Longevity Training
I've spent a lot of money interviewing older lifters, healthy people and those who thrive in old age. Longevity Training is a culmination of a decade of lifting, knowledge, study and experience. It is the marriage of mobility, strength, flexibility and hypertrophy for longevity.
This system is not designed to make you the strongest, most muscular, most flexible or most athletic. This system is designed to ensure you are not a voluntary net detriment on society and are able to be of service deep into old age through intelligent training meant to stimulate but not annihilate you. This is an anti-cortisol system meant to maximize strength while optimizing recovery thus optimizing results.
Program Progression
- Kettlebell Slow Strength (Muscle Rejuvenation)
- Goal
- Reach 5(1) 32kg Turkish Get Ups
- Reach 2(20) 32 kg Single Bell Deadlifts
- Reasoning
- This will build total body strength using the Turkish get up and deadlift. The Turkish get up builds strength, mobility and flexibility all in one convenient movement. I mean, you're standing up with a heavy weight and lying back down, it will make you strong. The deadlift maintains your hinge pattern and builds a vital skill.
- Passage to Strength rotated with Passage to Muscle (Muscle Rejuvenation/Muscle Hypertrophy)
- Goal
- Reach 1/2 Bodyweight Press
- Reach 2(20) 1/2 Bodyweight Deadlifts
- Reasoning
- This will build strength in the military press and the chin-up. The press will build up on your stable Turkish get up base and will build overall strength in your shoulders. Your back and biceps will thank you for the chin up.
- Passage to Power (Muscle Hypertrophy)
- Goal
- Reach Bodyweight Press with Double Bells
- Reach 2(20) Bodyweight Deadlift with Double Bells
- Reasoning
- This will build muscle and strength using the military press and the double kettlebell front squat. These movements build up on your basic military press but you're now using doubles. You will also be employing the double kettlebell front squat which will build strength and muscle in your legs.
- Kettlebell Slow Strength (Muscle Hypertrophy)
- Goal
- Reach 5(1) 48kg Turkish Get Up
- Reach 2(20) 48kg Single Bell Deadlifts
- Reasoning
- This will build total body strength and muscle using the Turkish get up. You are returning to your Slow Strength base and will become even stronger through the use of a heavier weight.
- Barbell Training (Muscle Rejuvenation/Hypertrophy)
- Goal
- I would like to work up to some decent numbers in the big 3 : bench press, deadlift and squat.
- Reasoning
- The barbell is king for strength and muscle. Building upon your kettlebell base, the taller your barbell building will be.
- Notes about the Programs
- Feel free to skip sessions if enthusiasm is low, time available is low and/or you're exhausted. The bar and bells will still be there tomorrow.
On a side note, you might notice the lack of explosive exercises. I am not a believer in explosive exercises unless you find them extremely enjoyable. I've just seen too many people fucked up from olympic lifting, swings and/or snatches. I am a fan of slow strength with a controlled cadence. There are many schools of thought on this subject but I'm just sick of seeing all the joint replacements, limping lifters and injured people who said they used to throw weights around. They'll say it isn't from the explosive lifting but I call it malarkey. As I've said earlier about interviewing older lifters and people who still move well. They all say to minimize/avoid explosive lifting. The juice just simply isn't worth the squeeze.
Many scientists/influencers will post about older people losing their explosive muscle fibers when aging. What they fail to understand is the reality of life. Your health is precious and goes far past studies. All it takes is one wrong kettlebell swing, snatch or Olympic lift and your joints are toast. When you're young you can bounce back from injury, as you age that ability starts to unquestionably diminish.
On another note, imagine you're at the bottom of a heavy double kettlebell front squat set on that last rep. Tell me you're not exploding out of the hole and grinding through. I firmly believe that that's enough and you don't need repeating reps of swings and snatches etc. You're getting all you need from foundational strength training.
You can't afford to be retarded with your training because you don't get many (if any) second chances with your joints/tendons.
