3 Things That Lose Stubborn Belly Fat Faster Than Dieting (Based on Science) | Dr. Vonda Wright

At what age are we actually old? I believe that our perception of aging. has to do with what we view of the. future. Is there something that happens in our. 35 to 45 range that our sleep starts to. become less consistent? How do we lose that stubborn belly fat? Weight is not the measure for me. It's. body composition. I never say lose. weight. I say we're going to recompose.

your body. Why is it that the high. intensity interval training not having. the desired result? Listen. Many people die for 20 years, Jay. What's something you used to believe to. be true about health that you don't. today? If someone listening right now is. between the ages of 20 to 30, what are. those specific healthy habits that we. need to invest in that are. non-negotiable?

That is the perfect time to figure out. your life habits. Learn to prioritize. your health over those things that are. going to tear you down. said to you, I want to lose weight, what. is the best, healthiest, quickest way I. can do it? The number one health and wellness. podcast. Jay Shetty. Jay Shetty. The. one, the only, Jay Shetty. At what age are we actually old? I.

believe that our our perception of aging. has to do with what we view of the. future. I have never believed the myth that is. pervasive in this country that aging is. an inevitable decline from vitality of. youth to frailty. I've never believed that. And there have. been so many examples of people in my. own life, in the athletes I've taken. care of, and even the regular people. I believe we can change the trajectory. of our future. by investing in ourselves today. I think.

that and I've seen this not only. research. I say I think this but. research has backed this up that when we. invest in our health as a daily basis, whether it's our mobility or our sleep. or our nutrition or a variety of. relationships we have that we don't have. to go down this slippery slope to. frailty in which many people in our. country die for 20 years, Jay. Between. 60 and 80 is just three doctors visits a.

week. I believe. that we can be healthy, vital, active, joyful and hopefully. die peacefully in our sleep. But that takes intention. That takes. purposeful activity every day because. time will take over. if we just let physics take over. I I. really love that perspective that you. have and I've had experience of that. I. remember in my early 20s. obviously feeling exceptionally healthy.

from a natural standpoint. In my late 20s to early 30s almost. experiencing a dip because of a lack of. focus Yeah. and a lack of attention and. then now in my late 30s feeling the best. that I've ever felt and it's really. fascinating to see how even our ideas. and language around aging. I think we. used to say. oh well I I don't want to be 30 and. people still feel that. Oh my gosh, I'm. I'm turning 30 and then people say, oh. my gosh, I'm going to be 40 now. Oh, now.

I'm 50 and now people we age ourselves. by how we talk about age, how we dress. how we think about our age. So I want to. ask you, if someone listening right now. is between the ages of 20 to 30, what. should their priorities be? What should. they be focused on? And we'll focus on. other generations next. Absolutely. If if you're in your 20s. going into your 30s, you know, think. about that time of life. There's a lot. of uncertainty in that time, right? You're just finishing your education, you may or may not have the job of your. dreams, you may be living with your.

parents, but that is the perfect time when there. are probably still other people taking. care of you in some way. to figure out your life habits. Right, that is not the time to skate along on. your youthful zest or your youthful. biology, but learn to sleep. Learn to prioritize. your health over, for instance, those. things that are going to tear you down. I mean, listen, we're all young, we all.

want to go out, we all want to burn the. midnight oil, but now is the time to respect yourself. enough to make the decisions to say, "Okay, 5 days a week, I'm going to focus. on my career. I'm going to focus on. getting ahead. I am going to take care. of my body. And because I'm young, I can play around. a few days." But if we do that 7 days a. week, we end up, a decade later, with no. habits, probably. this beer belly we never wanted, and. you're getting teased with our friends.

So, I think it's time now, as we're. enjoying our youth, to develop habits. that will last a lifetime. How much. harder is it in our 30s and then in our. 40s. to shift to those healthy habits than if. we started earlier? I think if we start. earlier, it's just our lifestyle. It's. how we live, right? It. often, and I tell people this at any. age, that as we're layering on our. health habits, it may seem like a lot at first, but if it's just how we live,

then it's no extra stress, right? For. instance, if you're used to mobility. almost every day, if you're used to. making food choices that do not involve. a lot of fried foods, or or you. understand that you can't be drunk every. night and still be healthy, then it is no effort to live that way. Versus, oh my gosh, I've got to do these. five or six things. Does that make. sense? Yeah, but biologically, how much harder. is it to like say lose that belly fat?

The good news is is that recently a. study was um released that showed our. first big hit of biologic aging. is about 40. Now, that doesn't mean that you. that mean, yeah? That means that at a. cellular level, the repair mechanisms. become less efficient. It means that our. our pluripotent stem cells, which we. have not only from our bone marrow, but. in every cell, are are actually less young. That being said, lifestyle can.

rejuvenate those and we've done our own. we've done That's part of my research. having done those studies. But so when I say at 40 it's the first. big hit, our our actual intracellular. biology becomes less efficient. We are. able to clear the toxins of metabolism. less efficiently. We're able to produce. the proteins that our cells make in. normal living from our DNA less. effectively. So, I don't want to give 30-year-olds a. pass. I call the the time between 35 and.

45 the critical decade to just to get. everything established, to get in the. best shape of your life, so that you're. actually starting midlife. because when you look at life. expectancy, midlife is 40, right? And so we tend to think, oh, when. I get old. Well, 40 is midlife. If we. arrive there having taken care of the. habits, it is significantly easier.

Now, it's easier to start at 40 than it. is at 65. I don't want to be. discouraging to people if you've missed. the boat on 20s, 30s, but that's what I. mean by biologically there's a big hit. about 44. So, I'm 37 right now. I'm 7. years away. from the end of that from that first. hit. Yeah. What would be the top priorities. for someone between that 35 to 45? What. are those specific healthy habits that. we need to invest in that are.

non-negotiables? With the experience of age and and and. working this long, your top priority is. to figure out how to sleep through the. night. Because secondarily, if I tell you to go. build muscle mass. and to work on your VO2 max, which we. can talk about all those things, if. you're exhausted, if you are not uh. aware of your circadian rhythm and and. when you should be going to sleep and. when you're waking up, you will not have. the energy or the brainpower to do the.

secondary things, which number two is. mobility. I'm an orthopedic surgeon, it's top of mind for me. Where. everybody's talking about it now. We're. to building muscle mass. But, what. people forget about. is this is prime time in both men and. women's lives to build your bone. We top. out at bone density uh around 30, right? So, what does that mean? Well, we need. the thickest, strongest bones because we. literally do live off that for the rest.

of our lives. Now, we can get into this, but you can build bone back, but you. need the best bones. And that's what I would focus on muscle. and bone. And then finally, everybody. needs to not treat their bodies like a. garbage can. We are not a trash. disposal. Everything can't go in. This. is a temple. This is a meticulously. designed machine. And just like we would take care of the. machines of our cars by what we put in.

it, we many people don't think of their. bodies in the same way. Yeah, so well. said and so simply put. I deeply. appreciate how practical and thoughtful. they are. Let's dive into each one of. them. Is there something that happens in our. 35 to 45 and onward range that our sleep. starts to become less consistent? Well, particularly for women, 40 to 45 becomes a critical time. that they might not even be aware of.

because what we know, and you've you've. probably heard of this before, I've. heard it on your podcast, women are born with the amount of eggs. that we're ever going to have at birth. It's a miracle, right? And we slowly use. those such that at age 40, we only have. 1% left. Well, it's our eggs that make. our estrogen. So, as our total number of. eggs decline, so does our estrogen. And. that's about the time when women go from.

this normal cyclic pattern of hormones. up and down to haywire. And that's when we don't build muscle as. well. We don't build bone as well. But, our sleep becomes disturbed because. our circadian rhythm is off. And so, it is not uncommon for women in their. 40s, this is such a common time. We're. all waking up at 3:37 in the morning, not only because our sugar is dipping. and our bodies are waking us up to to.

save our lives, but because of the. hormonal fluctuations. So, sleep becomes. really difficult. But, think about in. our early 40s, because many women have chosen to put. off childbearing, they may have just. come off of the time when their children. are up all night, and now they're. plagued by not being able to sleep. So, it becomes a real big problem. For men, men don't realize it, but. men can start losing testosterone in. their early 40s, too. And the caveat to that is your.

