Longevity Training Isn't Easy Training
“Good health is not something we can buy. However, it can be an extremely valuable savings account.”-Anne Wilson Schaef
I recently saw a post on Instagram that stated, “Longevity training ISN’T a program filled with easy exercises and mediocre effort. It’s progressively building strength and cardiovascular fitness over a lifetime. Spoiler alert! That’s hard work.”
It got me thinking about this recent focus in the fitness industry on longevity. There are so many “experts” in this area now and I get it. As we get older, we start thinking more about having a greater quality of life, and improving our fitness and nutrition is one of the most powerful things we can do to help ensure that.
Unfortunately, it sometimes seems as though training for longevity is synonymous with giving up on awesome training and settling for pink dumbbells and jazzercise. No thanks, I plan to be doing deadlifts and training jiu-jitsu into my 70s and beyond. To do this we need a smarter approach to training than just crushing it, bro.
The problem is that social media makes it seem that unless you are deadlifting 600lbs, running ultra-marathons, or worse yet, stepping on stage in a bodybuilding competition, you aren’t really training. This is complete nonsense. Don’t get me wrong, I think powerlifting is awesome, but this is a sport where the competitor tries to lift the absolute greatest amount of weight they can handle. This type of training is far from healthy, and many of the practices competitors in strength sports use to improve performance are not optimal for enhancing health and longevity. Does this mean progressive strength training should be avoided? Absolutely not. Strength training, especially when accompanied by cardiovascular training and smart recovery practices is one of the best things we can do for enhancing longevity.
Performing exercises powerlifters use to become the strongest athletes on the planet is a great way to get stronger. We just need to make sure we progress the training volume and intensity in a way that makes our muscles stronger without destroying our joints over time. The way to do this is to focus performing excellent technique and only using loads that we are 100% in command of. We should not be grinding and straining 1 repetition maxes. Instead we should be performing sets of 5 or more reps, where every rep of every set is performed clean, fast and with perfect technique. At this point we can increase the load and continue to get stronger.
In addition, we are not bound to the barbell squat, bench press, and deadlift. While those are all excellent exercises, they may not be the correct choices due to different factors. Instead we need to focus on building certain movement patterns. The ones I focus on with my clients are the squat, split squat/lunge, hinge, push, pull, torso rotation, torso stabilization, and gait. Within these patterns we can select the exercises that are appropriate for our goals and individual physiology.
While no-one knows the formula for adding years to our lives, it’s safe to say that performing progressive resistance training to make our muscles stronger, improving cardiovascular fitness through aerobic and anaerobic exercise, eating a healthy diet that focuses on whole foods and proper hydration, and getting an appropriate amount of consistent, high-quality sleep is a great place to start. And guess what? As the quote I pulled from Instagram states, none of that is easy.
I hope you enjoyed this article and until next time, stay strong and healthy.