The Three Types of Exercise to Maximize Longevity

 

Most people are aware that exercise can improve quality of life and lifespan. However, most people do not that there are three types of exercise that are necessary to optimize overall health and longevity:

Zone 2 Cardiovascular Exercise

High Intensity Cardiovascular Exercise

Resistance Training

Each of these forms of exercise confer a specific set of benefits and contribute to longevity. Therefore, the optimal exercise longevity plan would include all three forms on a weekly basis.

Zone 2 Cardiovascular exercise requires exercise at a specific intensity for relatively long durations.  The ideal way to know if you are in zone 2 is to measure blood lactate levels but this is not practical so the next best measurement is heart rate, and you can even assess proper intensity through a simple talk test.

Zone 2 exercise is exercise is done at 60 – 70% of your maximum heart rate.    To learn how estimate max heart rate see this previous blogpost:  https://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-many-benefits-of-walking-and-zone-2.html  The other way is to use the talk test which involves exercising at a steady intensity where you can talk comfortably in SHORT sentences, BUT you should start to feel a bit breathless with continuous talking!

To reap the physiological and life extension benefits of zone 2 exercise you should shoot for 150 minutes each week of Zone 2 training. Benefits begin with as little as 10 minutes per day if you are sedentary but to optimize results shoot for 150 minutes or longer. There is no ceiling to the accrual of benefit from Zone 2 exercise meaning more IS better, but the key is exercising at a steady pace that keeps you in Zone 2.  Overtime you will get more and more fit so your pace will have to increase to keep you in Zone 2 but avoid the temptation to go faster where you are breathless – save that for your High Intensity Interval Training.

Assessing progress with Zone 2 is simple if you are using heart rate monitoring.  Over time you should be able to hold a faster pace (whether walking, swimming, or biking) while at the same time staying in Zone 2. This guarantees all the many physiological and life extension benefits of Zone 2 exercise described in the blogpost listed above.

High Intensity Cardiovascular Training also known as High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT for short) involves short intervals at a very high intensity – between 85 – 100% of your maximum heart rate. There are many different HIIT protocols but the one that delivers the biggest bang for the buck is known as the Norwegian VO2 Max Protocol. It involves doing a warm-up followed by 4 minutes at the highest pace you can hold getting your heart rate to 85 – 95% of your maximum heart rate then going at a slow pace (just moving steadily) for 3 minutes and repeating this 4 times! his is very challenging and NOT for beginners!

This should be done 1 – 2 times week. This type of training is focused on improving your VO2 Max which is your maximum oxygen consumption capacity. To know that you are making progress with this type of exercise you can have your VO2 max measured on a regular basis improvements are the goal of this protocol.  This involves an exercise test with respired gas analysis using a metabolic gas analyzer and can be done at hospitals or other performance training facilities and costs $120 - $150.

Resistance Training – is the final type of exercise required to extend Lifespan.  The anti-aging benefits of resistance training include:

Maintaining muscle and bone mass

Maintaining strength

Maintaining the ability to be independent without requiring assistance for activities of daily living.

Maintaining blood sugar control because muscle pulls blood sugar out of circulation

In some respects, this is the most important type of exercise because without enough strength you cannot do Zone 2 exercise and definitely not HIIT training.     

A key feature of aging is “Sarcopenia” or loss of muscle mass and strength.  There are two keys to preventing this:

Proper Progressive Resistance Training

Optimal Protein Intake

It used to be assumed that this muscle loss was a very steady process, but research has discovered that sarcopenia is usually marked by periods of inactivity with large muscle loss that is never fully recovered.  Even in young healthy people one week of bedrest can results in the loss of 2 – 3 lbs. of lean mass.     

If you think about older family members you can probably recall events where you see “he was never the same after….”   These events can be caused by injury, surgery, infections or just periods of being very sedentary.     

All exercise helps to stimulate muscle mass and results in better use of amino acids from proteins in the diet, but the maximum stimulation occurs when we specifically challenge the muscles with resistance from free weight, resistance bands, pin-loaded exercise machines, or body weight resistance exercises like push-ups or bodyweight squats.  Even walking up stairs helps build and maintain muscle mass in the lower body!

Anyone at any age can benefit from appropriate resistance training and increase muscle mass and strength!  However, this is one area where investment in personal training and working with an exercise professional is really important!    Learning what type of resistance training is best for you as an individual based on your current fitness level, lifestyle and any injuries is critical for optimal results.    Just 10 – 15 sessions with a qualified trainer can help you develop a personalized progressive resistance plan!

Optimizing Protein Intake is also key as mentioned above.    This is not complicated and to learn how to determine your daily needs and how to obtain it check out these previous blogposts:

https://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2021/06/everything-you-need-to-know-about.html - part 1 on protein intake

https://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2021/06/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about.html - part 2 on protein intake

Creatine for Brain Health, Womans Health and Depression!

 

Yep – you heard that right – creatine is not just for muscle building!

Creatine/Brain Injury/ Depression/Woman’s Health

Research has proven that creatine supplementation can improve brain function.  Just like with muscles the brain uses creatine as a fuel source.

Brain levels of creatine are affected by aging, depression, schizophrenia, panic disorder and reduced physical activity.

Several studies have shown improved brain function from creatine supplementation.  A 2018 systemic review examined 6 of these studies and concluded that creatine can indeed improve short-term memory, intelligence, and reasoning.    

Creatine has also been shown to be especially useful in brain injury such as concussions.   During many brain injuries there is a cellular energy crisis induced and creatine is a key energy source.

Creatine also supports mental health and helps with depression.   In the review article Creatine Supplementation in Women’s Health: A Lifespan Perspective – authors point out that “dietary creatine intake is inversely proportional with depression occurrence: with a 31% greater incidence of depression in adults in the lowest quartile of creatine intake.”

The article goes on to point out several reasons that creatine supplementation can be especially beneficial for woman.  For example - woman naturally store only 10% as much creatine as men!

The article also points out that “creatine supplementation may be of particular importance during menses, pregnancy, post-partum, during and post-menopause.   The menstrual cycle may influence creatine homeostasis due to the cyclical nature of sex hormone regulation.”

Creatine supplementation is especially useful for people who do not eat meat since this is the primary dietary source of creatine, and this is particularly relevant for woman because they are twice as likely as men to say they do not eat meat.

The Benefits of Creatine Supplementation in Seniors

Another group that can reap benefits from creatine supplementation is seniors!  With gaining and inactivity muscle wasting and atrophy occurs – particularly in fast-twitch muscle fibers which produce the most force.   These are the type of muscle fibers that benefit most from creatine supplementation.  

Creatine has been shown to quickly improve muscle strength in conjunction with resistance training significantly more than just resistance training.

Since creatine also improves brain function and memory through improved cellular energy it can produce big benefits all the way around for seniors.

How much creatine to take for benefits? 

Creatine intake of 5 grams per day is plenty to reap the benefits.  There is science showing that doing loading doses of up to 20 grams per day can speed up benefits but over time 5 grams on a consistent basis is plenty to get all the benefits.

Creatine Safety

Concerns are often raised over creatine and kidney health – like those raised about protein intake harming the kidneys.   This is a myth that simply will not die despite the scientific facts – creatine in moderate doses (like 5 grams per day) does NOT do any damage to normal, healthy individuals with normal kidney function.   For the full low down on this myth see this previous blog post: http://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2018/10/is-creatine-safe-for-your-kidneys.html