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Get 60% off all AX programs - Subscribe to this channel here - There are 12 things that are incredibly predictive of poor health as you age, that are entirely in your control and able to be prevented. Most people focus on the look of someone’s body as a sign of how healthy they are. This couldn’t be a more incorrect way of determining health. In today’s video, I’m going to take you inside the body to find twelve of the most important determining factors for longevity and well being that you can start making changes to today to increase your quality of life. We first have to look to the work of Peter Attia MD to see how important improving one’s VO2 max is. This is your body’s ability to utilize oxygen to fuel aerobic performance. The more oxygen you can consume and provide to your working muscles, the better predictor of long term health you can make. In fact, having a VO2 max in the top 2.5% worldwide would give you a 5X decrease in your all cause mortality. This is a greater impact positively than are the negative affects that smoking and diabetes cause on your body. Next, we have to look at water consumption. All too often, people are told to focus on getting in 8 glasses of 8 ounces per day to maintain proper hydration. This is simply not enough. Especially for people who are active or are pursuing muscle growth in their workouts. I believe you need to take in close to .75 ounces of water per pound of bodyweight to keep cell hydration high and cell function at peak performance. Thirdly, the concept of avoiding weaknesses and working on strengths is especially flawed. We often “do what we like and are good at” rather than what needs to be done. When it comes to functional loss, if we do not work on restoring them they will only get worse. The ability to touch your hands behind your back is something that almost every child can do, yet almost all adults can no longer. What makes this worse is the assumption that because it has taken you this long to lose what you have that the remainder of functional loss will take twice as long. This is not true. Loss accelerates faster as you age making it critical you intervene now before it is too late. Corrective exercises play an important part in preventing the decay in function and help to stave off decline while at the same time optimizing the performance that you do have right now. Grip strength is another indication of health. People with weak grips are highly correlated with having poor health. There are a number of reasons for this, one of which is its value as a predictor of fatigue and recovery. The other is that your grip is a neurological peak inside the body at how efficient your body is operating at a systemic level. To maximize your grip, make sure you aim to perform a 2 minute dead hang from a pull-up bar or carry half of your weight in each hand for at least 2 minutes. When it comes to your exercise routine, weightlifting must be a part. Not just any kind of weights, but dumbbells and barbells in particular. Why? Because these are the ones that are going to be the most impactful in terms of strengthening your grip as well. Limiting the use of machines for pushing exercises and grabbing free weights instead is going to be beneficial. Making changes to your diet as you age is critically important as well. Let’s face it, as you age you will lose muscle mass. This is due to a process called sarcopenia. Though your efforts in the gym will go a long way towards staving off loss, some is unavoidable. As this happens, your BMR will decline and your caloric needs will go down. If you don’t make adjustments to decrease some of your calorie intake you will likely wind up getting fatter as you age. Other modalities like heat and cold exposure through saunas and cold water immersion tanks are becoming incredibly popular. There is good reason for this. In addition to the specific hormonal benefits that the use of both provide, their simple impact on increasing total body resilience to stress is a beneficial thing for long term health and immunity. Jumping and running are additional skills that cannot be sacrificed as you age as well as the ability to stimulate the brain on a daily basis through something called “cognitive weightlifting” in order to keep the brain functioning at its highest level. Be sure to watch the entire video to see exactly what you can do to body hack your way to better longevity and health long term. If you’re looking for more videos on how to increase strength with age and the best workout and diet plan to live longer, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on YouTube and remember to turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published. For a complete workout plan and diet to feel your best you have in years, be sure to head to via the link below and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System.