Joint Mobility
Many people neglect their mobility at their own peril especially because mobility is extremely simple to maintain. I've written more extensive mobility and active flexibility routines in the past but Simplicity is King. Simplicity trumps complexity and every plan looks good on paper before life happens. Most of this is inspired by my friend, Steve Maxwell. Steve moves better than anyone I know and he's in his 70s!
I am not a huge believer in stretching because I believe that exercise when properly done should enhance your mobility and active flexibility. Generally speaking a person should have enough range of motion to do their sport plus a little more. For most of us, our sport is life. Working up to splits or being able to contort our bodies won't lead to a better quality of life and may even make us more injury prone. I do believe in a few strength led holds to increase active flexibility done post workout.
All I do is a simple pre-workout joint circling routine to prime my body and coat my joints in synovial fluid. I touch my toes and reach overhead to work some hamstring flexibility plus it feels great. Then I wrap it up with some stick dislocates to work every angle of shoulder mobility and flexibility.
To wrap up my workout, I'll perform a few key mobility exercises : bridge hold, twist hold, 5 minute squat hold and then a passive bar hang. The bridge opens up the spine, the twist works 3D strength of the spine/shoulders, the squat hold preserves mobility in that key human movement and the passive bar hang decompresses the spine.
Pre-Workout Warm-Up
- Joint Circles
- Toe Touch/Reach Overhead
- Stick Dislocates
Post-Workout Mobility
- Bridge (20 Second Hold)(Various Regressions/Progressions)
- Twist (20 Second Hold)(Various Regressions/Progressions)
- 5 Minute Squat Hold
- Passive Bar Hang
So there you have it. A simple, one and done routine for synovial fluid.
Grip Strength
While you do get great benefit to your grip from just simply lifting weights and calisthenics, I firmly believe that it can be enhanced through the use of grippers and expand your hand bands. All you want to do here is go to
IronMind and purchase some grippers/bands. Choose a grippers and band that is easy for you but with a little bit of a struggle. Close them frequently as you are able and stop way before you're fatigued. The best way to do this is to have them by your place of rest while watching TV or playing games etc. Overtime you'll develop some powerful crushing strength and your extensors will stay healthy due to the band work.
Step Loading
I am enamored with step loading because Simplicity is King. So, in Simple and Sinister 2.0 Pavel introduced me to the concept of step loading. I also read about it from Christopher Sommer of Gymnastic Bodies. It is incredibly simple, repeatable and time proven. All you do with step loading is you stick with a certain weight for a certain number of sessions (my number is 10), you then increase the weight by 4kg in the second set and hold for another 10 sessions. Work your way down to the last set and then back up to the first. Repeat until Strong.
Steps
I think it's a great milestone to get at least 10,000 steps per day. The number isn't scientifically backed but is just a decent round number. Walking is an underrated activity for strength, mobility, losing weight and just simple health. This goes doubly so if you work a desk job as it helps to break up all that sitting.
If you work an active job, you can disregard this because you're naturally getting plenty of movement throughout the day.
My Approach to Supplementation with Reasoning
I've gone back and forth over the years about supplementation. Just to be clear supplements and vitamins are not 'needed' to have a healthy lifestyle but I just can't help wanting to take some things that might improve my long term outlook. If you can afford it, I recommend them. If you can't, don't fret, you don't need them but they might help. Anywho in the next session you'll see my approach to nutrition with supplementation but first let me explain my supplements and why :
- Multivitamin
- I view this as an insurance policy of sorts. A carpet bombing of nutrients we may not be getting in our daily diet.
- Fish Oil
- I don't eat fish and for years I've heard people preach the benefits of omega 3's for inflammation.
- Vitamin D3 + K2
- I don't go outside and I don't want to go outside. Vitamin D isn't even called a vitamin much anymore but rather a hormone. It does wonders for mood, immune system, absorb calcium and bone health. Vitamin K2 is there to ensure the calcium ends up in the right place.
