To Preserve Something, To Keep Something, To Maintain Something
transitive verb, godan verb
This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means preserve and the verb vocab version is to preserve something, to keep something, or to maintain something. This is a transitive verb, so it takes a direct object. You preserve something, like your youth.
たもつ
Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you: If you want to learn how to preserve something like fruits and veggies, you should start with tamots (たも), that's slang for delish tomatoes. Once they're preserved, you get to make everyone you love eat those yummy tamots. Mmm!
体力を保つには毎日トレーニングしなくてはいけません。
To keep your physical strength, you have to train every day.
元気な心を保つために、ヨガやメディテーションをします。
I do yoga and meditation to maintain a healthy heart.
ヘルシーな生活を送って、今の体重を保ちたいと思います。
I want to live a healthy life and maintain my current weight.