As we get older the issue of sticking around longer seems to become more and more important.
I know it does for me. But sticking around longer doesn't sound like a good time if it means a poor quality of life.
My vision of hell would be residing on 3 West waiting for the nurse to come in and change my diaper.
Unfortunately this is one of those topics where there is no shortage of information over load.
What I tend to do when evaluating issues like this is to study the leading experts in the field that not only do their own research but also walk the talk.
I then look at where this information sits when looking at "meta analysis", where researchers look at all the data out there on a subject and look for commonality.
What actually seems to be the most effective strategies may surprise you.
When we do a deep dive into what are known as Blue Zones, the areas of the world where people live on average longer. Often to 100 yrs old.
We see that at the top of the list what they have in common is interestingly not diet, although that plays a role.
The number one thing seems to be a close, tight social support structure.
Number two is moderate exercise.
Meaning these are not the strongest or fastest or ultra endurance athletes out there but people who do things like walking every day, or gardening.
I do think that some form of resistance training combined with what is known as zone 2 and zone 5 cardio exercise has been shown to provide the most bang for your exercise buck.
Zone 2 is brisk walking or riding a bike or swimming at about 50 to 60% of your maximum heart rate.
You should be able to hold a normal conversation while doing this activity.
This should be about 75 to 80% of your exercise routine. Beginners should strive for about 2 hours per week and advanced about 3 to 5 hours.
Zone 5 cardio. This is high intensity training to improve VO2 max uptake. This is training at 90 to 100% effort.
This only needs to be performed 1 day per week.
A typical example would be what's known as the 4 by 4 program, where you go all out for 4 minutes followed by 4 minutes of light effort to recover,
This would be done for 4 to 6 cycles.
Strength training should be done at least 2 days per week utilizing a total body workout with either weights or bands if you have a lot of structural issues.
The most economical and efficient program is to do complex movements.
Meaning that if I do say chest, back and legs I don't need to spend extra time doing isolation movements to hit all the other muscles.
Example workout would be say a horizontal pressing movement which not only hits my chest but also works my anterior shoulders and triceps.
A pulling movement which hits my back, biceps and posterior shoulders.
A squatting variation which hits the legs and glutes.
You should try to squat as deep as possible.
As we get older the approach to weight training needs to change.
Less focus on volume and more on intensity.
Meaning, rather than spend hours in the gym doing high volume work, numerous sets, we want to do fewer sets of exercise with greater effort.
Example, I now only do 1 to 2 sets per body part but I use lighter weights but train to absolute failure.
Remember, we're not training for an Olympic gold medal but to be able to carry your own groceries in the house or play with your grandkids when your 100.
Some of the more surprising gauges to determine your chances of living a long healthy life are things like how long you can dead hang, hanging by your arms on a bar. The average for a male should be about 2 min. and 1 min for a female.
Another which corresponds with hang time, is grip strength.
Another is how many squats from a chair you can do for 1 min.
As far as diet.
There are any number of diets out there.
Palio, Mediterranean, Carnivore, you name it.
Again, looking at the meta-analysis, what seems to be most effective is whole, non-processed, fresh non-GMO food from regenerative farms and ranches.
The last thing I want to touch on is as important as any of the above-mentioned issues.
Structural Integrity.
This is a regular therapeutic combination of soft tissue work and proper motion of your joints.
i.e. Chiropractic adjustments.
Look, being human means, we all fight gravity; we all fall down and go boom boom.
We all have stress and posture issues because of our lifestyle.
Life just brings structural challenges.
If you don't spend some time and effort to addressing your structure you will eventually break down. If you've been in my office you already have to some degree.
As I've mentioned numerous times, just look at the proof at how important this issue is.
The hundreds if not thousands of professional and armature athletes that have performed way beyond what should been the chronological end of their careers by getting regular structural work such as Active Release Technique and chiropractic.
Don't wait until you're in pain to take advantage of this proven approach to improve the quality of those years you have left.
If you live in the San Juan Capistrano, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, Dana Point or Laguna Niquel area, call our office and schedule your appointment today.