The Oak Ridge Boys’ William Lee Golden has a passion for walking his way to an active and heart-healthy life.
THE OAK RIDGE BOYS are one of country music’s best known and most beloved groups, with seventeen #1 hits, five GRAMMY® Awards, nine CMA DOVE Awards and two American Music Awards. They have sold more that 41 million records worldwide, including twelve gold, three platinum and one doubleplatinum album. They were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015.
The group — Duane Allen, Richard Sturban, Joe Bonsall and William Lee Golden — have been singing together for 50 years, and they’re still going strong. In fact, their 112-date farewell tour, American Made, is currently underway. My Hometown Health recently had a chance to talk with William Lee Golden, a heart-attack survivor who turned 85 in January, who talked about the importance of being active and staying healthy on the road.
You had a heart attack back in 2004. Tell us about that.
We were on tour that summer in Wausaw, Wisconsin. I was out walking as I always do on the road, and I just wasn’t feeling right. I was aware even then that something was wrong with my heart. They said I was lucky to get to the hospital before I had a bad heart attack. The doc and the radiologist found a blockage in my heart, the kind they call a widow maker.
What was your treatment and recovery like?
Luckily, my condition could be treated with a couple of stents. From there they prescribed blood thinners and told me to walk 10 minutes four times a day. Each day I was supposed to add another minute. Eventually I got up to an hour twice a day. After a month I was in great shape, even better than before the heart attack. I was performing again six weeks later.
Is this when you learned to love walking?
It goes back further. My dad had heart attack when he was 65 . . . same age as me when I had mine. After that, I like to say he activated himself. Dad would walk eight miles a day. He always said, ‘You just got to take that first step. You’ve got to make up your mind that you’re going to do it every day. No one else holds you back except you. It’s easy to put everything off but you gotta take that first step and then you’re on your way.’ I always remembered that.
What makes you such a big believer?
Walking helps everything. Helps you mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. It helps keep a balance. When I don’t walk, I feel like I’m missing something. The day can turn negative. No energy. But the minute I start walking, boom, all at once I start feeling better and more energized. I’m more positive. It activates your body and fills your whole being with fresh oxygen. Brain, heart, everything.
What else do you and the others do to stay healthy on the road?
I really push myself to be active. Richard loved jogging and riding a bicycle. When I had my heart attack, we were traveling 150 days a year. We still do. Lots of hotels. I wasn’t too fond of treadmills, so wherever we’d go, I’d find a way to get out and walk. I had a good friend in the business who thought I should try sit ups, so I started doing 25 at a time. These days I do at least 200 a day in four sets of 50. Takes about 20 minutes. Some days I do 300. The more in shape I am, the better I sing.
You just turned 85. How is your heart health today?
I feel healthy as a horse. I’m able to take long walks. I can pick up heavy things like sacks of corn and feed. I’ve really had no serious health problems in the last 20 years.
Any final words of advice?
BE ACTIVE! Your body needs to be cranked up every day. We were made to be active, but no one else can do it for you.