Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity: The Million-Copy Bestseller

by Peter Attia

Like “healthspan,” exercise is another one of those overly broad blanket terms that annoy me, because it can encompass everything from a walk in the park to a hard bike ride up a mountain pass, a set of tennis, or a session in the gym lifting heavy weights. These all count as “exercise,” but they obviously have very different effects (and risks, by the way). So we will break down this thing called exercise into its most important components: strength, stability, aerobic efficiency, and peak aerobic capacity. Increasing your limits in each of these areas is necessary if you are hoping to reach your limit of lifespan and healthspan. Again, my goal is not to tell you how to lose weight fast or improve the aesthetic quality of your midsection. We want to maintain physical strength, stamina, stability across a broad range of movements, while remaining free from pain and disability. This is another area where my thinking has changed over time. I used to prioritize nutrition over everything else, but I now consider exercise to be the most potent longevity “drug” in our arsenal, in terms of lifespan and healthspan. The data are unambiguous: exercise not only delays actual death but also prevents both cognitive and physical decline, better than any other intervention.