Brazil’s 80-year-old Lula hits the treadmill to ease voter concerns about age
SAO PAULO — Fewer podiums and interviews. More lunges and squats.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is pumping up his reelection bid at age 80 by wanting jacked in exercises that his critics say are extra in style than the man himself.
While Brazilians are divided over whether or not he ought to run for his fourth nonconsecutive time period, there’s a uncommon consensus relating to his dedication to run on a treadmill each day.
“He is a bit too old to campaign again. We’d better have someone else running. But his workouts are indeed a good example for people like me,” stated Marcela Peres, 63, as she exercised in a lodge fitness center in Brasilia on Wednesday.
Lula’s try to present himself filled with power has led his most important rival, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, a son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, to present his strikes too.
Some voters have expressed concern that Lula would possibly observe the path of former US President Joe Biden, who drew from the 2024 race over questions about his well being and age. But Lula is flexing his muscle tissues to problem supporters to keep on with him once more.
“One of these idiots said it was not me, that it was a clone,” Lula stated in March, days after his spouse, Rosângela da Silva, posted a video of his exercise routine. “Go to the gym. Get ready. Drink less and work to see what happens. I want to live 120 years.”
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva poses for a photograph subsequent to a Samauma tree forward of the COP30 UN Climate Summit, in Belem, Brazil, Nov. 5, 2025. Credit: AP/Eraldo Peres
Lula’s most important rival is nearly half his age
The president often performed soccer throughout his first two phrases, maintained a exercise routine all through his 580 days in jail and has advocated for train since he ran in 2022 to beat then-incumbent Bolsonaro, a former Army captain ill.
If Lula wins in October, he’ll beat his personal document as the oldest man to be elected Brazilian president.
His most important rival is nearly half his age.
Bolsonaro, the 45-year-old son of the former president, lately mocked Lula by evaluating him with an previous Chevrolet Opala that’s “all backward” and “drinks a lot (of fuel).”
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva delivers his speech throughout the Global Progressive Mobilization summit in Barcelona, Spain, April 18, 2026. Credit: AP/Joan Monfort
Lula, who has appeared on almost each presidential poll since the finish of the navy dictatorship in 1985, dismissed the insult by describing himself as an alternative as a “turbo car.”
“He is doing this to steer away from the Joe Biden effect,” said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper university in Sao Paulo. “Flávio Bolsonaro is trying to say he is actually the young one. This is a game of image.”
Brazil’s voting population is aging
The younger Bolsonaro is also signaling that he is in good shape by sharing films of him in short races to meetings and dancing on stage.
This side of his personality became evident only in December, when his father anointed him as presidential candidate from prison in the capital, Brasilia, where he was serving a 27-year sentence for leading a coup attempt before moving to house arrest.
Consultant Felipe Soutello, who ran several campaigns for politicians in Brazil, said today’s bids for public office must feature candidates in motion, regardless of age.
“The opposition will use a certain ageism, a little prejudice against older generations, as a tool to hurt the president’s performance,” Soutello stated.
But he famous that Brazil is present process a demographic shift, the place voters above age 60 signify one fourth of the citizens. “They have extra political weight than the younger folks,” he said.
The number of Brazilians above age 60 who are eligible to vote grew from 20.8 million in 2010 to 36.2 million in March of this year, according to researcher Nexus, citing figures from Brazil’s top electoral court.
Musician Antonio Moreira, 50, loves workouts on the beach in Rio de Janeiro, showing off his muscles, his tan and his tattoos. He is part of a small, influential group that could decide the election: voters still uncommitted to either Lula or Bolsonaro.
In the last election, Lula won with just 50.9% of the vote, the narrowest margin in the country’s history.
“Nobody desires to vote for a president that’s stumbling,” Moreira stated, including that Lula’s exercises additionally encourage older folks to keep energetic.
As for Bolsonaro’s strikes, Moreira stated “a little dance can define an entire political career” in Brazil. But that is not sufficient.
“It is okay to do it as they do to seek for votes, but to reach a different kind of voter there needs to be more real proposals, right?”
_
