Golden Globe- and Emmy-award winner James Brolin isn’t just a talented actor—he’s also known for being in great shape, even at 82 years old. And recently, he shared his secrets on how he continues to feel (and look!) so good at his age.

He wasn’t always into fitness. In fact, he wasn’t feeling very good about himself when he was at a dinner party at a friend’s house. Big-wave surfer, Laird Hamilton was there, and offered Brolin an exercise date: “Laird said, ‘Why don’t you come on up to the pool and work out with us on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday?’ ” he said. “So I went, ‘Yeah, okay, great.’”

Except he didn’t go. He just wasn’t ready. But the offer still stood, and even though he didn’t follow through that day, he then spent the next few days thinking about it. One day, he finally decided he really needed a change and took Laird up on his offer. “I got up early and I said, ‘I’m going up there,’” he recalled.

On that day, Hamilton taught him how to work out with weights under water. It wasn’t love at first sight though—”His deal is, ‘Oh, do you want to breathe?’ ” Brolin laughed. ‘”You have to get to the top.’ I said, ‘But I got the weights. I can’t.’ He said, ‘Yeah, no, you have to take the weights with you.’ ”

Imagine the weight of dumbbells pulling you under, but using your strength to get to the top. Surely, it sounds difficult, but ever since he got the hang of it, working out in the water become a game-changer for Brolin. “I became a regular and it changed my life working out with weights under water,’” he said.

“Once you get used to 10 lbs., then we move you to 15 lbs.,” Brolin explained. “Then we move you to 20 lbs. and it’s a jumping exercise to start. Then next, they’ve got you swimming the length of the pool with a weight.”

After just a few sessions, Brolin really started to notice a difference in how he looked and felt. “I started to change,” Brolin said. “Everything started to change. I just started to look better. Body, face, eyes, thinking and therefore proving the old, boring thing that exercise really works.”

For an extra endorphin boost, Brolin will sometimes sit in his sauna after the workout. “All the toxins come to the surface and are gone,” he said.

Of course, results don’t only come from purely exercising—what you eat makes all the difference, and Brolin soon changed up his diet as well. One of his go-tos is a Mediterranean salad with cheese. Yum!

Would you ever exercise with weights under water? What’s your favorite way to get a workout in?