Diet and Exercise: The Two Biggest Drivers of Increasing Healthspan and Healthy Longevity
Longevity and Healthspan Secrets Everyone Should Know
When it comes to living a longer, healthier life, few things are as beneficial and straightforward as diet and exercise. The profound impact of these two elements on our wellbeing cannot be overstated. Getting the balance right is like taking a longevity drug every day, with diet and exercise proven to improve not only length of life, but also quality of life.
In this article, we explore training for longevity with an introduction to some of the best longevity exercises (prepare to be surprised) with the help of commentary from Reload Founder Dr Ryan Chow.
The Link Between Diet, Exercise, and Healthy Longevity
It won’t surprise you to hear that our lifestyle choices play a significant role in our healthspan (the part of our lives that we spend in good health). Indeed, exercise and diet are two of the biggest drivers of a healthy lifespan – they affect a multitude of functional biomarkers. Of course, the basic premise is that overeating and under-exercising will negatively affect your health – an undeniable fact. But considering the details of how this affects your health is a real revelation.
“Your diet will affect your cholesterol, your HDLS, your LDLS. It’ll affect your weight, your metabolism, uric acid levels. So, diet is one of the bigger levers to pull, and one of the most obvious,” Dr Chow says. “So, too, is physical activity – its correlation with mortality risk is undeniable.”
Research originally published in mid-2022 studied more than 116,000 US adults over a period of 30 years, and found that adults who do more than the minimum recommended amounts of exercise each week lower their risk of early death.
What Is the Best Longevity Training?
When it comes to training for longevity, the specifics matter a lot more than most people realize. Scientific studies back this up repeatedly. The aforementioned study found that:
If you have an adequate level of moderate physical activity (MPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA), you lower risk of mortality
Increasing VPA if you have low levels of MPA also lowers mortality
If you already have elevated levels of MPA (more than 300 minutes per week), increasing VPA will not lower mortality risk further
Further, the study found that the optimum mix of MPA and VPA per week is:
150 to 600 minutes of MPA
75 to 300 minutes of VPA
And the effect on mortality? An incredible reduction of between 35% and 42%!
"Even if you don’t measure these things, which I recommend you do if you are training twice a week,” explains Dr Chow, “resistance training and doing cardiovascular exercise, 150 to 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise activity, your risk goes down whether you are tracking it or not.”
Of course, understanding what constitutes moderate and vigorous exercise, and how to effectively structure your workouts, is crucial for maximizing the benefits. Dr Chow continues:
“The definition of these things is especially important because most fitness classes, trainers, doctors, physical therapists, don’t tend to define what we really need to increase our healthspan. But details matter.
“We’re all selling different things, and we’re all telling people to do different things. But you need to know the details of what 75 minutes of vigorous exercise intensity means – for you. What 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise means – for you – and how you can break it up. How often you should do it, how you should build that up gradually over time.
“For example, what does twice-a-week progressive resistance training really mean? It’s really hitting each body part twice per week in a progressive manner. Within this general guideline, it’s crucial that an exercise plan is personalized to your individual needs, thus helping to minimize risks and optimize health benefits.”
How Do You Get Started Training for Healthy Longevity?
Starting an exercise regimen can seem daunting, especially if you’re new to physical activity. Dr. Chow’s approach is to begin with small, manageable steps.
“I always teach people to start small and don’t sweat the details too much,” he explains. “Start to build the habits of frequency for exercise. If someone is not used to doing exercise, I just tell them to walk more to begin with. Small gains quickly add up.”
Some people are told they must do 10,000 steps a day (we suspect you’ve heard this advice). Yet if you’re not used to exercising, a smaller target to start could be much more appropriate with huge benefits.
“Your cardiovascular risk goes down by 7% for every 600 steps you increase,” says Dr Chow. “So, starting from, say, 3,400 steps and gradually increasing all the way up to 10,000 steps is often a less daunting and more sustainable strategy – with immediate positive effects.”
The message is that you should start small and build it out. It can be challenging to hit exercise guidelines, and almost impossible to if you’re attempting to go from zero to full speed. The way to go is to try to improve slowly over time and build sustainable habits. For the majority of people, a community helps them keep on track – you’ll have colleagues, friends, and professionals as your support system.
Don’t Let Injury Hold You Back
Injury happens to us all. Most commonly because of a misplaced foot, slip, or trip. It could also be because of overexercise, or training at the incorrect intensity. Yet exercise is essential for healing injuries.
Author of Longevity Simplified Dr Howard Luks, is an expert whom we at Reload hold in high regard. His advice is that should you experience, say, shoulder or knee pain, then your first step should be to have an expert evaluate the pain. If there is no major injury or risk, then you should continue to exercise – the longevity risks (and risk of injury) are less than should you discontinue exercise and become more sedentary.
How Does Reload Help Overcome Common Barriers to Exercise?
“That’s why our philosophy is very movement-based – because most people are scared within their own body. They don’t know what to do. We want to build people’s confidence that their body is built to last, not built to break.”
If you are experiencing pain or have suffered an injury, or simply want to begin leading a healthier lifestyle, knowing how to navigate such barriers is crucial. Often the fear of pain or injury can stop you from doing the exercise that is critical to both longevity and healthspan – a way of thinking that isn’t helped by most healthcare practitioners whose primary advice is, ‘if it hurts, stop moving’.”
“Instead of trying to figure it out, it becomes an easy excuse not to exercise,” says Dr Chow. “Or we just don’t know what to do, and we’re afraid to hurt ourselves further. So, we stop everything. It’s important to recognize this.
“Your body is not a machine. Rest is rust. Rest equals rust. Motion is the lotion. It makes you feel better. We’ll teach you how to modify things so that exercise is not dangerous, even if you still feel something. Because I’d rather you have an achy knee than a heart disease or cancer.”
Do you need to adjust your diet to improve your healthspan and longevity? How should you exercise, and what longevity activities will help you make the small changes that can lead to significant benefits in your healthspan?
Make an appointment to see the experts at Reload PT, and start the journey to a longer, healthier life.
