#089 Why Exercise Intensity Matters for Longevity | CrossFit for Health 2024
FoundMyFitness
Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D.
4.8 • 5.5K Ratings
🗓️ 8 April 2024
⏱️ 51 minutes
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I recently had the privilege of presenting at the CrossFit Health Summit, where I explored a constellation of factors contributing to longevity. In this context, I placed a special emphasis on the pivotal role of vigorous exercise throughout life.
In this episode, I discuss:
- (03:12) Why "below normal" cardio may be a great starting point (for adding years to your life)
- (05:07) The simple math of 45 days of life extension (per 1 mL/kg/min VO2max)
- (05:15) Is there an upper limit to the longevity benefits of VO2 max?
- (06:12) Why poor cardiovascular fitness is nearly as bad as a chronic disease
- (06:52) Why zone 2 training may not improve VO2 max (for some people)
- (08:08) Protocols for improving VO2 max quickly
- (09:10) How to estimate VO2 max in 12 minutes (without a lab)
- (10:07) What it takes to reverse 20 years of heart aging
- (12:41) Blood pressure benefits of vigorous exercise
- (13:10) The role of blood pressure in dementia
- (13:29) The BDNF brain benefits of high-intensity exercise
- (14:05) The signaling role of lactate production by muscle
- (16:13) How training effortfully improves focus & attention
- (17:04) Protocols for maximizing BDNF from training (HR training targets and duration)
- (17:23) Anti-cancer effects of vigorous exercise
- (18:11) Why shear stress kills circulating tumor cells — an experiment in three cell lines
- (18:33) Why reducing circulating tumor cells likely greatly increases survival
- (19:00) What if you exercise in short bursts all day long?
- (20:06) Why "exercise snacks" are a crucial pre- and post-mealtime activity
- (20:49) The best ways to improve mitochondrial biogenesis — and metabolism
- (21:47) The mortality benefits of breaking up sedentary time
- (26:17) Why the protein RDA is too low (and the flawed experiments that lead to that)
- (27:19) How much protein is needed for muscle?
- (29:07) Does omega-3 reduce muscle atrophy?
- (30:41) Why we should lift for aging and to prevent the 8% per decade decline of muscle
- (32:03) Is lifting heavy necessary for gaining muscle?
- (33:06) What the sauna has in common with exercise
- (34:45) Does the sauna enhance the benefits of exercise?
- (36:44) How heat shock proteins prevent plaque aggregation & slow muscle atrophy
- (38:23) Can sauna after resistance training boost hypertrophy?
- (39:06) Sauna parameters (temperature, duration, frequency, & humidity)
- (39:59) Comparing traditional saunas to infrared
- (40:59) Are hot baths a valid sauna alternative?
- (42:15) Audience Q&A
- (42:19) Is EPA or DHA responsible for omega-3's effects on disuse atrophy?
- (43:53) Are endurance athletes at risk for cardiovascular injury?
- (44:57) What mechanisms are responsible for sauna's benefits?
- (47:08) Is a sauna temperature above 200 °F too hot?
- (49:31) My recommended sauna temperature & duration
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | For many people, cross-fit is practically synonymous |
| 0:02.7 | exercise as a concept. |
| 0:04.9 | It is self-evident that they have mastered the art of making |
| 0:07.3 | effortful, challenging training coachable. |
| 0:09.7 | And they've been doing it for quite a while, |
| 0:11.1 | making cross-fit programming one of the many |
| 0:12.9 | great options for someone starting out and wanting to tap into the |
| 0:15.8 | biologically unique benefits of vigorous intensity exercise. My athletic |
| 0:20.0 | background is that of a runner, not a crossfitter. However, working with a coach, I am finding it extremely |
| 0:25.6 | valuable to add compound multi-joint lips and many other hallmarks of cross-fit style programming |
| 0:31.1 | to my growing repertoire. |
| 0:33.0 | Whatever type of training you do, I encourage you to find something that can engage you in a way |
| 0:37.1 | that you find challenging and that you can commit to regularly. |
| 0:40.9 | In short, I encourage you to put in the effort and sweat. |
| 0:44.8 | The episode you're about to listen to is a keynote presentation I gave at the CrossFit |
| 0:48.8 | Health Summit in Austin, Texas last February. |
| 0:51.8 | There are accompanying slides on YouTube but they are not |
| 0:54.1 | necessary for the information as presented. In this presentation I cover |
| 0:58.2 | why below normal cardio may be a great starting point for adding years to your life |
| 1:01.9 | and the surprisingly simple math for |
| 1:03.8 | adding 45 days to your life with incremental V.O.2. Max improvements. |
| 1:08.0 | What protocols are scientifically proven to quickly improve V.O.2 Max and how to estimate your |
... |
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