#089 Why Exercise Intensity Matters for Longevity | CrossFit for Health 2024
04/08/24 • 51 min
4 Listeners
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I recently had the privilege of presenting at the CrossFit Health Summit, where I explored a constellation of factors contributing to longevity. In this context, I placed a special emphasis on the pivotal role of vigorous exercise throughout life.
Timestamps
- (00:00) Introduction
- (03:12) Why "below normal" cardio may be a great starting point
- (05:07) The simple math of 45 days of life extension (per 1 mL/kg/min VO2max)
- (06:12) Why poor cardiovascular fitness is nearly as bad as a chronic disease
- (06:52) Why zone 2 training may not improve VO2 max
- (08:08) Protocols for improving VO2 max quickly
- (09:10) How to estimate VO2 max in 12 minutes;
- (10:07) Reversing 20 years of heart aging
- (12:41) Blood pressure benefits of vigorous exercise
- (13:29) The BDNF brain benefits of high-intensity exercise
- (14:05) The signaling role of lactate production by muscle
- (16:13) How training effortfully improves focus & attention
- (17:23) Anti-cancer effects of vigorous exercise
- (18:11) Why shear stress kills circulating tumor cells
- (19:00) What if you exercise in short bursts all day long?
- (20:06) Why "exercise snacks" are a crucial pre- and post-mealtime activity
- (20:49) The best ways to improve mitochondrial biogenesis
- (21:47) The mortality benefits of breaking up sedentary time
- (26:17) Why the protein RDA is too low
- (29:07) Does omega-3 reduce muscle atrophy?
- (30:41) Why we should lift for aging and to prevent the 8% per decade decline of muscle
- (32:03) Is lifting heavy necessary for gaining muscle?
- (33:06) What the sauna has in common with exercise
- (34:45) Does the sauna enhance the benefits of exercise?
- (36:44) How heat shock proteins prevent plaque aggregation & slow muscle atrophy
- (38:23) Can sauna after resistance training boost hypertrophy?
- (39:06) Optimal sauna parameters
- (39:59) Comparing traditional saunas to infrared
- (40:59) Hot baths vs. saunas
- (42:19) Is EPA or DHA responsible for omega-3's effects on disuse atrophy?
- (43:53) Are endurance athletes at risk for cardiovascular injury?
- (44:57) What mechanisms are responsible for sauna's benefits?
- (47:08) Is a sauna temperature above 200 F too hot?
- (49:31) My recommended sauna temperature & duration
Download the 9-Page "Cognitive Enhancement Blueprint"
Discover my premium podcast, The Aliquot
Join over 300,000 people and sign up for my newsletter
I recently had the privilege of presenting at the CrossFit Health Summit, where I explored a constellation of factors contributing to longevity. In this context, I placed a special emphasis on the pivotal role of vigorous exercise throughout life.
Timestamps
- (00:00) Introduction
- (03:12) Why "below normal" cardio may be a great starting point
- (05:07) The simple math of 45 days of life extension (per 1 mL/kg/min VO2max)
- (06:12) Why poor cardiovascular fitness is nearly as bad as a chronic disease
- (06:52) Why zone 2 training may not improve VO2 max
- (08:08) Protocols for improving VO2 max quickly
- (09:10) How to estimate VO2 max in 12 minutes;
- (10:07) Reversing 20 years of heart aging
- (12:41) Blood pressure benefits of vigorous exercise
- (13:29) The BDNF brain benefits of high-intensity exercise
- (14:05) The signaling role of lactate production by muscle
- (16:13) How training effortfully improves focus & attention
- (17:23) Anti-cancer effects of vigorous exercise
- (18:11) Why shear stress kills circulating tumor cells
- (19:00) What if you exercise in short bursts all day long?
- (20:06) Why "exercise snacks" are a crucial pre- and post-mealtime activity
- (20:49) The best ways to improve mitochondrial biogenesis
- (21:47) The mortality benefits of breaking up sedentary time
- (26:17) Why the protein RDA is too low
- (29:07) Does omega-3 reduce muscle atrophy?
- (30:41) Why we should lift for aging and to prevent the 8% per decade decline of muscle
- (32:03) Is lifting heavy necessary for gaining muscle?
- (33:06) What the sauna has in common with exercise
- (34:45) Does the sauna enhance the benefits of exercise?
- (36:44) How heat shock proteins prevent plaque aggregation & slow muscle atrophy
- (38:23) Can sauna after resistance training boost hypertrophy?
- (39:06) Optimal sauna parameters
- (39:59) Comparing traditional saunas to infrared
- (40:59) Hot baths vs. saunas
- (42:19) Is EPA or DHA responsible for omega-3's effects on disuse atrophy?
- (43:53) Are endurance athletes at risk for cardiovascular injury?
- (44:57) What mechanisms are responsible for sauna's benefits?
- (47:08) Is a sauna temperature above 200 F too hot?
