Issue #227: Connect Your Workout with Your WHY
Good morning. It’s Thursday, August 17th.
Today’s Quick Win
From the Lab: Connect Your Workout to Your WHY
Speed Read: Drug Inflation
Thursday Night In: Salmon with Burst Tomato Sauce
“Exercise is the most potent and underutilized antidepressant.”
Reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease from regular exercise. (Source)
From the Lab
On Tuesday (Issue #226), we talked about personalizing your exercise plan.
It starts with your goals - how do you want to feel and what do you want to be able to to do?
Let’s dig into how to decide on a routine based on a specific goal:
1. Mental Health
40% of Americans report some form of depression or anxiety. This number doesn’t account for those who aren’t seeing a medical professional, but are still dealing with daily stress and burnout.
But turning to antidepressants isn’t the answer - reports suggest that these drugs are only 13% effective (and many are biased studies from pharma companies themselves).
Instead - Zone 2 exercise is actually the best remedy for our mental health.
Zone 2 is that exercise where we’re breaking a sweat, but can still have a conversation and can maintain that exercise for at least 30-45 min (sometimes much longer) - think jogging, biking, swimming, hiking, even gardening.
Why is this the case?
When we hit this exercise threshold - our blood circulation increases, especially in the brain and our hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA axis). Then three things happen:
Boosts the limbic system - which controls mood and motivation
Manages the amygdala - which controls our emotions and fight or flight response to stress
Generates brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) - which improves the function of our hippocampus (our memory center)
This last point is why research is showing Zone 2 exercise as our best strategy to fend off Alzheimer’s Disease.
2. Longevity
Most of us want to live longer, but more importantly we want to live better - we don’t want the last 15-20 years of life to be dealing with disease or pain.
The two biggest factors to longevity are: VO2Max and Grip Strength.
VO2Max measures the maximum rate we can utilize oxygen. This gets a boost when we get into Zone 5 (nearly all-out exercise). Seriously - high vs. low VO2Max has a bigger difference on longevity than even smoking.
To boost your VO2Max - try this 1x per week:
Push yourself nearly 100% for four (4) min and then recover for four (4) min. This can be running, rowing, biking, going up a hill. Repeat for 4-6 sets.
Grip strength is a proxy for our overall strength - with a big focus on our hand strength (nearly everything in life starts with our hands) and back strength (life is about carrying and pulling - all from our back).
To boost your Grip Strength - try this 2-3x per week:
Get a dumbbell in each hand and with arms next to your side walk for a minute. Start with low weight to maintain good posture and prevent injury.
For men - stretch goal of working your way up to 50% of your body weight in each hand (carry 100% body weight in both hands).
For women - stretch goal of 35% of your body weight in each hand (carry 70% body weight in both hands).
BONUS TEST: Hang from a pull-up bar - for men try for 2 min (60-90 sec if you’re over 55) and for women aim for 90 sec (45-60 sec if you’re over 55).
3. Stability/Injury Prevention
As we sit in our chairs everyday, we lose our natural posture and mobility. I watch my 2-yr old sit and his back is always at 90 degrees and that kid can do a catcher’s squat for 10 minutes looking at bugs in the backyard.
If you have shoulders slumped over, neck pushed forward, tight hip flexors, or any pain (knees, shoulders, shin splints) - start with fixing your alignment first.
The worst thing you can do is keep working out with bad form and making it more likely to get an injury - it’s like going to the driving range and you keep practicing a bad swing.
Here are three great resources to help with stability:
The Ready State (authors of “Built to Move”)
Beth Lewis (trainer for Peter Attia)
Thrive25 Partner Spotlight
Still looking for that go-to workout at home? TMAC Fitness has you covered.
These are 20-min workouts (both beginner and advanced options) that don’t require any equipment - they get your energy up, increase your strength and end with a “Mind Right” meditation.
It’s my go-to workout for those days it’s 110 heat index outside or I can’t make it to the gym. Check out TMAC Fitness and get 10 Days FREE.
Speed Read
Health & Longevity in the News
YouTube Medical Policy: YouTube is heightening it’s censorship of medical “misinformation” - specifically around Prevention, Treatment, and Denial. Few things worse than getting bad online data that can massively affect your health. But when the science isn’t settled, who decides this “misinformation”? (YouTube)
Drug Inflation: The average lifetime increase for the Top 25 drugs was 226%. That number jumps to 592% for drugs over 20 years old. In 2021, Medicare spent $81B on these Top 25 drugs. Is that why we aren’t advocating for lifestyle health solutions? (Read more)
Thursday Night In | Salmon with Burst Tomato Sauce
Both Max and my family like to have salmon weekly. Max had been in a rut between two recipes and his wife was looking for something new. Along came this recipe…now it’s a staple at their house. Remember to have some fun with it, we replaced the heavy cream with coconut cream - consider another substitute or forego the cream altogether, add spinach or burrata - and consider rice or pasta.
Thanks for joining us today!
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Why Thrive25
We’re 40-something dads that felt our bodies and minds start to slow down and we’re not ready for that. We found too much information on every subject. So we started Thrive25 to transform what we’ve learned into something useful for the rest of us to spend just 3-5 min a day to optimize our health & longevity.
This newsletter is for you and we truly value your feedback. Never hesitate to reach out to us at team@thrive25.com.
To health!
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The information in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and may not be appropriate or applicable based on your individual circumstances. Thrive25, Inc. does not provide medical, professional, or licensed advice. Please connect with your healthcare professional for medical advice specific to your health needs.