testosterone may still be in the normal. range 250 to over 1,000, but most people. don't most men don't check their. testosterone when they're 20 or 30. So, you still may be in the normal. range, but your normal I'm making a. random person out here. Your normal may. be 850 and now you're 450. So, for your. body, it's a dramatic change and that. affects sleep cycles and everything. So, that's. that's why sleep in our 40s becomes more. difficult. That is fascinating. I don't.

think I've ever heard both those. explanations for it Yeah. in that way. So, what do we do about it? Because I. know so many people, so many friends. Yeah. that are going through exactly. what you're saying. Their sleep has. started to decline. They wake up more. often in the middle of the night. They. find it harder to go back to sleep. What changes do they need to make? Because if sleep is the pillar of. everything that we're about to talk. about, I think it's really important. that we help people figure that out. I. totally agree with you because there was.

a there was a time in my life when I. didn't sleep in graduate school and then. I had a baby and then I was in residency. and it frightens me how much sleep I. lost because we know now it's so. critical for longevity and biology, but. the things I'm about to say to you are. not rocket science and let and yet I. find. it they're hard for people to get. in a habit of doing. Mhm. Science shows. us. we must go to bed and wake up at the.

same time. to set our our daily clock. You know, during the night we build up a. protein called adenosine. We wake up and. it's at our highest. We try to see the sun unless we're in. the dead of winter and to to start our. our day. But if we have uneven sleep schedules, then that clock is off. So, protecting. your go to bed time and protecting your. waking up time. So, for instance, I live. on the East Coast, where on the West.

Coast, I have stayed on East Coast time. Mhm. And. That happens to me when I come the other. way. do that? Yes. And then you're not exhausted or. jet-lagged. It's a little weird if you. have to do business or go out, but. if I'm having a party at my house, I'm. like, "See yourselves out, guys. You. have fun. I'm going to bed. It's 9:30.". So, for our house, it's 9:30 to 5:00, like clockwork. Number one. Number two, I. am not a holder to intermittent fasting, but what I am a holder to is time.

restricted, meaning I'm going to eat as. early as possible so that by 9:30. everything is out of my digestive. system. I'm spending no energy, and that. helps us sleep better. Number three, I. always say don't throw rocks at me, but. in midlife, especially for midlife. women, alcohol is a total sleep. disruptor. Because when we're young, we. think, "Oh, of course it makes me sleep. better." What it does is it makes us. pass out. But if you're tracking your. sleep, you'll see that you're not.

entering into the really deep sleep. levels. And And this is being talked. about a lot lately. Except I don't see people adjusting to. it. I mean, when I. I find that when I work with my. longevity patients, they're all they're. willing to do almost anything. except give up the glass or two or four. of wine at dinner because it's so. cultural. It's so almost like a ritual, and people come to believe that they. need that to relax, when in fact, it. inhibits their sleep. So, timing of.

sleep, we talked about. not eating 3 hours, we've talked about. alcohol. And then, you know, something I do, something that's very helpful is I take. my magnesium, which is a a supplement. that I think most people need, especially for bones, at night. I I. suggest that women, if they're taking. progesterone, take it at night. And then all the other lifestyle things, blue glasses,

turn off your phones, which I find hard. to do personally, but. those are all legitimate ways to help. regulate. And then as things as silly as. if you find you're waking up at 3:37. every morning like clockwork, you know. what the clock is going to say, that may be your blood sugar. And I know. it's my blood sugar because I often wear. a. uh continuous glucose monitor. So if you eat a little bit of protein. right before bed, just a titch, not a. meal, not enough to disrupt this other. advice I've given you,

that will make your sugar not dip so low. and your liver will not and your body. will not wake you up because your body. wakes you up. I know it because I wear a. CGM. When I wake up that way, my blood. sugar is 50 or 40 and my body's just. trying to save my life. And what do you. want it to be when you wake up? Well, uh. fasting blood glucose should be 85 or. lower. That is the level that we should. all strive for. Not 100, not 110, which. many people walk around with in midlife.

85. If we do not want to be a burden to. other people, then we must take care of. ourselves. We can maintain our bone. density into our 80s. How do we do it? I want to dispel a myth. right now that is so common in the. population. that is there is no evidence that Do you. want healthy, great-looking skin without. spending a ton of time on it? If you. answered yes, and let's be honest, who. wouldn't, Dove Men Plus Care Body and. Face Scrub is your ultimate hack for.

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hack your grooming routine and add the. Dove Men + Care scrub into your shower. When we're talking about people. struggling with falling asleep and. waking up at the same time, you're a mother. I am. You've We were talking about your. wonderful daughter earlier and and other. children and. when you look at that and you look at. that time in your life when you were. staying up and taking care of your kids. and having erratic wake-up and sleep. times, how do you get that back? Can you get.

that back or is that just a period that. you write off and accept that it's not. that sleep. You know, I don't believe. there's any research that shows that I. can restock 11 years of not sleeping, but my obligation to myself now is to. start today. We can reverse the hands of. time by the lifestyle we do today. I can. become biologically younger, but I don't honestly think that I can. get back 11 years of sleep. But if we. continue in those habits, we just. perpetuate the badness, right? What can.

we do during those years for the women. that listening, the parents that are. listening? What can you do during those. years where that piece of advice is. going to be impossible to follow? Naturally, what can they do to cushion. that impact? Well, and this is so. pertinent. Uh. I lived through it. I have daughters who. are having children now. Simple things like. children can be scheduled. They will. learn to go to bed at a certain time and. wake up at a certain time. Not newborn.

infants, but once you they get big. enough, about 3 months, 6 months, depending how big they are, they can learn a schedule. So, let's. schedule them. They might wake up in the. middle of the night, it always happens. But, if there's no schedule, children. feel a little insecure and will wake up. more. So, that's number one. Number two, give yourself the grace. I want to talk. to all young parents. Give yourself the. grace. that when your child goes down for a. nap, young children less than 3 years.

old usually have two naps a day. Give. yourself the grace that the minute they. go to sleep, you don't have to go clean. the house or get on email and lay down. and sleep, too. Just collect sleep, right? And then all the other habits, you know, if you may feel like you need a a glass. of wine to relax, that's just going to. disrupt your sleep more. So, those are. simple things. I think the biggest thing. that I just said. is young parents, please give yourselves. the grace.

It's an imperfect time in your life. You can't be in control of everything. and your child is not going to break. Children are so resilient. So, I I as an old mother, I'm saying. that to the young mothers. There's no. perfect way. The young parents, there's. no perfect way. But, have the grace to. take the rest. Leave the dishes in the. sink. Do not think that everything has. to be perfect in that really. chaotic time in your life. Yeah, I think. one of the things that is really.

challenging people right now is our. cortisol levels are so high. We think of or we've trained ourselves. to believe. that certain things help us rest and. decompress. But, as you were saying with alcohol, they don't really. And I think the. same's true for watching something. And I used to always feel like, okay, well, I can stay up because I want to. watch my favorite show. But, actually. that decompression that I get from.

watching a show versus if I change that. for sleep, the sleep would have been far. more relaxing and rejuvenating. So, say. I finish all my daily chores and and. everything that I have to do at 10:00. p.m. If I had the choice to get into bed. at 10:00 and fall asleep or watch a show. for an hour and a half or an hour or. whatever it is, it'll be better for me. to go to sleep, but we've trained. ourselves to believe, "No, the drink or. the show will make me feel better.". Right. How do we How do we kind of deal. with that emotional feeling that makes. us say, "Well, the show and the glass of.

wine is better." versus like, "No, this. rest is actually going to do more work. than any of that good." I think rituals. is which is what you're talking about. You have a ritual of relaxing with wine, a ritual of watching a show. I think. rituals in life are actually helpful. The bedtime ritual cannot be. stimulating, right? It doesn't mean that you can't watch 20. minutes of something that's relaxing, but please do not overstimulate your. brain with some murder mystery or some,

you know, I don't even know the shows. where people shoot each other, right? That's not going to relax your nervous. system, right? We want So, the ritual of. slowing down, maybe some rom-com or. something non-stressful or some. something with beautiful music. It's. okay to have a ritual of drinking. something, but I find hot tea or. something soothing. The ritual then will help you train your. body to go to sleep. But, the ritual.

can't be stimulating. It's. self-defeating. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm. sorry, because of streaming, the show. will be there tomorrow. It's not like. it's the only time you'll have it. available. Yeah, it's not like it used. to be. Absolutely. And what's alcohol. actually doing? Why is it disrupting our. sleep? Why is it that we can't get deep. sleep with alcohol? What's What's. actually going on? You know, and I'm not. a sleep expert, but I I think it changes. the way we enter into REM sleep. It. changes the depth of us being able to. descend into the deeper and at a.

molecular level, I don't know. But what. I do know from having reading enough and. watching my own I don't want to say. brands out loud, but watching my own. device, I can see that and I don't drink. anymore actually, but I used to see how I just would never. end into up in deeper sleep. Yeah, I. know. Definitely. I think it's it's. really fascinating to hear that. What's. the um. We're talking about this. powerful decade of 35 to 45.

