Longevity Training

Longevity training is about maintaining or improving your level of fitness and functioning as you age. When it comes to longevity training there are lots of great programs out there. My favorite is the Eternal Warrior Plan by Coach Christian Thibaudeau.

As Coach "Thibs" explains, the key is to train the things that naturally decrease as you get older: muscle mass, power, strength, speed, mobility, and endurance. Of those, aging impacts speed, agility, and power more than endurance. Strength and muscle fall somewhere in the middle.

• Minimizing or preventing sarcopenia (loss of muscle) is certainly part of it, but basic hypertrophy training will take care of that. Most dedicated lifters maintain decent levels of strength and conditioning because it’s part of what they already do.
• However, few lifters work on power, speed, and agility, important parts of pro-longevity training. These capacities tend to “go first” as we age.
• Explosive work prevents the conversion of fast-twitch fibers to slow-twitch fibers, which comes naturally with aging. It also increases neurological efficiency (preventing brain degradation) and improves insulin sensitivity.
• Mobility is a huge part of pro-longevity training.
• For conditioning, many do steady-state work, which is good, but they neglect harder conditioning: anaerobic capacity. How much hard work can you perform in three minutes?
• A good program should address all of these aspects in some regard. We’re not talking about maximizing your potential in each of these areas, which would require a periodized approach focusing on different aspects at different times. Rather, we’re talking about concurrent training, increasing everything simultaneously, though to a lesser extent.
• Do two or three hypertrophy-based workouts per week and two athletic days (one for power and anaerobic capacity, one for conditioning with some skill/explosive exercises). Low-intensity cardio can be performed at any time.

Longevity Training Recommendations

1. Lift one day on, one day off (or 3 days a week).
   
2. Walk 10,000 to 12,000 steps per day.
3. Include lighter, longer loaded carries once a week on an off day. It could be hiking with a backpack, walking with a weight vest, carrying a light sandbag for 30-45 minutes, or doing farmer's walks with 20-pound dumbbells or kettlebells for a mile.
4. Increase the pace of your workouts and keep your heart rate elevated during the whole session. Circuits are great for this.
5. Use a whole-body approach for workouts.
6. Include steady-state cardio. Start your workouts with some brisk walking. Walk during your rest intervals.
   
7. Focus on lifting fairly heavy. Stay in the 3-6 rep range for compound movements and 6-8 for isolation work. As you get older, the nervous system becomes less efficient at recruiting muscle fibers and it's one of the causes of age-related muscle loss. If you keep lifting heavy, you maintain neurological efficiency.
8. Dominate every rep. You're training for performance, every rep, especially on compound exercises. They should be technically solid with no grinding. That obviously means not going to failure. It doesn't mean going easy.

Longevity Training Workout Template

1. Start the workout with mobility work for around 10 minutes. Focus on problematic areas and don't overdo it.
2. Pick three multi-joint exercises covering the whole-body: one upper-body push, one lower-body and one upper-body pull movement. Do them for 3-6 quality reps, as a circuit (no rest between exercise). This is the core of the workout and I recommend 5 sets of the circuit.
3. Stay active during the rest between circuits. I like to walk on the treadmill, gradually increasing the intensity over time.
4. Pick three isolation exercises for muscles you want to emphasize and do them as a circuit for 6-8 reps each. Do 3 sets of this circuit. I also recommend staying active during the rest period.
   
5. Do a bout of intense conditioning work lasting 3-5 minutes. It can be a single exercise like kettlebell swings or a combo of one exercise and an ab movement or conditioning circuit. I like kettlebell swing work, or heavier loaded carries for three sets of one minute with around 30-60 seconds of rest in-between. You can do anything that allows you to keep your heart rate high and have labored breathing (indicating working at a high percentage of your VO2 max): heavy bag work, battle ropes, resistance bike, you name it.
6. Finish with 10 minutes of steady-state cardio, trying to increase the intensity over time.

This approach will keep your heart rate elevated for over 45 minutes and provide a stimulus for your muscles, nervous system, max VO2, cardiovascular system, and anaerobic capacity.

Longevity Training Supplements

Look for anything that reduces inflammation, like curcumin, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids. Consider supplements that improve insulin sensitivity, which lead to a reduction of insulin production. The more sensitive you are, the less insulin is needed to do the job.

For longevity, look for products that help reduce fat deposition in the blood vessels, like omega-3 fatty acids, serrapeptase, and nattokinase. For anti-aging, consider supplements that increase AMPK, like resveratrol, cyanidin 3-glucoside, omega-3 fatty acids, curcumin, etc.

To combat infection, go for supplements that boost the immune system, like vitamin D3, vitamin C, and zinc.

Personally, I like to target all these areas, ideally using supplements that have a positive impact on more than one category.

Here's an example of a longevity training supplement stack:

Flameout which reduces inflammation, gives you a better lipid profile, increases AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase, is a crucial cellular energy sensor that plays a vital role in regulating metabolism), and improves insulin sensitivity.

Micellar Curcumin which reduces inflammation and increases AMPK.

Rez-V for increased AMPK.

Indigo-3G for improved insulin sensitivity and increased AMPK.

D Fix for a boosted immune system.

Fibrenza to help break down blood clots and lipid deposits.

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