- (49:31) My recommended sauna temperature & duration
Previous Episode
#088 The Science of Optimizing Sleep - Special Preview
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If you’ve been following FoundMyFitness for a while, you may remember that we have our members-only podcast, The Aliquot. I want to share a preview of our newest Aliquot episode, "The Science of Optimizing Sleep," available to everyone, not just our Premium Members.
Adequate, quality sleep is essential for the body's recovery and repair, promoting optimal physical and mental health. Getting a good night's sleep can be challenging, especially in our modern world, but we can take steps to overcome those challenges. In this Aliquot, we present a mashup of our best resources on sleep, featuring insights from Dr. Matthew Walker, Dr. Satchin Panda, and me. In this preview, we discuss:- (00:02:13) How exercise timing affects deep sleep
- (00:08:03) Do saunas and hot baths increase sleep-enhancing hormones?
- (00:12:33) Can learning and meditation boost deep sleep?
- (00:14:10) Do scented oils, like lavender, impact sleep?
- (00:14:47) The insulin-tryptophan-melatonin connection
- (00:19:20) Why carb-heavy meals make us sleepy
In the full episode available only for Premium Members, we also discuss:
- Can calming music, akin to lullabies, curb pre-sleep ruminations?
- The effect of air quality on sleep
- The effect of low-level noise on sleep fragmentation
- Whether or not time in nature transforms sleep quality
- Could melatonin supplementation increase REM sleep — at the cost of decrease deep sleep?
- How my sauna and hot tub routine preps me for sleep
- Is there evidence white noise helps sleep and can calming music curb pre-sleep ruminations?
- The differential impact of morning vs. evening light in slow wave sleep
- Can adjusting our body's thermal cues unlock deeper sleep? (increase deep sleep)
- Improving sleep with science-backed heat therapy protocols and how my sauna and hot tub routine preps me for sleep
- The four pillars of sleep
- How much sleep is enough? (from newborns to older adults)
- The surprising lifestyle factors that synergize to maintain glymphatic clearance in aging brains (sleep, exercise, and omega-3s)
- Are modern lifestyles and "social jetlag" turning us into shift workers?
- Building resilience against circadian disruptions
- Five immediate steps to enhance sleep quality tonight
- How long caffeine stays in the system
- The effect of alcohol and marijuana on sleep, particularly REM sleep
Next Episode
#090 How Exercise Prevents & Reverses Heart Aging | Benjamin Levine, M.D.
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Today's guest, Dr. Benjamin Levine, has shown that with the right exercise protocol, people who were sedentary most of their lives could reverse up to 20 years of heart aging. Dr. Levine is one of the world's leading experts in understanding how the heart adapts under a variety of conditions, whether that's exercise, elite athleticism, or hospital bedrest. Or even highly exotic conditions, like prolonged exposure to microgravity. He is the founding director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at UT Southwestern in Dallas.
Timestamps
- (00:00) Introduction
- (06:21) Bed rest vs. aging
- (11:40) Does exercise protect against long COVID?
- (17:14) How 12 weeks of bed rest affects heart size
- (18:42) Why a brand-new rubber band mimics a lifetime of endurance training
- (22:14) The exercise dose that preserves youthful cardiovascular structure
- (24:22) The exercise regimen that reversed 20 years of heart aging
- (28:05) What it takes to reverse vascular age by 15 years
- (33:29) Benefits of starting an exercise regimen in your 70s
- (39:17) Risks of high-intensity exercise
- (42:42) Balancing high-intensity & moderate-intensity training
- (47:39) Training for health vs. training for performance
- (49:58) Make exercise a part of your personal hygiene
- (51:01) Why does VO2 max correlate with longevity?
- (58:29) The 2018 JAMA study on cardiorespiratory fitness & mortality
- (1:04:06) How does change in fitness over time affect mortality?
- (1:06:19) Why exercise non-responders should consider "increasing the dose"
- (1:10:08) The 2 limiting factors for improving VO2 max in competitive athletes
- (1:17:20) Heart adaptations in purely strength-trained vs. endurance athletes
- (1:23:09) Why pure strength-trainers should incorporate endurance training
- (1:26:53) How strength training affects blood pressure
- (1:31:27) How exercise influences cardiac output in mitochondrial myopathy patients
- (1:33:25) Does CrossFit count as endurance training?
- (1:35:50) What's the best exercise for improving blood pressure?
- (1:40:57) Lifestyle strategies for treating hypertension
- (1:43:26) Why recovery is key to reaping the benefits of a training stimulus
- (1:47:22) The best indicator of being overtrained
- (1:54:46) Why HRV is a poor indicator of recovery
- (2:00:02) Why do men tend to be faster runners than women?
- (2:03:34) Can women achieve similar aerobic exercise benefits doing 2x less than men?
- (2:05:06) Are there cardiovascular benefits of HRT in women?
- (2:08:45) Exercise volume vs. coronary plaque calcification
- (2:15:35) How exercise duration & intensity affect coronary calcium levels
- (2:18:48) Why high exercise duration & intensity increases risk of Afib
- (2:26:00) Why you shouldn't become an endurance athlete to "live longer"
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