Exercising for Longevity
Health professionals of all walks have devoured Dr. Peter Attia's book Outlive to see how the world-renowned longevity expert sets his protocols and tips to live a long but active life.
Dr. Attia writes that going from zero weekly minutes of exercise to 90 minutes can reduce your risk of dying from all causes by 14%. Recently on a podcast, Dr. Attia spoke about how 180 minutes a week can conservatively reduce all-cause mortality by 50%. There must be some purpose and intent behind those workouts, but exercise is a crucial part of the equation if we want to live longer.
If there was a pill to reduce death by 14% - 50%, people would pay good money for it, but I genuinely believe there shouldn't be a paywall to help others live a longer, healthier life. With that being said, heres some tips, tools and layouts on how to exercise for longevity using that 90min and 180min a week window.
3 categories to split your workouts in..
Zone 2 cardio – Around 70% of your Max Heart Rate (HR) (you'll see numbers anywhere from 60-80% of your max HR for Zone 2. I start people at the lower end). So, if you're a number nerd like me, you can do a quick equation.
220-age = Max HR
Max HR x.7 = Zone 2
Another way to measure Zone 2 is to keep the pace conversational, barely. If you're with someone, you can trade sentences back and forth. If you're unable to keep that conversation going, you're going too fast, slow down.
Resistance training: Strength training, slamming steel, or however you want to say it. This is important to preserve lean mass and bone density as we age. CDC reported among older adults, there are about 36 million falls per year which result in 32,000 deaths. We need to be strong, but we almost need to be stable.
Focus on major muscle groups. Legs, back muscles, chest & shoulders. When we’re pulling and pushing weight, the biceps and triceps are being worked. I like being efficient, and an "arm day" is not inefficient, in my opinion, when focusing on longevity. But if you like it, by all means.
High-Intensity work- Jack that heart rate up. Most are familiar with HIIT (high-intensity interval training), but there are more ways to increase that heart rate. Here are a few protocols.
HIIT (high-intensity interval training) - 4 minutes intervals HARD (90%-95% of Max HR), 3 minutes easy ( 60-70% of max HR) – 4 rounds is ideal.
SIT (sprint interval training)- 30 seconds HARD AS POSSIBLE, followed by 2 – 5 minutes of complete rest. Repeat 6-8 rounds.
Tabata 20 seconds of all-out effort followed by 10 seconds rest. 8 rounds (4 minutes)
High-intensity work is best done on a bike, running, assault bike, or other forms of cardio. Doing burpees IS NOT high-intensity interval training. It must be an all-out effort.
90 minutes a week
Day 1- Zone 2 cardio x 30 minutes
Day 2 – Strength training X 30 minutes
Day 3 High-Intensity work x 30 minutes
180 minutes a week
Day 1 – Strength Training x 30 minutes, Intensity x 15 minutes
Day 2 - Zone 2 Cardio x 30 minutes
Day 3 – Strength Training x 30 minutes, High Intensity 15 minutes
Day 4 - Zone 2 Cardo x 30 minutes
Day 5 - High Intensity x 30 minutes
These are 2 very basic plans. Mix and match to fit your schedule, but hopefully, it gives you an idea of where to start. If you have any questions, please ask!
Much love,