- Magnesium
- It's pretty hard to get enough magnesium from your diet alone. Magnesium helps reduce anxiety, improve sleep (mandatory for proper recovery) and helps relax your muscles if you're working them hard.
- Probiotic
- While there's still a lot of research to be done when it comes to gut health and probiotics, I can't help but shake that you can't use what you can't absorb. If you don't eat fermented food or much fiber, I think a quality probiotic would be great to have.
- Whey Protein Isolate and Protein Shakes
- If you eat as I do (one main eating window per day) protein can be rather low. I'm not a huge believer in slamming massive amounts of protein but adding in a single protein shake a day can do wonders. Whey protein is an extremely bioavailable protein with a great amount of amino acid concentration. On muscle rejuvenation phases, I have one shake a day before dinner/post workout. On muscle gain phases, I'll pulse three 30 gram protein shakes throughout the day with the whey protein shake before dinner/post workout. This ensures I have at least 100 grams of protein before even thinking about dinner and without taxing the digestive system.
- Creatine
- This supplement gets so much press, I probably don't even have to write about it. Creatine is pretty well researched to benefit your brain, muscles, sleep and strength. It's just simple so hard to get enough creatine from food, you have to eat a ton of meat to get 5 grams.
For all supplements I try to choose the best quality I can afford. I chose Thorne as my preferred company because they seem to have a high track record for quality and rigorous third party testing.
Nutrition
My approach to nutrition is rather simple and pretty unorthodox. To keep it simple and short, I eat nothing or extremely light during the day and a good heavy meal at night. This makes sense to me from the perspective of circadian rhythm and the cyclical nature of life. Stay light while fighting the day battles and eat to your hearts contents when the day is done. My only rule is to avoid processed sugar most of the time and eat plenty of vegetables with your main meal at night.
There will be two main classifications of eating styles below. Muscle Rejuvenation is based around maintaining a healthy weight, muscle density and relative strength. Muscle Build-Up is based around putting on quality muscle, muscle size and absolute strength.
- Muscle Rejuvenation
- Day Time
- Water
- Zero Calorie Caffeine
- Nighttime
- Whey Protein with Fruit, Multivitamin, Fish Oil, Vitamin D3 + K2, Probiotic, Magnesium, 5g Creatine
- Salad
- Steamed Vegetables
- Protein Source
- 4 Days a Week
- Eggs and Rice/Nuts Alternated
- 3 Days a Week
- Muscle Build-Up
- Day Time
- Water
- Zero Calorie Caffeine
- 3 x Protein Shakes spread throughout the day.
- Nighttime
- Whey Protein with Fruit, Multivitamin, Fish Oil, Vitamin D3 + K2, Probiotic, Magnesium, 5g Creatine
- Salad
- Steamed Vegetables
- Protein Source
- 4 Days a Week
- Eggs and Rice/Nuts Alternated
- 3 Days a Week
Letting Go of Expectations
I think a big reason why people fail programs and end up getting weak is lofty expectations. We are not professional athletes and there is not a championship to be had. Our sport is life and our championship is aging well. We earn no medals for being the most explosive, most muscular or leaving our health in the gym. This is why my system above is so darned effective. We workout when we need to, not when we must. If we don't feel like training one day......we just don't train. We listen to our soul, body and mind.
Have that slice of cake. Go on that vacation. Enjoy that family barbecue.
Let go of the words 'must' and 'goal.' Embrace the words 'trust' and 'process.'
Conclusion
There are plenty of ways to progress with your body : Get great sleep, optimize recovery, minimize stress, cultivate calmness and enjoy life!
This is what I call intrinsic strength and it goes far behind adhering to a strict exercise schedule or diet. It is the kind of strength that radiates calmness, gratitude, virtue and serenity.
I reject fear based training and I implore you to do the same. Don't be afraid to play, spend time on the floor, climb that tree, crawl around, roll around and do something different everyday.
Thank you for reading!
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