Most men in their seventies are slowing down. Mike Millen spent his seventies running up beaches, swimming in cold lakes, climbing, and finishing every single day with a cold shower in his own back garden. ❄️
The Kent grandfather became a social-media favourite under a nickname that says everything about him: “No Excuses Mike.” One look at his lean, muscular frame and it is easy to see why fitness outlets started calling him one of the fittest grandfathers on the planet.
One thing should be said straight away, because honesty matters more than a headline: Mike Millen has never competed on a bodybuilding stage, and you will not find him in any contest database. His arena was never the posing stage — it is the great outdoors. 🌲
| Full Name | Mike Millen |
| Nickname | “No Excuses Mike” / “No Excuses Mike THE BEAST Millen” |
| Born | 7 February 1953 (reported), Kent, England |
| Age in 2026 | 73 years old |
| Nationality | English |
| Known For | Outdoor fitness, personal training, part-time modelling, adventure challenges |
| Contest Record | None — he has never competed as a bodybuilder |
| Height / Weight | Not publicly documented |
| Family | One daughter, two grandsons |
| @mikemrun |
Early Life: A Football-Mad Kid From Kent ⚽
Mike Millen was born in 1953 and grew up in Kent, England. Like so many English boys of his generation, his first sporting love was football.
In his own profile interview with Caveman Training, he explained that he was football-mad as a youngster and played to a good school standard. He kept playing until he was around 30 years old.
When football ended, the running shoes came out. Millen moved into distance running and marathons, then gradually fell in love with strength training and bodyweight exercise.
It was the combination — running, lifting, climbing, swimming — that shaped the all-round athlete he later became famous as. He never specialised, and he is proud of it: in his own words, he is a “jack of all trades and master of none.”
Career: The Trainer Who Became the Advertisement 💪
Millen built his working life around fitness. Profiles of him credit him with around two decades of work as a personal trainer, alongside part-time modelling — an unusual second job that his physique made possible well into his sixties and seventies.
His big break as a public figure came through social media. Videos and photos of a white-haired grandfather training outdoors with the body of a lifelong athlete spread quickly, and the features followed.
In January 2019, Caveman Training named him their Caveman Athlete of the Month under the name “No Excuses Mike THE BEAST Millen,” publishing a long interview in which he was listed as 65 years old — a detail that matches his reported 1953 birth year.
In 2020, the ageing-focused platform Growing Bolder featured him too, writing that he “just may be the fittest person over the age of 60 on the planet.” That is their praise rather than an official title — Millen holds no records and no titles, and has never claimed any.
Readers who enjoy genuine masters competitors may prefer the story of Thomas Scheu, who was still winning world titles in his sixties, or Vince Taylor, the Masters Olympia legend. Millen’s fame is of a different kind: not trophies, but example.
Adventure Is the Training Programme 🪂
What really separates Millen from a normal personal trainer is the adventure streak. Training, for him, is an excuse to do extraordinary things.
He trekked to Everest Base Camp with three friends. In Seville, Spain, he went for a tandem skydive, enjoyed it so much that he stayed for a full skydiving course — and, by his own telling, kept jumping even after parachute jumps that did not go entirely to plan.
At home, the adventures are smaller but daily: swims of around five minutes in cold lakes, runs along the sand, and workouts built from whatever the landscape offers — trees, rocks and logs instead of machines.
His motto, given in that 2019 interview, sums up the whole approach: “Never regret anything you’ve done, only the things you never did.”
Training and Longevity Philosophy 🏃
Millen has no fixed programme, and that is deliberate. His training mixes calisthenics and bodyweight work, running, climbing and swimming, with upper-body sessions in the mix and rest days taken whenever his body asks for them rather than to a schedule.
The outdoors is the constant. As he put it himself: “I live my life like a kid, always challenging myself and wanting to try new adventures.”
His most famous habit is the cold shower. Profiles of him report that for years he has ended every day with a cold shower in his garden, in all seasons — a ritual he credits for his energy, sleep and mindset, and part of a wider love of cold water that includes those lake swims.
His diet philosophy, in his own words, is real food only: plenty of fruit, good fats, and no processed rubbish. Profiles describing a typical day paint a simple picture — a light breakfast of coffee and toast, a chicken or tuna sandwich at lunch, and an evening meal of chicken or fish with vegetables and carbohydrates, with very little red meat.
In interviews he has said he stays at around six percent body fat all year round. That figure is his own claim rather than a verified measurement — but the photos across more than a decade leave little doubt that he stays exceptionally lean. Athletes who built longevity on stage, like Toney Freeman, preached consistency the same way; Millen simply took the message outside. 🌿
Mike Millen in 2026: Still “No Excuses” at 73 🎂
Millen turned 73 in February 2026. Reports of his death occasionally get confused with men of similar names online, but there is no obituary or death notice for him: as of October 2026 he is alive, and his Instagram account, @mikemrun, remains online with around nine and a half thousand followers.
He keeps a quieter public profile than he did at his 2019–2023 media peak, and fresh interviews have become rare — an honest update has to admit that detailed news of his current routine is scarce.
What has not changed is the record of what he built: a second career, a modelling sideline, an Everest trek and a skydiving licence, all powered by a grandfather’s refusal to act his age. Few fitness stories on this site need less exaggeration than his.
Frequently Asked Questions ❓
How old is Mike Millen?
Mike Millen was reportedly born on 7 February 1953, which makes him 73 years old in 2026. The date is supported by his January 2019 Caveman Training profile, which listed his age as 65.
Is Mike Millen a competitive bodybuilder?
No. Millen has never competed in bodybuilding and has no contest record or titles. He is a personal trainer, part-time model and outdoor-fitness personality whose fame comes from his physique and lifestyle, not from the stage.
What are Mike Millen’s height and weight?
Neither figure has been published by a reliable source. In his Caveman Training profile he joked that his weight was simply “ripped to shreds,” so this page does not invent numbers for him.
Why is he called “No Excuses Mike”?
The nickname — in full, “No Excuses Mike THE BEAST Millen” — comes from his Caveman Training athlete profile, and reflects his philosophy that age is never a valid excuse to stop moving.
Is Mike Millen still alive?
Yes, as far as any public record shows. Searches in October 2026 found no obituary or death report for him, and his Instagram account @mikemrun is still online. Men with similar names (McMillen, Mullen) who appear in obituary listings are different people.
What does Mike Millen eat?
By his own account: real food, and nothing processed. He has described a simple pattern of good fats, plenty of fruit, chicken or fish with vegetables in the evening, and very little red meat.
The Bottom Line ✅
Mike Millen’s trophy cabinet is empty, and that is entirely the point of his story. No titles, no records, no stage — just a Kent grandfather who treated the whole outdoors as his gym floor for decades and arrived at 73 looking like the argument for his own philosophy.
“No excuses” is easy to print on a T-shirt. Millen spent a lifetime actually living it — in cold lakes, on mountain trails, and under a freezing garden shower, one day at a time. 🌊