part, according to Susan, allowing for an occasional round of mixed doubles.  

It was Susan who first took up yoga around 1996. When she went to a “therapeutic yoga weekend in 2003, she persuaded Josh to join her, and they have been practicing together ever since. They take classes once or twice a week up North and down here, and Susan says that yoga is "a great combo with biking and nice after a ride to calm your mind, help you relax and stretch your muscles.”  

The Braunsteins first came to Longboat Key in 1998 via the most classic route: to play tennis at the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort. Josh played there a few times in a U.S. Dental Tennis Association event. He is also a fisherman, and on one of his early visits, he connected with Tom Stevens, a well-known artist who also takes folks fishing. The Braunsteins' son, Aaron, now 39, likes to fish as well, so there was soon a second reason to come here, and they made several trips together to fish with Stevens. 

  Fast-forward to 2015. When Josh sold his dental practice, Susan, who managed it, went to work in another medical office. Now it was time for her to stop working as well, and they opted to come here for two months. They so enjoyed it that they are back this season, renting at Longboat Harbour. And nobody will be surprised if they soon part company with that big, four-bedroom house they no longer need and settle here full time. 

Longboat Key, after all, is perfect for their active lifestyle. On days when they don’t do one of their top three activities, they walk.

“Susan and I just do our own thing," Josh says. "We are a team.”

An enviably fit one at that.  

Molly Schechter is an ACE-certified personal trainer with a specialty in older adult fitness plus YogaFit Instructor Training, SCF Yoga Fundamentals I and II and Power Pilates™ Mat Certifications. She teaches classes at the Bayfront Park Recreation Center. E-mail her at [email protected].