What's happening to our bones and. muscles? Yes. During that time if we do nothing? Well, if we sit around and do nothing, then. most of us in this country live in. relative energy excess, right? It's not. that we're in a relative energy. deficiency, which is its own set of. problems, but excess. So, our with. excess and sedentary living, our body has to get rid of the glucose. we consume. So, in our bodies, whether. we're eating protein or a fat or.

carbohydrates, it's all used for fuel. And when we over. fuel, it's going to accumulate. So, we're going to gain weight as fat. And I. want to distinguish that for for all of. us that. weight. is not the measure for me. It's body. composition. Mhm. Because it's I once. was invited to Fashion Week and I.

was a fish out of water, but one of the. things I observed is that there were. very, very thin women. who if I put them in a body composition. machine, probably had very, very low muscle mass. So, it's very possible to look thin, but. be mostly fat, which is metabolically. unfavorable. So, imagine what happens if. we're actually visualizing the adipose. tissue. and you know, as we age, there is a. syndrome called sarcobesity,

which means we have too much adipose. tissue and too little muscle. So, if we're in relative energy excess, we're going to accumulate that unhealthy. metabolic tissue and not make enough. muscle. I'm going to tell you, I mean, I'm a surgeon, right? Our bodies with. energy excess, they're like scrambling. The closet's full, the cupboards are. full. Where are we going to put this. fat? I find it in the shoulder joint, which is not supposed to have that much.

fat. I find it infiltrating muscle as. I'm operating cuz our body is just. trying to stick it places cuz there's. just too much of it. That's what. happens, especially because many, many. jobs now. are sedentary jobs. They're brain jobs. They're not laborious jobs where. actually getting up and using our. bodies, which frankly is what we're. designed for. We're designed to move. So, it's kind of against nature to sit. around all day, but that's what happens.

Yeah, and that's so scary to hear. Yeah. Because as you said, the older we get, the harder it will be to lose. But. here's the good news. You can totally. reverse that. But I hate The reason I. pointed out weight is because. the words we use are I'm going to lose. weight. I never say that. I say we are. going to recompose your body. We are. going to build muscle. And in doing so, we will replace muscle with fat. Muscle. weighs more than fat for per volume.

And so, your weight may not change, but. your composition will be vastly. different and therefore your metabolism. Yeah, I've been working on that. consistently probably just for the last. 6 months. Yes. And I saw drastic shifts in my. skeletal muscle mass. My weight. practically stayed the same, but my body composition is what was. changing. And doesn't it feel and look different? It feels and looks different completely, but it was fascinating to me and it was. exactly what you were saying. It was.

uh weight training, eating more protein. in my diet, cutting out sugars, and and it was it. was simple changes. But it was incredible to see how it. looked different on paper, it felt. different, it looked different in real. life. But my weight was exactly the. same. Exactly, right. Yeah. And it doesn't take that long. What would you say if someone says, "I. want to change my body composition?" If. someone said to you, "I want to lose. weight." In their words, in your words,

change their body composition. "I want. to lose weight. What is the best, healthiest, quickest way I can do it?" I. work mainly with midlife people, 40 to. 65. And in midlife people, here's the. secret sauce. We are going to lift heavy. We're going to stop doing. the youthful 20 reps, 15 reps of a. weight. We are going to do, for women, my recipe is four reps, four sets. For men, it can be eight.

reps, uh four sets. But what does that mean? Of the four compound lifts, a push pull. with the upper body. So bench press, pull ups or some pull, right? That's the. upper body compound motions. Meaning, in simple words, that we use multiple. muscles across multiple joints. For the. leg, it's squats and deadlifts. Four reps, four sets. At least twice a week. Better four if we can fit it in, but.

I'll take two. if we can't do four. And then we augment those with. supportive lifts. So for a bench press, four reps, four sets, heavy weights, the the supplemental lifts are biceps, triceps, lat They're cosmetic muscles. that we see. consistently doing that. Number one, number two, you have to feed that muscle. build with protein, right? It's all that. everybody's talking about it right now. It's the truth. Great research has shown. that even, and I don't suggest this, but.

even a higher protein diet alone will. help your body build muscle mass even. without lifting. I don't suggest it, but. that's what the data show. Here Here is something. that is the recomposer. So, you're. lifting, you're feeding, and you're sprinting. And sprinting, I know, right? Sprinting. does not mean you're running down a. track like Usain Bolt. Sprinting is a heart rate function. So, I like people to do their cardio.

really in three ways, but it's layered. on. Number one, 80% of the time we're. spending in low heart rate base. training. This is based on endurance. athlete data from Iñigo San Millán, who. who has a lab in my building. That's. That's why I use his method, but low. heart rate. 80% of the time, twice a week. we sprint, which means we're getting our. heart rate up as fast as it can go. Now, I happen to do mine on a treadmill, and.

I'm running as fast as I can without. falling off the back, but you could do. it on a rower, you could do it on an. elliptical, you could do it on one of. those Alpine machines or on the road. running up these hills here. It doesn't. matter, but you're leaving nothing in. the tank. That is different. than high-intensity interval training. when you're going at 75 to 85, and that's when a lot of people get hurt. and have to come to the orthopedic. surgeon because they do that 5 days a. week. What I'm asking you to do is do. strategic stress as high heart rate as.

your heart or your cardiologist will let. you go twice a week. It is that stimulus. coupled with heavy lifting, coupled with. feeding, that's going to recompose your. body. Wow. seen it time and time and again. Why is. it that the high-intensity interval. training is not having the desired. result? It is. too intense to truly be restorative, to. truly that the base training, to truly. which is about 60 65 of your maximum.

heart rate, to truly be restorative, to. truly allow your mitochondria, which are. the energy. uh organelles in your body, to become efficient, to use all the food. substrates, but it is not stressful enough to really. stimulate your body, especially for. women in midlife who have lost their. estrogen by and large, or for men whose. testosterone is you need that kind of. stimulus for your body to think, "Oh my. god, I really need to lay on.

uh some muscle and change my body. composition." And listen, I used to do. high-intensity interval training every. day because I get bored, and I'm like, "I'm just going to sprint this out." But. it wasn't at the top of my heart rate. It was just below it. This is what. happens. You do that 5 days a week, you develop. muscle imbalances, you you get hurt, you come to your orthopedic surgeon, they say, "Rest," which I actually don't. believe in. I believe in active. recovery, for 3 weeks. Well, your brain gets angry.

at you because it's used to the daily. dopamine hit, and it's just a miserable way to cycle. in and out of injury. So, this 80/20. method not only backed up by great. scientists, but I I've seen it in me, I've seen it in the people I take care. of it. It is the key to recomposition. Mhm. So, we've got the 80%. low heart rate, we've got the 20%. sprinting. When you've got that down and it's your. lifestyle, then uh what I would love for.

