12 Predictors of VERY Poor Health as You Age! (FIX WHILE YOU CAN)
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Published 2023-04-30
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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 athleanx.com via the link below and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System.
All Comments (21)
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THE GIVEAWAY IS BACK - I’m giving away my brand new complete 90 Day Beaxst PPL program to 40 lucky clickers within the first hour this video is published! Remember, this is NOT THE FIRST 40, but those randomly selected within the first hour the video is published. Click the link to see if you’ve won. No strings attached! Clicking twice does nothing. Only one entry per video. Remember to watch to the end for more workouts. giveaway.athleanx.com/ytg/12-early-predictors If you don’t win, no worries, you’re not going away empty handed. Just be sure you have your notifications turned on so you can get to my next video quickly and try again. Good luck and thanks for being a loyal subscriber…
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1:30 VO2 Max (4-5 mins burst, 4-5 mins rest, 4-5 sets, once a week) 3:10 Hydration (0.75 ounces per pound of total bodyweight a day) 4:35 Weaknesses (Apley Scratch Test) 6:00 Corrective (Joint Protector, Decay Preventer) 7:40 Grip Strength (Arm Hang and Farmer Carry, 2 mins minimum) 9:00 Weight Training, 9:55 Limit Machines 10:40 Training Focus (High Intensity: Compressive Stress, High Volume: Junk Volume. Find Your Intensity/Volume Balance for Sustainability and Longevity) 13:00 Adjusting Calories Intake (Keep Nutrient-Dense Food, Cut Empty-Calorie) 14:45 Saunas and Cold Water Immersion (12 minutes combined per week) 16:20 Jumping and Running 17:55 Mental Stress: Cognitive Weightlifting (Languages, books, conversation, puzzles, apps,..) 20:00 Regrets (Remove old regrets, Prevent new ones from forming) "Seeking comfort is going to make you old, finding ways to make your body uncomfortable forces it to continue to adapt and become resilient to the types of stress that you apply to it"
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I'm a 68 year old woman that still totally refuses to not challenge myself. I still run. I still jump. I still get down on the floor and challenge myself to get back up with zero assistance. I will lift, move, and stretch all day every day. The mind Is the important factor here. Bottom line don't give in to aging. 😊
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My grandma is 98, she told me the key to longevity is everyday she trys to be: always hydrated always reading, always moving, always mindful. always grateful.
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I’d add sleep to Jeff’s list. As you get older the quality of your sleep decreases so taking time to ensure you sleep routine is as good as it can be is worth it. I’m 51 and improving my sleep has made a massive difference to the quality of my life
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Summary: -VO2 max -hydration -fixing weaknesses via corrective exercises -grip strength -weight lifting (preferably free weights and barbells) -caloric adjustment by age -cold and heat exposure (seeking physical discomfort) -jumping and running -intentional exposure to mental stress/discomfort -do things to avoid regrets, start now
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As a man now in my 40s, i feel like this is one of the most important videos I've ever watched. Thank you, Jeff.
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"Cognitive weightlifting" is so important. I've been unemployed for more than a year and it destroys your mental sharpness. I'm so happy I found back a challenging job that keeps my mind alive.
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As an older guy (62) & a huge fan of Jeff’s I found this video to be one of the most directly relatable & aplicable factoring my many years of tread wear. For old & young as well I think this video is a must-see! Thanks Jeff!!!
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I’m 73 . I’ve had 3 periods in my life when I lifted intensely. Prior to and during a portion of my Marine Corps days....age 17 to 20. Back than, I weight 145 and could bench 270. Then years passed . I resumed again in my 50s and trained hard for a couple of years. I lifted heavy. My body weight hit 215 for a short time but that was too heavy for my frame and I started having back problems so I backed away from lifting. My business was also exploding and became my primary focus. I know now that was a mistake. A great wife , also attacking her career, and raising kids took all I had. I used the excuses of marriage, building a business, raising kids and other lame reasons for not training. I’m a carpenter so I always have the movement and physical effort benefit from my vocation. I’ve always known that that’s not enough. April 6, a few weeks ago, was my one year anniversary or returning to the gym. (I still work full time and find myself pushing as hard as I did in my 30’s. There are days I amaze myself at my productivity at my age. Yet, there are days when it’s tough to push through the work day) As to my return to the gym, I’ve added an inch to arms and 3 to my chest. I weigh 193, 5’10”. I’m probably 10 lbs overweight. I rep with 185 for bench pressing. I dumbbell curl 2) 35# dumbbells. I do lots of ab machine crunch’s . Lat pulls, rowing, tricep push downs curls and these traditional iron pumping movements are done 10 rep minimums and 6-7 sets. Occasionally more sets. I start light to warm up and add weight to every consecutive set. Where I’m having problems is shooting pain in my forearms. Nerves, I think. Leg work is minimal. hack squats, calf raises and leg extensions, occasionally. I hate leg work. I consider ladder climbing at work to be “leg day” equivalent. Because of my age, luckily my good health, and the fact that I now refuse to go “quietly into that good night” my gym attendance will be a permanent thing. I’d like to get close to a 300 lb. bench press again. Time will tell. (And crunching it out.) I appreciate your teaching, Jeff and continue to learn. Dave In Omaha
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Free weights as you age are so important to building and maintaining strength. Grip strength as you age is something most young people don’t realize older people loose. Even maintaining moving their own body weight. Being able to carry heavy loads/your own body is a massive deal at staying healthy when aging.
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As an older guy, I actually found this video to be one of the most pertinent with regards to healthy aging. Great job Jeff.💪
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I have done weight training for most my life. I recently turned 40 and I love learning about these extra things you can do for your health. I also shared this video with my dad who is about to turn 70 and has recently started going to the gym again. Thanks Jeff!
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Finally you talk VO2 Max. The person who has better cardio can actually recover from strength training faster. So if you wanna get big, you should also train the heart.
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I love how confident Jessie has become, he's come such a long way. What a great guy, and what a great guy Jeff is for helping him to get there. Absolute dream team.
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Turning 43 this month, lifelong exerciser and I work in the fitness industry. This was excellent and something I think I really needed to hear at this moment. Thank you.
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Your best video... I've watched a ton of your videos, purchased two of your programs, and this strikes me as maybe the best video you've ever done, Jeff. Not just bigger biceps and a stronger back (which is all good stuff too), but a positive and generalized look at how to deal with aging. Thank you!
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Jeff is my Dad when I’m on YouTube
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Jeff and Jesse rolling out quality content consistently for years and years. We appreciate you guys!
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As always thanks Jeff and Jesse. You guys helped me get healthy again after my body went down the drain in college. Now Im 28. I know what it's like to be unhealthy. I'm gonna keep taking your tips to try and stay healthy for a long time. Maybe not yoked forever, but healthy for as long as possible.
