THIS IS 50?!?

Soccer and style icon DAVID BECKHAM is entering life's second half, and he's still in elite shape-physically and mentally. How does he do it? Working out daily (preferably with his wife, Victoria), tending to his garden, and feasting on jellied eels.

- GORDON SMART

OVER 21 years, soccer star David Beckham won 19 major trophies, although he never brought home a World Cup. He is both the goat and GOAT of English football, igniting both fan fury and fan adoration throughout his career. Beckham retired in 2013, but his body and mind still bear the scars of carrying a nation's hopes, as well as the grind of playing more than 600 games for clubs and country.

On the cusp of 50, and enjoying renewed global interest thanks to his hit Netflix documentary, Beckham still looks like he could kick it: quads sculpted, physique shredded, hair perfectly scruffy. He's now busy off the field, co-owning Major League Soccer's Inter Miami team, launching the supplement brand IM8 (available at IM8Health.​com), and raising his four kids, ages 13 to 26, with Victoria, a.k.a. Posh Spice. He rolledupearly to our photo shoot in London in a racinggreen Rolls-Royce, and after several hours in front of the camera, he grabbed a bag of salt-and-vinegar Kettle chips and talked to MH about how he's bending it-time, that is. Beckham may train hard and primp meticulously, but looking good, he says, will never come at the expense of a decent bag of chips.

Men's Health: The saying goes that your body keeps the score. How are you holding up these days?

David Beckham: My body's actually feeling better than it has done for a long time. People ask where I feel it the most-is it my knees or my ankles? My Achilles was a bad injury toward the end of my playing career, but it never troubles me now, despite rupturing it. It's actually the lower left side of my back and my left hip that give me the most grief. I've had it all X-rayed, MRI'd― it's just wear and tear.

I'm better at looking after myself now.