people to do is work on their VO2 max. Mhm. Talk to me about that. VO2 max is. the absolute measure of your fitness. It's oxygen, how your oxygen is. diffusing uh from your blood to your. lungs and your heart's using it, right? VO2 max. unaided, unsupplemented, will decline 10% per. decade as we age. We just get less. efficient. Yes. Our our stroke volume,

which is how much blood your heart pumps. out ex. releases per pump. Uh the diffusion. across your lungs. It all declines with. age. Unless you work on it. But why is that. important? You're like, "Oh good, my VO2. max." Why is that important? Here's why. it's important. There is a line called. the fragility line, the frailty line, after which you can no longer take care. of yourself, which none of us It's hard. to fathom now in midlife or in youth,

but many 70, 80, 90-year-olds get to it. And what it means. with a VO2 max less than 18 for the man, less than 16 for the woman, which is the frailty line, you can't. take care of yourself. You're going to. have to move out of this house or move. in with your children or God forbid move. to a nursing home. Cuz if you can't get. up from a chair, you can't take care of. yourself. So, here's how it goes. I. usually give people my example just so. the numbers mean something. So, when I.

was 50, I did my the last time I did my. VO2 max, and it hurts. So, people don't. like to do it very often. But uh my VO2. max is 45. If I did nothing, by the time. I was 60, using round numbers, it would. be 40. At 70, it would be 35. At 80, it would be 30. 90, 25. At no point in my life. will I cross the frailty line. So, we got to work on that because you. can increase your VO2 max so you never.

reach that frail. So, how do you do it? It's a different kind of working out. So, sprinting, you sprint for 30 seconds. and then you completely recover. Four times, right? Nothing in between. No weights No weights in You just You. just get off the treadmill and you rest. You recover. Your heart rate comes back. down. Takes me a couple minutes, two or. three minutes. For VO2 max training, it's 4 minutes as. hard as you can go. So, it's slower than.

your sprint, but it's still full out for. 4 minutes. And then you only recover for 4 minutes. and then you do it again. So, Twice. Three times. So, it's very stressful, but that's what. will build your VO2 max. So, it seems like a lot to say it all at. once, but once you layer it on, you do. VO2 max once a week. Just once a week? Yeah, just do it on Mondays. How did we. evolve to need that kind of training. because it seems so specific and.

mathematical and. Well, it's specific and mathematical. because some brilliant PhD has figured. out that this is how you do it, but I. think that historically. when we had to hunt our food, not being able to get up out of a chair. is a bad thing for hunter-gatherers, right? And so, I think we would just get. it in our lifestyle. We would be walking. all day to forage. We would be stalking. something and then we're sprinting.

to go catch it, right? I think it's I. think it's the way we lived. Yeah. And we don't live that way. So, now we have to have this formula. That's. interesting. Yeah, I know. That's what I. was trying to place. I was like, that's. so fascinating that this 4 minutes 4. minutes off. And when you hear about. these things, you go, well, how did. humans get there? That's kind of where. my mind goes. Yeah, but think of the way a lioness. hunts. If If If we do an analogy to a. hunter, lioness will stalk their prey for a very. long time. And then they.

they rush. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Never. thought about that. But it makes a lot. of sense. And we're not running after. our food, but Not most days. Yeah. For the people that are going to be mad. if I don't ask this question. Okay. How do we lose that stubborn belly. fat? Number one, let's give ourselves. some grace that this is the way the. human body is. Any person who's had a child is going to. be transformed. And that is that is just the way it is,

right? Don't crucify yourself. That being said, if we're living in a. time of excess energy all the time, the. way that I've described for you, the. high-intensity. interval. Let's clarify that. The sprint intervals. plus the weight lifting. is what's going to transform your body. And you may never get rid of that extra. little inch, but you'll get rid of most. of it. You'll get rid of the back fat,

you'll get rid of the heavy hips people. don't like. And you will decrease visceral fat, the. fat that is inside. smothering your organs. will decrease. And that's what we really. want, right? What's the difference. between. the good fat and the bad fat around our. belly? Because I feel like we don't know. the difference. The the peripheral fat. is that which you can pinch, whether. it's on your hips or in your belly. around your belly button. That's not the.

fat that's going to really kill you. That's the annoying fat. That fat does make a a a protein called. leptin, which is bad for your. metabolism. It is bad for your bones. But it is the visceral fat, the fat that. you can only see on a body composition. or an MRI, that literally we've got this. apron in our body, under our skin, under. there's a layer called fascia. It's. white like you would see on a on a. steak. Um it's an apron of fat over our.

organs. It's a protective. Well, that. gets thicker and then fat is deposited. around our organs and that fat, the. visceral fat, is metabolically different. than the peripheral that you can pinch. And it's that visceral fat that is what. causes chronic inflammation that leads. to disease. So, yes, cosmetically we want get to get rid. of the peripheral fat, but metabolically. we got to control the belt the deep. visceral fat. You work with so many athletes and I.

just want to. I want to kind of go on from that. tangent before we come back, but. I wonder with the athletes you've worked. with and to your earlier comments around. models and being at Fashion Week. Yeah. I was going to ask you, which. sport do you find the actually. healthiest people in versus just. fittest? Or what what is the difference. and how do you see it? Does that make. think about that. Yeah. Yeah. I'll give. you three examples and I'll tell you. why. I think soccer players have the best.

cardiovascular machine because on. average a a high-level soccer player. will run 6 to 10 miles on the pitch over. the course of the 90 minutes at. different speeds, right? Maybe they're. jogging up the pitch and then they're. sprinting, right? So, they're getting it. all in. And usually they're muscular people, but. they look more like runners than than. people who lift weights, even though I. know they do, right? So, that's that's. one group. Mhm. The other group that I've had the. privilege of taking care of that I think.

get it all in are rugby players. Mhm. They're running up their pitch, they're sprinting, but they have to be. full of muscle because if you've seen. both male and female rugby players, they. are physically lifting each other up as. they If no one's seen rugby, they're not. going to know what I'm talking about but. they. you know rugby. Yeah. So, they lift each. other up to catch the ball in the air. That takes tremendous strength not to. mention rocking and I mean just the. engagement they do.

I love rugby so much. They're just. penultimate. The other group of athletes. that I think are tremendous both in. cardiovascular muscle believe it or not. I've taken care of care of three. professional ballet companies. The Pittsburgh, the Atlanta, the. Orlando. Ballet dancers are some of the best. athletes I've ever taken care of. And they do it such grace. You would. never know how hard it is but it's. aerobic and it's muscular. What are the. sports where you see the least healthy.

least fit athletes? know, I think at an elite level all. athletes are healthy because do not be. fooled by the field athletes, the shot. putters, the discus, the javelin. You. may think that they're not fit. because they're carrying extra body fat. but they are tremendous specimens, right? So, body morphology can't predict. it. Gosh, I'll get in a lot of trouble. for this. I was I was once the uh. twice the head football doctor for. division one schools of Pittsburgh and.

Georgia State and linemen are not always. the most healthy people. They're strong, they're carrying a lot of extra weight. So, and that bears out because. on average is the sad statistics on. average a professional football lineman. offensive or defensive. they die of metabolic syndrome in their. 50s and 60s. They turn out not to be. that healthy. And so, I feel like as a. sports medicine community we need to do. better for them but to answer your.

question, maybe it's that. Yeah. Yeah, I know I was just intrigued. and curious because I think. we have a vision of what we think. fitness and health looks like. Yeah. And like you said, often we think. people who are the leanest or people who. are the skinniest or people who are the. most built or whatever it may be. And I think that's partly our challenge. when we talk about these things because. most of us are wanting to get healthy. either from an aesthetic point of view.

You want your summer body. You want your. whatever it may be. And then from the other side, there's. this feeling from some of us who are. just like, I just want to be healthy. I. want to be fit enough to take care of my. kids. I want to be healthy enough so. that I can spend time with my grandkids. How should someone measure their fitness. and health right now if they're. listening? Because a lot of people will. say, especially when they're younger. or on the younger side, they'll say, "Well, I feel okay.". So, how do I know if I'm okay, safe, unhealthy? Like, what do How do I.

feel that or experience that? You know. what? I love that you said okay because. I find a lot of people come to me or. maybe you're asking someone on the. street, "How are you?" "I'm fine.". You know, that fine. I think. many people, because we're so busy, we're taking care of other people. I'm. not blaming them, but we live in this. state of fine. We're neither hot nor cold. We're this. lukewarm health. We're not dying, but we. are not truly optimized, right?

