When you think about getting older, what’s the first thought that comes to your mind?
Are you excited for what the future has in store, or does it fill you with dread?
If you’re more frightened than eager about your advancing years, you’re not alone. For most people, the topic of aging is an uncomfortable one. We don’t want to face the prospect of our body becoming less capable or our mind less sharp, so we simply … don’t.
Avoidance isn’t action.
Unfortunately, not thinking about a problem doesn’t make it go away. In fact, it usually makes it worse.
The best we can do, then, is face the uncomfortable head on—and take steps now to ensure the best possible outcome later.
With a life extension mindset, anything is possible. Download your free copy of the My Plan For Living To 156 ebook and start living your healthiest life today.
Bad news now is better than bad news later (when it’s too late to correct course).
That’s why I’m so invested in the process of lifetime extension. Whether I reach my goal of living to 156 or not matters less than how this goal affects how I’m living now.
With that in mind, I’d like to share with you my three pillars of longevity: movement, maintenance, and monitoring. Based on the very latest developments in medicine and fitness technologies, these tools have me in better shape at seventy-four than I was when I first began using them a decade ago.
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Movement
I’m certain the biggest key to lifetime extension is fitness, and so I’ve spent years researching the most effective (and efficient) forms of exercise for improving mental and physical health.
The result?
Vigorous exercise, specifically High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), is the key to staying young and fit.
And so, for the last year and a half, I’ve made sure to burn 1,000 calories before breakfast using a combination of the below techniques—every single day.
a. Heart Rate Monitoring
In order to ensure I’m exercising at the right intensity, I wear a wrist-and-chest heart rate monitor. I then use a heart rate-to-calorie converter to determine, based on my age and weight, how many calories I’ve burned.
b. Stairs + Elevation Mask + Weight Vest
While I typically use an elliptical machine for my interval training, sometimes I don’t have access to one. On these occasions, I use a great piece of equipment called an Elevation Training Mask that mimics the effects of training in high-altitude environments, making my workouts more efficient and improving my performance over time. I then combine this mask with stair climbing, either indoors or outside, for an effective workout I can do anywhere, anytime.
To make things even tougher, I sometimes wear a 30-pound weight vest.
c. Vasper
The Vasper really is a wonder. I’ve got one in both my homes, and another available to my team members in Toronto. This machine combines compression, cold temperatures, and interval training to trick my brain into thinking it’s had an intense, two-hour workout after just 20 minutes of (sweat-free!) exercise.
As part of my 1,000 calories before breakfast routine, I generally do three Vasper sessions a week.
d. Kaatsu
Similar to the Vasper, Kaatsu are compression arm bands that allow me to fool my brain into thinking I’ve had a long, intense workout after just a few minutes of effort. The major difference is, I can use Kaatsu while on the road.
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Maintenance
Part of staying physically fit is staying structurally fit, and that means I need to be taking care of my joints, tendons, nerves, and muscles. It’s not enough to be strong; you need to be flexible and mobile too.
And the older we get, the more important this becomes.
When my body and mind need a break, I turn to:
a. Active Release Therapy (ART), Deep Tissue Massage, and Trigenics
For the past 20 years, 50 times a year, I’ve received all of these muscle-lengthening and releasing treatments. The tighter your muscles are, the more prone to injury you become, and the weaker they become too, making your workouts less effective over time. Proper range of motion and mobility are essential for healthy, strong muscles.
b. Magnetic Resonance Pad
A full-body floor pad that I use at least once a day to de-stress, this machine sends out magnetic waves to calm my central nervous system. It leaves me feeling very relaxed, regardless of the day’s stress, and always leads to a fantastic and rejuvenating night’s sleep.
c. Inversion Table
There’s a reason people shrink as they age. Between gravity bearing down on our spinal discs and our muscle mass naturally decreasing over time, getting older usually means getting smaller. But by hanging upside down on this table at various angles, I’m able to stretch out all the muscles in my body, relieve downward pressure on my organs, and get blood flowing to (rather than away) from my head.
The difference in my flexibility and posture after just minutes of using this table is truly remarkable.
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Monitoring
The last decade has seen huge advancements in medical science, and Babs and I are always on the lookout for the latest developments. We’re constantly monitoring our health at the cellular level and tailoring our fitness and supplement regimen according to the results.
a. Gene Mapping at the Human Longevity Institute
Spearheaded by Peter Diamandis, the HLI is an ambitious gene-mapping project that gets better and better as time goes on. Both Babs and I have our genes mapped each year and use this information as a road map for proactively creating and adjusting our longevity plan.
b. Dr. Jeff Gladden’s Apex Program
Through this comprehensive concierge medical program, I get a complete look at my personal genetic, physiologic, and biochemical makeup twice a year. Everything from body composition and cardiovascular fitness to hormonal status goes into their analysis, and the resulting data helps me optimize my health and athletic performance while also minimizing any “liabilities” my body might have.
Thanks to this program, I get a complete supplement specially designed for my unique needs. Every six months, we do the testing again and I get new supplements based on the results.
Imaginatively extending my lifetime has transformed how I live in the present.
Living to 156 might sound like a crazy goal, but the mere act of setting it has transformed how I live my life and opened my eyes and ears to so many new possibilities.
How would you live differently if you thought you had extra years?
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