Author, podcaster and longevity expert Dr. Peter Attia has shared how you can live longer and what you can do now to stay young physically and mentally as you age. A former surgeon trained at Johns Hopkins, Dr Attia explained how even minimal exercise can reduce chronic diseases.
Dr Peter Attia, one of the leading voices in the emerging field of longevity medicine, says that intense exercise is the way if you want to improve the quality of physical, emotional, and cognitive health, as per CBS News.
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"The data are pretty clear," Attia said. "When you look at things like cardiorespiratory fitness, when you look at muscle mass, when you look at strength, they have a much higher association than things like even cholesterol and blood pressure."
Dr Peter Attia explained that maintaining lifelong fitness requires both consistency and intensity. That means incorporating "zone two" exercise — steady activity like jogging or cycling at a pace where you can still hold a conversation — and also including sessions of "zone four" high-intensity training, the kind that leaves you breathless and unable to speak more than a few words.
Attia’s approach to fitness goes beyond the treadmill, emphasizing muscle strength—especially grip strength—as a key marker of overall health and cognitive resilience. "If you look at the correlation between grip strength and dementia risk or mortality, it's staggering," he said. "Grip strength is a proxy for overall strength, and that kind of strength is acquired, not inherited. The work you do to build it is what protects your brain."
How do you test grip strength? It's simple. For adults over 40, Attia suggests hanging from a pull-up bar — 90 seconds for women, two minutes for men — or performing a farmer's carry, walking for a minute while holding weights equal to roughly 75% of your body weight.
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"Life is a sport," Attia said. "It comes at you fast. It's unpredictable." Dr Attia had also suggested five simple hacks that can help anyone live longer, even beyond 100. These hacks include exercise, nutrition, quality sleep, emotional and mental well-being and bone density.
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Dr Peter Attia, one of the leading voices in the emerging field of longevity medicine, says that intense exercise is the way if you want to improve the quality of physical, emotional, and cognitive health, as per CBS News.
Dr Attia on importance of exercise
"At this point in my life, I feel like I'm making fewer novel insights around how to manage cholesterol and blood pressure than I am in thinking about ways to get people to be more compliant with exercise," Attia was quoted as CBS News by saying. Attia emphasized that among all the habits that promote a longer life — not smoking, eating well, and sleeping enough — exercise stands out above the rest.ALSO READ: Comet 3I/ATLAS's bizarre behaviour sparks global alarm: Is the mysterious Manhattan-sized interstellar object a ‘black swan event’? What we know
"The data are pretty clear," Attia said. "When you look at things like cardiorespiratory fitness, when you look at muscle mass, when you look at strength, they have a much higher association than things like even cholesterol and blood pressure."
Dr Peter Attia explained that maintaining lifelong fitness requires both consistency and intensity. That means incorporating "zone two" exercise — steady activity like jogging or cycling at a pace where you can still hold a conversation — and also including sessions of "zone four" high-intensity training, the kind that leaves you breathless and unable to speak more than a few words.
Attia’s approach to fitness goes beyond the treadmill, emphasizing muscle strength—especially grip strength—as a key marker of overall health and cognitive resilience. "If you look at the correlation between grip strength and dementia risk or mortality, it's staggering," he said. "Grip strength is a proxy for overall strength, and that kind of strength is acquired, not inherited. The work you do to build it is what protects your brain."
How do you test grip strength? It's simple. For adults over 40, Attia suggests hanging from a pull-up bar — 90 seconds for women, two minutes for men — or performing a farmer's carry, walking for a minute while holding weights equal to roughly 75% of your body weight.
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Train like an athlete, says Dr Attia
To still be active in your 80s, Attia says, you must start training like an athlete in your 40s and 50s. For him, exercise is medicine. Strength training and cardiovascular conditioning are essential not just for performance, but for longevity and mental sharpness."Life is a sport," Attia said. "It comes at you fast. It's unpredictable." Dr Attia had also suggested five simple hacks that can help anyone live longer, even beyond 100. These hacks include exercise, nutrition, quality sleep, emotional and mental well-being and bone density.
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