So, if you're exhausted, if you have. trouble sleeping, if you don't have. enough energy to do the things that you. truly believe that you enjoy in life, maybe you're fine. Maybe we should invest some time and. actually get some analytics. You know, uh sometimes when I'm bringing. people to surgery in the pre-operative. time, um we're asking them questions. about their health and do you have this, do you have that? And people will say, "I have no health problems." Well, if. you've never been checked, if you've. never had labs drawn, if you've never.

been examined, it's not that you're not that you're. have no problems. It's that you don't. don't know. know. So, I would answer that question by. saying, if you don't have enough energy, if you if you're dragging at work, if. you can't and truly enjoy life, if you. don't some days feel like a total badass. because you're full of energy and strong. and maybe you're fine, but you're not optimized. And let's. invest some time. and see where you are. What's the ideal. length of workout if someone's working.

out 4 days a week? I don't think there's. an ideal length. You know, some days my. weight lifting takes me 30 minutes. because I power through it and sometimes. it takes an hour. I think ideally, if. we're talking about this cardio 80/20. regiment, it's 45 minutes of base. training and if you're adding sprinting, that usually takes another 15 minutes. So, weight lifting can take I don't think. you have to be there 3 hours unless you. just want to hang out in the gym. So, it. doesn't take forever and it's not about.

time, it's about what you put in that. time. Yeah, because I think a lot of. people are. feeling like I only have 20 minutes a. day. Is that true? Is that enough? Is that. true? Do we only. me. You you. Do we only have 20 minutes a day? I've been doing this a very long time. and. and I tease people. that you can't out excuse me. Because over the I've been practicing 25. years and I've had the privilege of. taking care of probably 100,000 people. I have heard all the excuses. And there are sometimes when you.

legitimately. do not have time. But I would say that is the fraction of. the time, not the reality of the time. And. to the I don't have 20 minutes, I ask you to examine how literally, and. I'm guilty of this, how long we're. scrolling. How long we're washing our dishes. Do. you really have to spend 3 hours every. night cleaning your house because that's. what makes you feel not anxious. at the expense of your health. So, I.

think you have more than 20 minutes if. that's what you tell me. It is so. interesting. I was looking at it from. the point of view of relationships. I. was looking at some research that was. talking about how. you know, we we say we don't have time. together, but the amount of time as a. couple we spend in front of the TV Yeah. is astronomical. It's like I think it's. something like 90 minutes a day minimum. Mhm. And we're missing out on together time, we're missing out on connection time. And I was looking at it from a purely. romantic take Yeah. intimate.

perspective, but then when you look at. it through health. And and I think for a lot of us what. I've found it is is allowing our. friendships and our romantic. relationships to be around fitness. I. remember a friend, couple of my friends. in the city, we've decided that whenever. we're hanging out together, we're. playing pickleball Yes. for 1 and 1/2. hours, 2 hours. Yeah. Then we may go out. for dinner after that. Yeah. But we're playing pickleball for a. consistent amount of time. We're all. getting a workout or we're going on a. hike. And that's now become a form of.

bonding and friendship. Yes. rather than oh, let's go out for. dinner. Mhm. And the dinner was great, we got to enjoy it, but now we're. sedentary, we're sitting there for a. couple of hours. Maybe some people, I. don't drink and most a few of my friends. don't drink, but the ones who are, they're now drinking, whereas if we're. out playing sports, they wouldn't be. thinking about that. And same with me. and my wife, we found that cold plunging. together or going to the infrared sauna. together, taking a book or taking our. journal or whatever it may be, we had to. start replacing activities because you.

may not have enough time to do it all, but the main form of connection can be. around a fitness activity, and actually. you both end up feeling better about. yourselves, you feel better about each. other, and whether it's a friend or a or. a partner, I feel like everyone walks. away from that experience having gained. something rather than, you know, doing. anything else. And so, in the in the. beginning it may take a reframe, Mhm. but it transforms your relationships and. it transforms your health. And if you're. just beginning a relationship or a.

friendship or. even deep into it, the endorphins that you release from the. strategic stress actually increase. bonding. So, it's like a a triple. goodness. It's fitness, it's. relationship, it's increased bonding at. a chemical level. Yeah. Yeah. Explain. Tell me more Tell us more about that. When you exercise, our body releases. uh hormones that are endorphins. It's. It's that high you feel. And having that. shared experience or.

what if you're doing something like rock. climbing and it's a little terrifying. and the and the oxytocin and and the. bonding chemicals that are released. because you're terrified in this. experience, those actually bond people. You know, that's why. people that go through hard experiences. together end up as a. band of brothers or a or a tight-knit. group. So, that can happen in. relationship. So, advice out there if. you. if you want to bond with this person, do. something frightening with them, right?

Yeah, I know. I You know what? I. completely agree with that. One of my. first dates that I went on with my wife. when we were dating was we went to a. ropes course. Oh my goodness. And it was so much fun because there was. like trusting each other, helping each. other, and there was that sense of. thrill. And I couldn't agree more that I. think when you do I remember the first. time me and my wife went skydiving, we. did it together. The first time we cold. plunged, we did it together. Wow. And you're so right. It creates a. different connection when you both done. something hard together. And also. something that's I think as couples we.

do People have to go through so many. emotional hardships together, it's nice. to do something physically challenging. together. Exactly. carrying this emotional weight or stress. because that's something you probably. have on in the background anyway. And so. this applies for that. Yeah, I think if. you're someone that struggles with. finding time, think about the way you. spend time with the people you love. And. maybe you don't have an extra 20 minutes. or 30 minutes, but you can change the 30. minutes you spend with your friend, or. you don't have an extra hour, but you.

can change the way you spend the hour. with your partner, and all of a sudden. everything's changing. It's meaningful. It's meaningful. Yeah, it's meaningful. And like you said, it's it's giving us. so many other benefits. You mentioned. magnesium earlier. I did. And we were talking about the. need for stronger bones. Yes. What can we do to strengthen our bones? Because I don't think that's a. conversation that we're having that. much. You know what? I am going to I'm so glad. you came back to that because we think. of bones. as just like the strong, silent type.

hanging out, holding up our muscles. They don't say. much. That's right. Don't pay attention to our. bones. But the fact of the matter is. that without bones, muscle, which we're. all enamored with right now, is just a. quivering pile of metabolic tissue. The. structure of you, the fact that people recognize you, it's. because your bones are holding up your. soft tissue, right? And I love to bear. with me. I like to think about the. importance of bones as even culturally.

I mean, Halloween in this country, you. view bones as this scary death object, but. bones are living. They replace every 10. years. They are the source of all the. minerals that your body needs. They are the housing of our internal. organs. They are where our immune system is. made. The our hema- our hematopoietic. system is made in our bones. Our bones. are master communicators releasing. many proteins including one.

called osteocalcin. Osteocalcin from the bones. can go to the brain. and cause release of brain neurotrophic. factor, which builds neurons. It can go. to the pancreas and the muscles and help. you with sugar. levels. And for men, it goes to the. testicles and helps produce. testosterone. So, just when we think. bones are kind of boring, bones are amazing. But even culturally, many cultures.

Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, many. Eastern cultures. talk about the re-. the reanimation of bones. Bones are are. thought to house the soul in some. cultures. And so, it's only here that. we're like, "Oh, skeletons." And you. know what? When we die, everything goes. away except the bones. It's the last. record of ourselves, right? So, how do we build better bones? And.

that's why we need better bones, right? To That's yeah, that yeah, that just. that just clicked for me. That's all. those reasons are why, but how? How we build better bones? Let's talk. nutritionally. Bones are 50% protein. It. goes back to the same principles. We're. not adding on more principles. We're. just Can we please pay attention to. eating protein? Can we eat a non-inflammatory diet? So, we're not eating seed oils and fried. foods and those things that make us hot.

red fire inside. Can we please make sure we're getting. enough vitamin D? Even in sunny places, we slather ourselves, we stay inside, we. need vitamin D, we need magnesium, a lot of trace minerals like selenium. and boron and zinc. We get those in our. food. If you really want to be. conscientious, you eat six prunes a day. But nutritionally, that's how we take. care of our bones. Our bones must have.

impact. One of the early studies I did. on active aging asked the question, can. we maintain our bone density? And if we. can, what does it take? And I studied. masters athletes 40 and over and I found. that number one, yes, we can maintain. our bone density into our 80s. How do we do it? Impact exercise. So, I add to every. regiment that I've already told you most. of it, right? The lifting, the aerobic, the nutrition, I add to every regiment a.

jumping practice. Whether it's box jumping for impact, whether it's jumping up and down 20. times a day, whether it's 10 minutes. three times a week where we're. uh jumping over little hurdles or out in. a plastic hexagon. It is the impact. because this is how bones work. There's. there's a law called Wolff's law that. just summarizes that the mechanical. stimulation, biomechanical stimulation,

is translated by our little bone cells, osteo uh cytes, into biochemical. messages. Biomechanical stimuli, like jumping up. and down, is translated into biochemical. stimulus that tells. the bone building cells, which are the. osteoblasts, to build more bone. So, literally, get out the jump rope, jump. up and down, run up and down the stairs, and it has to be a little impactful. Literally, you got to. bash your bones a little bit. That's how. you build better bones. Is that why.

functional exercises like squats and. stairs and things like that are somewhat. better than machine exercises inside. gyms? I prefer functional with free. weights and barbells because it requires. then you work all of your muscles and it. requires neuromuscular pathways to keep. you upright, right? It requires balance. Versus a machine, you're sitting there. on a leg press, and frankly, we need to work our muscles in the way. that our body works our muscles, and.

there's no time in the history of people. that your quadriceps are working sitting. on a leg press. They're always squatting. Right? Yeah. Yeah, that's the more natural. movement. It is. Yeah, so as much as your workouts. are mimicking. natural movements, that's a healthy exercise. even bench press, think about it. I've. been traveling a lot lately. I need to lift a 50-lb suitcase above my. head into the bin without falling over. hitting somebody with it. Yeah. And so you practice that with.

bench pressing and and overhead lifts. Yeah, you spoke about neural pathways. there and I know you talk a lot about. the body-brain connection. What are we. losing out? Because if you look at when. we're talking about aging, Yeah. brain aging is. such a big part of it. What. And frightening. And frightening, very. frightening. I've I mean, I've had. so many countless family members, mentors, uh family friends who've had. Alzheimer's, dementia, stage four brain.

cancer. It's it's painful to watch the. people you love go through it. Yeah. What is happening? What is that. body-brain connection? What are we. losing out on the brain when we're not. doing the things we've talked about? You. know, um. loss of cognitive function is. multifactorial. Dementia is different than pure. Alzheimer's with the plaques that. accumulate. But we know for sure and there's just so. much research that we can.

maintain our brain with the physical. activity we do. I mean, for instance, I. talked about the role of bone-releasing. osteocalcin, which goes to the brain. There is another protein that is uh. stimulated to be It's called transcribed. when DNA makes a protein. When skeletal. muscle can contracts, it also causes the. transcription of a protein called. klotho, which is the longevity protein. Part of klotho's role is to go to the. brain. and stimulate neuron development. So.

there are studies. uh out of the University of Pittsburgh. that showed a 6-week walking program. will grow the hippocampus, which is the. memory part of the brain, uh in double. digits. Wow. You know, I don't know the mechanism. that's worked out, but I think at a very. basic level, I mean, we'll go back to. the hunting analogy. That kind of. that kind of strategic stress on the. body. tells our body. that we're still living. We're not.

curled up in a ball in some cave waiting. on winter to die. We are active. We have. enough strategic stress that we have to. maintain, cuz our body is so highly. conserved. that if our body doesn't think we're. using something, we'll lose it. Mhm. We. It will start resorbing, like bone. If I. put a cast on your leg, you will resorb. the bone in your leg. Yeah. So, I think the brain is the same. way. So, back to what maintains a brain. Well, uh. muscle releases a protein that maintains.

the brain. Bone releases a protein that maintains. the brain, right? Fascinating. Isn't that fascinating? So fascinating, yeah. I Food has a has a. role. But, when we think of midlife, we. have to start talking about hormones. And the work of Lisa Mosconi, who is at. Cornell in New York, has shown that in. women, and probably in men, but her work. is in women, the brain is covered in. estrogen receptors. So, as we lose our estrogen, it affects the.

brain. It's why we When I was going. through perimenopause, there was a short. period of time when I wasn't on hormones. yet, I'm in surgery, and I know that I want. the thing that does this, but I could. not remember that it was called an. Adson. Think how frightening that is, you know, for a brain person like me. I. use my brain to help people make a. living. That was my estrogen receptors being. totally empty, but once I replace my. estrogen, my brain is a black box again.

You know, isn't that frightening? But, so I think it's multifactorial when we. lose it, but I also think that all the. lifestyle things we've talked about have. proven out in studies to be able to make. a real impact on our cognitive function. Yeah, I think a really big thing about. for me in all of this as I'm hearing. from you is just. what you said earlier about how little. we know. about our bodies, about ourselves, and. how we base it on just how we feel. Mhm. Which isn't the healthiest check. It's. almost like you're driving your car and. it feels fine.

But, there's so much going on behind the. scenes that if you didn't take it to the. garage and get it checked, you wouldn't. know. And it was one of the reasons I. recently invested in Function Health. Mhm. because I just wanted to find a way. to make access to information so much. more easy for people. Yes. And. just having access to those lab results. and those lab tests so that you can. actually go to your doctor and say, "Hey, this came up.". Yes. "What does this look like? Or I. don't understand this. Or what about. this?" And I think that's what's helped.

me so much. You were just with Darshan, Dr. Shah, who's who's been my doctor, and I find that he's able to flag to me. so many things early on, which means we. can deal with it as opposed to end up in. a position where it's, you know, something. hard harder to reverse. I also find in. myself and the people I care for. that we come become a little addicted to. our data, which is a good thing, right? I I could become a little competitive. with myself when I'm wearing my. uh glucose monitor. Can I keep my. glucose at 80 or below?

Versus oh, it shoots up to 100 and. something because I've eaten something. disastrous, and I don't want that, right? So, you can't change what you. don't know. So, I think data's amazing. for that. Yeah, I I I think we're living. in that time, as well, where it's more. specific. It's It's not just, "Oh, how. many steps did I do?" or whatever, right? It's It's so much more specific, and you're so right that the only way to. hold ourselves accountable is to see the. change. So, like you said, if I eat this. I remember I was eating I was testing it.

out when I was wearing mine. I don't. wear it now, but I was testing it for. like 3 months. And I was eating it what was claiming to. be I was in the UK. It was claiming to. be a low sugar cereal. that was, you know, which which on the. box looked like it should have been. fine. I don't eat cereal that often, but I I. do when I travel because it's sometimes. harder to find something. I had this low. sugar low fat cereal or whatever it was. My glucose spiked. It was a lie. It was.

crazy. Well, it's probably because it. was rice-based, but either way it was. just like crazy spike. And I thought, oh wow, like I would have. thought eating that every day would have. done nothing to me. And just you don't. know. What have been some of the data. points that have really helped you. to make changes in your life or in the. lives of your clients? I've talked several times about the CGM, but I think to your point, I think. everyone should do it for 3 months. They're not that expensive, but they're. so critical, and it helps people really. understand the effect of food on them.

because from wearing mine, and I got a I. wore it for a year cuz I was just so. fascinated, I know exactly when my blood. sugar's going to rise by what I do. My. blood sugar rises in surgery because. it's stressful. Right? I am so sensitive. to carbs. I try to eat only fibrous carbs, complex. carbs, but even that I'm very sensitive. to. And I literally I'm a little crazed. about it. I never want to spike. Yeah, although spiking and recovering is. normal, I just don't like how I feel when I'm.

like this. So, I like to be like this. But I'm very sensitive to carbs. So, I. eat mostly protein, green leafy. vegetables. I personally, because of my. sensitivity, don't eat a lot of fruit. cuz it's nature's sugar. For some people. it wouldn't matter for them. Um that's how I know that in the middle. of the night if I wake up, my blood. sugar's 50 and I needed to supplement a. little bit so I don't drop that low. I want to say something now about.

cuz I I definitely want to talk about. this is. sometimes people will find, oh, their. blood sugars, oh, it's 100. It's 110. It's fine. Or their doctors may say to. them, oh, you know what? You're a little. borderline. You're 110. Just do better. That is not warning enough in my mind. because you would ask me earlier, what. do I want my blood sugar to be? I want. it to be 85 or below. because studies have shown that for. every point above 85 that you are your.

fasting blood sugar is consistently, that is a 6% chance of developing. full-blown diabetes mellitus type 2 in. 10 years. So, if 85 is what we want and. 100 is what you are, 15 * 6 is a 100%. chance of getting diabetes if you don't. change. Diabetes is a precursor to. Alzheimer's. And so, I'm just so frantic. when my patients say to me. oh, cuz I look at their labs that their. doctors have given them.

