5 exercises I'm doing to live to 100+ years old
Read this on Dango.co Ever since I became a dad at 40 years old I’ve become obsessed about longevity. I’ve done everything from reading books to getting biological age tests, and even studying the habits of the world’s oldest living people. Through my research, I’ve found that longevity is as not only about what you put into your body it's about how you use it. Certain exercises will expand both your lifespan and healthspan, which is pretty awesome if you ask me. So in today’s article, I want to share with you the 5 exercises I’m doing to (hopefully) live to 100+ years old. Plus as a bonus, at the end of the article, I'm going to show you my weekly routine to hit all of these in a way that fits my lifestyle. You ready? Let's jump in. 5 exercises I'm doing to live to 100+ years old1 - Zone 2 cardioVO2 Max is the maximum rate at which your body can consume oxygen during exercise, which is a great indicator of your fitness levels. But here's the kicker: recent studies reveal that VO2 Max is also a strong predictor of longevity. One of the foundational ways to build a high V02 max is to build a base of endurance using Zone 2 cardio. Zone 2 cardio is a type of cardio that you can do for a long time without strain or heavy breathing. Ideally, you want to keep your heart rate in the 2nd zone using this chart: It's recommended to get at least 180-200 minutes of zone 2 cardio every week. My zone 2 training plan
2 - High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)Another great way of improving V02 max is through HIIT training. HIIT workouts work your heart at maximum or near-maximum capacity. It's like heavy lifting for the heart. The great thing about HIIT training is that you only have to do it once every 2 weeks to see results with once a week being optimal. The bad thing about HIIT is that it's pretty damn hard. This is why it's not recommended to jump from being sedentary to running sprints. You want to work up to them. My HIIT training plan:
3 - Strength training for hypertrophyIf cardio is for length of life then strength training is for quality of life. We lose 3–8% of muscle per decade after the age of 30 & this rate accelerates after the age of 60 if we don't do what's necessary to keep our muscle. Resistance training is crucial to keeping ourselves functional as we age but this doesn't mean you have to look like a puffed-up bodybuilder. Putting a focus on using progressive overload in the gym will go a long way to preventing muscle loss from happening. I prefer to do a form of lifting called functional physique training, which is a blend of increasing muscle (aka. hypertrophy) while doing things to keep my body functional. I'll also be performing them in strength circuits like we do in the Lean Body 90 to cut the time I spend in the gym. My strength training plan is to get stronger in these movements:
4 - Mobility trainingAs we age our joints get tighter and our ability to move decreases. This is made worse by the fact that our lives have become largely sedentary. Mobility is about the ability of your joints to reach their full range of motion. Yes, you can get flexible lifting weights using good form but in addition to that we need a form of flexibility training that can improve our movement capacity. This is why mobility drills like the ones below go a long way to keeping our bodies free to move in any position we feel like:
My mobility training plan
5 - PlyometricsAs we get older, things slow down if we don't train them regularly. One of the worst ones is our ability to product power. Loss of power affects things like speed, balance, and agility. It's like losing the "pep in your step". One of the simpler ways to avoid this is to add some plyometric training to your exercise routine to keep your edge as you get older. Doing plyometric training safely helps us maintain power as we age. Things like jump rope, sprinting, kettlebell swings, and even box jumps can help us improve our power output as we age. Here's a little thread I did on how to improve power as we age:
My plyometric plan
My Weekly Workout RoutineMonday - Lower body workout + zone 2 cardio at treadmill desk This routine is not set in stone. Depending on how my body feels I may switch out the HIIT to be later on in the week. See you at 100Will this guarantee that I’ll become a centenarian and get a chance to reach 100? The short answer is no. While these are important how long I'll live will be also dependent on how I eat, my body composition, relationships, mindset, and genetics. Also, it’s one thing to do these and another to incorporate them into your lifestyle as things you actually like doing. I prefer to live a fairly active life but done so in a way that fits my busy schedule (hence the treadmill desk). So think of this as a template and remember the principles: Get vigorous exercise, train with resistance, stretch, and look for ways to jump that fit with what you like to do. That being said, it's time to jump on the treadmill and do some zone 2. Onwards and upwards 🚀 - Dan When you're ready, here is 1 way I can help: 1. Promote yourself to 300,000+ subscribers by sponsoring this newsletter.
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