Longevity Metrics

Longevity has become big business these days–we mean who doesn’t want to live longer, assuming that quality of life also continues? As time goes on, there has been more and more research regarding what specific metrics you can improve in order to lengthen both your healthspan and lifespan. One of the leaders in the field is Peter Attia, MD, who is very serious about the science behind his approach to longevity and optimal performance. In general, we are big fans of Attia, but over a recent coffee talk, we thought there are some important areas where our approach differs from the good doctor’s.

Grip strength

If you’ve ever heard a podcast with Attia, or read one of his articles, you will know that he is big on grip strength as an indicator of longevity.  I mean, the data is there–people with weaker grip strength live shorter lives.  But is that the whole picture? Attia has his clients work very hard on their grip strength (as he himself does), with exercises like dead hangs from a bar, and farmers carries (carrying weights at your sides with straight arms). We believe grip strength is a fringe benefit received from doing other exercises–and that it is those exercises that are the real benefit (e.g., deadlifts, that load up your entire posterior chain and train you for lifting anything in life in the same way). Deadlifts will also strengthen your grip, and will benefit you in countless ways other than just straight grip training. 

Over-monitoring 

We have written in the past about VO2 Max and Resting Heart Rate as important indicators of fitness, and these are also important metrics when it comes to longevity. Attia kind of kicks the notion of monitoring to a level that could be viewed as obsessive-compulsive. He does a lot of Zone 2 training (which we are also big fans of). This is low-effort cardio training, where you can easily have a conversation while training. However, Zone 2 training can also be measured in the blood, and Attia actually does blood tests on himself while on a stationary bike, in order to measure the levels of lactate in his blood. He also wears a blood glucose monitor 24/7 to measure how different foods affect his blood glucose, even though he has no issues with blood glucose control. Our issue with this is that we have also been tempted to “over-measure” what’s going on with our hearts and bodies, and it has introduced a level of stress that we feel is a bit obsessive and unhealthy. When monitoring too much, you can forget to get off the stationary bike, or out of the gym–and get outside and enjoy nature while just celebrating what your body can do. 

Mobility, coordination, and grace

To our recollection we haven’t heard Attia mention mobility goals in regards to longevity. We think this is vitally important. Being able to get in the bottom of a squat and sit there, with a straight back, is a great goal to have. In our experience, we can see that this is incredibly important. Being able to safely squat, pick something up, and rise again without injury is essential as we get older.  Injuries later in life are a big reason why we become less active, lose muscle mass, and become couch potatoes. We have seen many people (men especially) that have trouble reaching their feet to put their socks on past 50 years old. 

Attia also has his clients work on their balance–which again, is incredibly important. Balance is something that gets worse and worse as we age, and we have to work to hold onto it. However, we would take this one step further and encourage people to work on some discipline that improves your coordination and grace. Skills like gymnastics, or dance improve your coordination, but also develop the skill of moving with grace.  We feel that maintaining these skills into old age go a long way toward avoiding injury and keeping the body moving in a mechanically sound way. 

Anecdotal evidence is good evidence

Lastly, Attia is kind of the king of scientific research–and we also love research–but anecdotal evidence is also good evidence. Sometimes it's helpful to let go of science and focus on what your experience has been. We can see from our own experience that we have often been injured because our lack of mobility in some area has forced us to move in a less-than-optimal way. As we age, this could lead to big problems–but this isn’t something that will show up in the longevity research studies Attia cites. We can also see, in our experience, that certain people move “like athletes,” and that is also an important factor. To know where your body is in space, and move with grace and with an insistence on proper movement mechanics, is definitely something to work on and maintain as we age. Again, the benefit is avoiding injury–which is the primary goal for our bodies in later life. 

We love you Peter, but we just had to get all this off of our chests. 

Until next time

Scott and Lennart