It's 110. Oh, they said I was. pre-diabetic. We don't need to worry. I'm like, you do need to worry and here. is why. And so, I don't mean to scare people, but I. think a little fire is sometimes. necessary. I think so, too. I think so, too. I've. heard the same where people are like, "Oh, I'm pre-diabetic." And then nothing. changes. Right, cuz it's not a warning. It's not warning. Yeah. Yeah. It's and. and I. and sadly, yeah, it's just you have the. control then. You have the power then. Yeah. One of the things I wanted to bring up. with you was this question of as we age.

about mobility. Mhm. Because I feel like. you kind of take for granted how your. body works. And then, especially hip. mobility. Yes. What are some of the things we can. do to improve our mobility? So, when I. prescribe exercise, especially in. midlife, it consists of four things. Flexibility and mobility, aerobics we. talked about, carrying a load, which is. what I call weightlifting, and. equilibrium and foot speed. So, let's. talk about F and E. They They acronym is. space. Let's talk about F and E.

Flexibility and mobility means that. we all of our joints. to move well in aging need to be able to. go through their full range of motion. You need to fully extend your knee, fully bend your knee. Our hip needs to. be able to. at least bend to 90 and fully go. straight. When you see people who are. aged shuffling down the street, it's. often due to muscle weakness and because. their joints just don't move anymore. So, how do we prevent that? Well,

simple things like going through. daily dynamic warm-up, which is simply. putting all your joints through their. full range of motion every single day. Things like tai chi and Pilates and even. yoga are amazing for maintaining that. full range of motion. It's not only the bones, however, it's. not only the capsule, the fascia. surrounding of the joints, but with time.

the cross-linking, and I'll explain more. in our tendons and ligaments become. stronger. So, tendons and ligaments, which tendons connect muscle to bone, ligaments connect bones to each other, are made of uh fibers of collagen in. sheets. The bonds between those collagen tighten. with age. So, tendons and ligaments get. stiffer unless we continually put them.

through their full range of motion, so. they don't lose that motion. So, the. natural progression of aging is. tightness and tightness and tightness, but we can reverse that in the ways we. talked about. It's a daily practice. Or. at least a three or four times a week. practice, right? If someone's feeling exceptionally tight. in certain areas of their body, what. else can they do to loosen it up? So, I like every workout to start with a. dynamic warm-up. Meaning, we're going to. warm everything up. So, for I'll just. for instance, it may sound simple, but it is.

Full arm circles. Meaning, Yeah. It's you're pretending to be Michael. Phelps. You're putting your arms to your. arm, right? Full arm circles, trunk. rotations, bending back and forth, twisting side to side, hip rotations. I. just grab a stable surface and. bring my hip forward, circle it all. around. Just 10 reps even. Or if you. want to sit on the ground, there's this. great hip mobility stretch called a. 90/90. You just You just bend your knees.

to 90 and you go You go back and forth. Um And so, the same thing with our. knees. I think my trainer has been. listening to you. Has he? Well, you've been doing all of those. things. That makes me very happy, yeah. Yes. And then there's this wonderful. stretch that I It just feels so good. It's called a a bookend stretch. You lay. on a flat surface. um with arms out to the side like a. cross. You bend your knee up and then. you just roll it over and that stretches. your lumbar spine. So, you have full. mobility.

That's a dynamic warm-up. It's not hard, but you must start every workout with. that so that as you're sprinting or as. you're lifting, that everything is. primed and ready. So, that's the flexibility part. The E F A C E is equilibrium and foot. speed. We've talked about muscle. We've talked. about bone. and fragility. Many people, even with low muscle mass, even with low bone density, may be okay.

until they fall. One critical fall can be and I don't I. can tell you all kinds of stories, but. it can mean the difference between life, death, living alone, not living alone. So, what do we do about it? We got to. retrain our balance. Simply as standing on one foot when you. brush your teeth. Literally, you're. standing there, tree pose, hand going back and forth. You will retrain the neuromuscular. pathways that degrade starting about in.

your 20s. Yeah, easy. You must. And alternate legs. on different days of the week, right? You will retrain your balance so quickly. because we should be able to balance on. one leg for about 20 seconds. Mhm. Because what happens when we reach. over and we just fall over? Yeah. Yeah, we don't want to do that. The. other thing is it's very common to see. all kinds of athletes doing agility. drills. You've seen it on the field. jumping up and down, jumping over. barriers.

People like you and me need to retrain. the ability to have foot speed and. agility so that if you're like me and. you leave your work bag by the edge of. your chair and you get up too quickly, you can. catch your foot and hop over it instead. of catch your foot and land flat on your. face. Mhm. It's It's great to hear that. there's so many simple ways. Oh, it's not rocket science. and and some of this can just be built. into our lifestyle rather than having to. find other time. That's right. Vonda, you said this earlier and I've. been thinking about it as we've been. talking because I think you've given. such great practical advice. People can.

get more depth inside your book, which I. highly recommend. Thank you. Uh and we'll be putting the link in the. captions so you can order it as you've. been listening. I would really like you. to dive into it for the specific advice. that, as you can tell, Vonda is so. tactical and practical. It's great. But really a lot of this comes down to, as you said, it's not time. Mhm. Now. it's not knowledge. We have it. You're. sharing it freely right here. It's emotional. and what I mean by that. is.

we eat our feelings. Mhm. We feel exhausted because of stress. in our lives, so we don't work out. We maybe lack self-love. We don't have a. vision, as you said earlier, of a. healthier life ahead. A lot of us talk. about our college days as the best times. of our lives. Everything's in the past. Mhm. And so much of what we've talked. about today is practical and practical, but I kind of wanted to get to this. point of just. how do we transform our belief system?

Yes. Into recognizing that we're worthy of a. healthier life, that we deserve a. healthier life, that we're capable of. one. Mhm. And I wanted to ask you about. the similarities between vision casting, as you call it, and manifesting. I love. that you've headed in this direction. because. when I said earlier that I've been. practicing a long time, and you can't. out Excuse me. I think that people make excuses or.

don't invest time in themselves for a. lot of reasons. One may be busyness, but. what that means is you are prioritizing. everything in else in your life before. yourself. And I think that. people in relationships do that. Parents. do that. Mothers do it a lot. But if you. don't invest in yourself, you will not. be able to invest in others. So, sometimes it really is. as simple as I've got so much to do. I. just can't fit it all in. I'm going to. get that done first.

It's a matter of priorities. Sometimes I. believe you. I believe what you said, which is it's. it's self-love. I often say. things like until you believe you are. worth the daily investment in your. health, nothing else will matter. You. have to put value in yourself. And. whether we were raised that. we should be seen and not heard because. our we're not valuable or that women are. told we must be little and cannot take. up space and therefore we're not. valuable.

We need to do the inner work to. understand that we have value. Not only to each other but to ourselves. We inherently are created with value. Um and that takes a lot of inner work, right? Yeah. I also think that for. people who. start out on a journey, they've learned. what they need to do. They're like, I'm. committed. We're right after the new. year and I'm going to do this thing. What happens I find, I'd be interested.

in if you. think this. We'll start out. We'll do the hard thing. We'll keep We'll do some harder things. When we do hard things, sometimes we. revert. to the last place that we felt safe. Yeah. And if we revert to the safety of. the couch with the bon-bons because. psychologically and anxiety-wise, that's our safe place. Mhm. Sometimes it's our safe place that will. kill us.

