Quality of life vs quantity of life

The average man in the US lives to be 73, and the average American woman lives to be 79. If you’re already over 30, your life expectancy is higher, because you’ve passed through some dangerous years. Because of our dysfunctional health system, Americans have some of the lowest life expectancy in the developed world. For many people, the last ten years are a decade of very low quality of life. These people over 70 are not robust. They are frail and susceptible to many chronic conditions. For many people over 70, a fall and a fracture is the end of mobility and autonomy.

You want to extend and get the most out of the years you have, and then deteriorate rapidly and die quickly. If that’s what you want, we’re here to keep you away from the latest fads and support you in getting results.

Getting the basics right

There are many books on longevity now, but Peter Attia’s book Outlive is the one book to read:

Attia describes the concept of healthspan - how long we live in good health - as opposed to lifespan. If you read the book, you’ll see that the best approach is to get the basics right.

The basics are simple. Do all these that apply in this order:

1. Don’t smoke

2. Manage your weight

3. Manage your cardiac risk factors

4. Manage your hypertension

5. Manage your cancer risk factors

6. Exercise to build muscle like your life depends on it

7. Get good quality sleep

8. Develop your mental and physical agility

9. Adjust your diet as necessary to support the above

Peter lays this all out in his book and shows the biomarkers and regimens that are most important to achieving these results. There are some medications most people should take, and some a few people should take — that’s a topic for you and your doctor. After that, the best recipe for extending your quality of life is vigorous, muscle-building exercise. That alone should give you 20+ good years that you will miss if you don’t do it.

Your custom-made exercise program

Last summer in Aspen, I had dinner with my uncle Herschel. Herschel is 92. Walking back to his place, he tripped on a curb, caught himself, and jogged to safety. Most 90-year-olds can’t do that. He managed it easily, because he’s been hiking daily for more than 50 years. If you want to be a fit 90-year-old, you have to be VERY fit today, and you have to do more and more exercise as you get older, not less and less.

Attia talks about training for the “senior decathlon,” which means practicing several different activities and striving for excellence in all of them. Pick a few activities you enjoy and get good at them. Then, rather than go deeper, broaden out and take on a few more. These are things like weight lifting, jumping rope, running, stair climbing, yoga, rowing, 100m dash, pushups, arm curls, etc. I do one where I put two 15-pound weights on the ground and then raise them straight up over my head quickly, briefly getting my feet in the air. I usually manage to do 12 reps. Whatever combination works for you, but you should put in about an hour a day, every day, to be a nonagenarian athlete later.

Attia asks: when you’re 90, would you like to be able to go up four flights of stairs in four minutes? Only the top ten percent of nonagenerians can do that. If you want to be in that category, you’ll need to be able to climb four flights of stairs in the following times, depending on your age:

Age 30: 25 seconds

Age 40: 30 seconds

Age 50: 35 seconds

Age 60: 40 seconds

Age 70: 1 minute

Age 80: 3 minutes (2 minutes is excellent)

Age 90: 4 minutes (Shoot for 3 minutes)

Try it. How long does it take you to climb 4 floors today?

I’m 63 years old. My building has 14-foot floors (18 steps per floor), which is about 2 steps more than most buildings. On my third try, I did 4 flights in 19:15, and I’m planning on breaking 19 seconds soon. My 14-year-old son, Shai, is under 15 seconds (he jumps 4 steps at a time). This is a skill. You can learn it and maintain it.

Do this and keep score with 20 different challenges. One of them should be grip strength. Improve where you are weakest. Stay on track to being a competitive decathlete in your 90s and you’ll reap the benefits every year.

Remember, the world record in the 100-meter dash for a centenarian is 26.34 seconds — he served under General Patton in WWII. 

I highly recommend you ...

Get Peter Attia’s book, Outlive.

Visit his website.

Listen to his conversation on diet with Jordan Peterson.

We can help. We will help you set your goals and be your accountability coaches. We’ll make sure you stay on schedule every week, so you can be there for your kids in future years. For more on how we work with clients on health issues, see our health page.

If you're particularly interested in longevity, this Proto.Life article on what it realistically takes to develop drugs that work should interest you. 

Living in good health well into your 80s and 90s is very possible today. We want to keep you fit and strong and away from doctors. Whatever your situation, book a call with us and let’s talk about how we can do it together, as a team.

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Criminals like Emmanuel Weyi should be caught and prosecuted.