Wow. It's just where there's the least mental. turmoil. So those are some of the reasons that. hit really hard. Mhm. Yeah, and I really. empathize with people because I know. when I didn't prioritize it. And it's almost because we're so good. psychologically showing up for other. people. Yeah. Like that's generally. the only time anyone does anything is. because they have to show up for someone. else. Mhm. We show up to work because we're.

expected to be there. We show up for our. kids cuz you love them and show up for. your partner because you feel a. responsibility to them that. we haven't been trained or taught to. show up for ourselves. Yeah. Because it almost feels less than. Or we. feel guilty. We feel guilty, yeah. being selfish. Yes. When it's. Here's what's selfish. Gosh, and I'm not really lecturing. people. But people say a lot cuz I I do take I. take call I take care of people who have.

broken big bones and they say things. like, "Oh, I just never want to be a. burden to my children.". And I understand that, right? Sometimes I respond to them like, "Well, you took care of them for most of their. lives. Maybe they can take care of you.". But the reality is that. if we do not want to be a burden to. other people, then we must take care of. ourselves. Because time and physics and energy. rolling downhill,

there are there are time bombs of aging, inflammation, senescence, our stem cells. get old, that if we do not reinvest in. ourselves, the worst can happen and if that worst. for you is being a burden to your. children, so if you want insurance. against that, then. rise above that feeling, you know, prioritize yourself. Vanda, what have I. not asked you about today that you feel. called to share? I think that if I could find a way.

to help people understand that they were. worth it, that would be the end of my work because. it's your right. I do I'm a communicator. at heart. I'm a teacher at heart. And you're brilliant. I I like to. connect people with their bodies because. listen, no wonder people are confused. The language of medicine is Latin. What. is the brachial plexus? What is all. these Latin anatomy words? How are. people supposed to know? My job is to. connect you with your body and to love. it and and understand it.

But I'm going to tell you for sure. that still 50% of the time, whether. it's a regular doctor's visit or people. have paid a lot of money to get the best. advice in the world, they somehow don't take action, and they. know what to do and don't do it, and. know what to do and don't do it. And so, I get to the. place where I meet them in the emergency. room. with their broken hip, and they're laying there in excruciating. pain, frail. And if I could have just gotten them to.

believe that they were worth the daily. investment in their health, that would be work worth doing. But, here's the deal. I can't make them. I've come to understand I can't make you. love yourself. I can't make you care. about your well-being more than you care. about other people's. I can just encourage you to do the work. if that's what it's going to take to. realize that safety is often being. strong. Safety is often being mobile.

Safety is preservation of your brain. Well said. Vonda, thank you so much. It's been such. a joy talking to you today. Oh, my pleasure. so much. You've blown my mind multiple. times. I'm so excited for people to read. your book. I'm so excited for people to. follow your work. Uh we end every. episode of On Purpose with a final five. or a fast five. And so, each one of. these questions has to be answered in. one word to one sentence maximum. Okay. And so, Dr. Vonda Wright, these.

are your final five. Question number. one, what is the best health advice. you've ever heard or received? Love. yourself. enough. to give yourself the same grace you give. other people. Mhm. To know that your efforts are not. perfect, but that it matters. Just trying. matters. Question number two, what is the worst. health advice you've ever heard or. received? The worst health advice I've. ever heard are all the wacko diets, the.

grapefruit, the pickle, the the soup. diet. Like, we are all anything ending. in a diet. supposes an end point. What I am. helping people do is build a lifestyle. How we live, not a set amount of time. Let's talk about that for a bit. Do you. think that diets can be useful to get. people to a lifestyle or do you think. they always.

kind of boomerang backwards? I think. that if you are on a stringent diet, you. develop a mindset of austerity and. instead of thinking about food. occasionally, it's you obsess about it. And that is counterproductive because if. you are hungry all the time or obsessed. with oh, I have to only eat half a. grapefruit, it takes over your brain. versus if you say the way I eat is that. I get a gram of protein per ideal pound. And what does that mean? Oh, well, I'm. going to have an egg white omelet.

That's a That's 30 grams. This is just. how I eat. Here's an example. When I go. out to dinner with people who know what. I say, they always are watching what I. what I'm ordering. And then they'll say. things like oh, I feel so guilty. I want. to have and I say don't feel guilt. I'm. not. I am just eating the way I eat. This is. It's not a sacrifice. It's just what I. do. So you do you and I'll do me, but. it's a funny reaction people have. So do.

I think diets can be helpful? I think a. plan a nutrition plan. can be helpful. Here's how many protein, here's how much carbs. These are the. amazing sources. But a six-week diet, I think you get to the end. You may have. lost some weight. You've probably lost a. lot of muscle. Then you'll gain it back. and you'll gain back more fat than you. lost in the first place. Yeah. And what. do we what are we losing when we we.

muscle? We're losing the ability to uh. we're losing physical muscle. We're losing uh the metabolic power to. process our glucose. We're losing uh. muscle a volume to produce irisin, the. the protein that muscle produces that. goes to the brain in a variety. We're. losing the metabolic capacity, and we're. losing strength. So that we can't get up. out of a chair. We fall down more. easily. We lose a lot. Yeah. I wish I knew that.

when I was young. Yeah. I wish someone. had told me that that's what muscle did. I know. It's fascinating. Yeah. I always just thought it was. aesthetic when I was young. I had no. idea that. And it is, but that's the icing. That is. not the cake. Question number three, can. running be bad for you? I want to dispel. a myth right now that is so common in. the population. that is there is no evidence that. running causes arthritis, right? Running itself in studies have shown. that runners have on on the whole have.

less heart disease, have less metabolic. disease. They also, if they don't lift. weights, have less muscle. So that is the only reason in my mind. that running can be bad for you, because. unless you eat, unless you lift weights, your body will eat the muscle that you. have. And that's There's a For serious. runners, there are they have a body. type. They're all thin, very low muscle. It doesn't mean they're not fast. Um. but that's the only time I can think of. Question number four, what something you.

used to believe to be true about health. that you don't today? I used to believe. that six days a week of high-intensity. interval training was what was going to. make me the healthiest, and that's. simply not true. What did it actually. do? It made me hurt. It made me. exhausted, and uh I didn't recompose my. body at all. I stayed the same composition. is that? Why why does why did it not. recompose your body? Because it wasn't intense enough. It. wasn't sprint intervals. to really stimulate my body.

And. when we do the same thing all the time, we develop imbalances, and that's where. injury comes from. So, when I did. high-intensity interval training 5 or 6. days a week, I would always develop left Achilles. tendonitis, right hip flexor pain, because I have these imbalances, and I. was augmenting that. I was pounding that. 5 or 6 days a week. Fifth and final. question. Yes. If you could create one law that. everyone in the world had to follow,

what would it be? We should walk. everywhere. We should be like New. Yorkers and Europeans walking all the. time. Walking all the time. We're designed for. it. Yeah, it's hard in some cities. It. is hard. Yeah. We've made it that way. Yeah, but we got to find a way. Up the. stairs, down the stairs. That's right. Get Get up from the desk. Yeah. Our body doesn't care. I love it. Yeah. Uh the book is called Dr. Wright's. Guide to Thrive, Four Steps to Body, Brains, and Bliss. Uh Dr. Rhonda Wright, thank you so much for coming on On.

Purpose. I hope you'll come back again. and again. Oh, I would love that. And uh I'm I. genuinely learned so much from you. today. Thank you so much. My pleasure. Yeah. If this year you're trying to live. longer, live happier, live healthier, go. and check out my conversation with the. world's biggest longevity doctor, Peter. Attia, on how to slow down aging and why. your emotional health is directly. impacting your physical health. Acknowledge that there is surprisingly. little known about the relationship.

between nutrition and health. And people. are going to be shocked to hear that, cuz I think most people think the exact. opposite.