Something I've been thinking about in recent times is maximizing longevity. I want to be as athletic as possible for as long as possible, I want to be a freak athlete forever, these are concepts I have discussed in the past that make up a very important component of my training philosophy. But for me it doesn't end there. My philosophy goes deeper.

So sort of piggybacking off these same concepts but taking them a little bit further now: the concern becomes less athleticism itself or for its own sake, and more so now simply general fitness, health, and well-being, and maximizing these qualities in order to give ourselves the greatest chance of living the longest life possible while also being the most full of life as we can possibly be during as much of that time as possible. Longevity!

I think whereas the former ideology here (maximizing athleticism) will probably serve us well into our 50's and potentially even into our 60s, I think that this latter ideology (maximizing longevity) is one that will lend itself to somebody who hopes to be fit and healthy and feeling good into their 70s, '80s, and hopefully even their 90s as well (and for the lucky few of us maybe even into the triple digits!).

I would like to think that if we focus on the 3 key metrics that I'm going to touch on today that we will come as close as we possibly can to creating a training philosophy that is the Fountain of Youth. A plan that will have you kicking ass for a lot longer than most people, even those people who still happen to be around well into their Twilight years.

If I had to create this fountain of youth training philosophy I would focus on these 3 key aspects:

1. Lifting weights to build total body muscular strength and hypertrophy

2. Move your body as fast as possible for short distances (i.e. running or sprinting)

3. Move your body as briskly as possible for long distances (i.e. jogging or brisk walking for extended periods of time)

This is it really!

Speaking strictly from a training perspective, in my opinion, it is this simple. If you want to maximize long term health and longevity - add years to your life and life to those years - then make it a priority to consistently cover these 3 major bases: build strength and muscle, retain and improve the ability to move quickly and fluidly for short periods of time, and retain and extend the ability to move briskly for long periods of time.

We can argue about the minutiae in between all of these concepts until we're blue in the face: 

• what type of strength training you should do?

• what muscles and movements you should primarily focus on?

• what type of flexibility or mobility or stretching work should you include?

• what exactly should you be doing to be "moving your body fast for short periods of time?"

• what exactly should you be doing to be "moving your body briskly for long periods of time?"

In my opinion, it doesn't really matter that much at the end of the day. What actually comprises this minutiae is not the most important aspect as long as what you are doing is not nonsensical and you are covering these major bases in some form of fashion consistently for decades, while also filling in the minor gaps in between, then this is going to be about as close as we can possibly come to creating the Fountain of Youth.

Now, as with all things fitness related, it's still important to remember that there is no magic bullet. There is no magical exercise or singular modality that's going to turn you into Superman or make you live forever. As well, and perhaps most importantly, there is no way to skirt around the idea of hard work if you are serious about making substantial inroads towards any of these important and hard earned goals.

If hard work is simply not something you're willing to do then you should probably just see yourself off of this website right now because I'm never going to tell you that there's any other way than to work hard. You can have the perfect program and it's going to be useless if you don't have the guts to execute it with brutal intent.

All that said, I would like to delve a little bit more into the specifics of how I would personally set up a plan centered around this particular Fountain of Youth philosophy, and what I will most likely personally pursue as I hit my 5th and 6th decades of life, and beyond. Some of the things that I discuss here are going to be somewhat advanced. They are going to be skills and abilities that I have personally spent many years developing, and it is my opinion that building yourself up to this high-level stage is going to be the greatest long-term tactic at our disposal in terms of building the health and longevity that we are aiming for with this philosophy.

Now, at a certain point in time it becomes prudent to simply focus on maintaining these physical qualities that you have taken years to build and perfect, rather than trying to push them further. But it is also absolutely paramount that you understand that you don't just do things like sprint 10x40yds all out on day one, and you don't just fold yourself over into a pancake good morning with any kind of appreciable weight on your back on day one either. You build these skills up over a period of years, and the older that you are when you start focusing on building them the longer that it is going to take to build them.

With that caveat out of the way let's dive into the specifics!

I think in the long run, where health and longevity are concerned as the primary basis, prioritizing the strength of the hips, legs, and back should be your number one concern.

• Focus on exercises like different squat variations (variety is probably going to be your friend here, as is moving through a full range of motion).

If you can squat "ATG," or whatever is as deep as your anatomy allows without discomfort, then that is probably going to be the best way to execute this portion of the equation as this is going to keep the legs and hips strong, keep the spine loaded for the sake of bone mineral density and joint integrity, and it's going to keep you supple and mobile as well.

• You also want to focus on some different unilateral exercises for the legs.

I also like to do these movements from a deficit often as well (through an extended range of motion) just to make sure that the joints are strong at and range and can move seamlessly in and out of end range.

• You will want to hinge.

Being able to keep the back locked in while moving primarily about the hips is simply a useful skill to possess, and hinging deep is also a good way to ensure that the hamstrings remain mobile and the entire backside of the body is strong. Full range of motion good mornings, deficit RDL's, and hyperextensions are the 3 big players here.

Focusing on moderate weights for moderate reps and trying to build your baseline strength levels up slowly over time is going to be your bread and butter in regards to weight training. You can fill in the gaps in the program with some upper body strength work as well: something to build up the strength of the chest, shoulders, lats, and arms, as well as the ability of the scapular muscles to retract and protract and elevate and depress.

In my opinion, this is where calisthenics work is really going to shine. Different variations of push-ups and pull ups and inverted rows can basically cover the vast majority of this upper body training segment in a highly efficient fashion with minimal equipment required. But barbell, dumbbell, and machine work are also going to be incredibly valuable tools in this regard as well, especially over the long term.

Obviously "as fast as possible" is going to be relative to the individual. Some people can run faster than other people. Some people can sprint at 100% intensity safely and with very minimal risk, whereas other people are not prepared to do that safely just yet. So depending on your history with this type of activity and your current age and general fitness level you're going to have to break yourself in accordingly.

But once you are confident that you can move at 95% or 100% of maximal intensity safely, maintaining this vital skill for as long as possible is probably the single best training activity you can perform from a health perspective.

Sprinting keeps the body sharp and powerful, it keeps the nervous system firing strongly, it keeps the joints supple and the body limber, and it teaches you how to react violently, which I would argue is a vital component of youthfulness. When we can no longer move powerfully or aggressively or sharply that is a true sign that we are getting old so holding on to these capacities for as long as possible is going to be a good idea.

I would also speculate (and this is 100% pure speculation, there is absolutely no scientific data anywhere that has supported this or even studied this hypothesis, to my knowledge), that consistently and regularly performing an activity like sprinting as you age, where you are training the body to be violent, and reminding the body how to be violent, which by proxy keeps the nervous system sharp and revved up, is also going to have immense benefits in terms of neurological health - specifically in this case the brain. Basically, I wouldn't be surprised if at some point you see some research that shows that an activity like sprinting reduces the incidence of dementia or Alzheimer's or some other similar debilitating brain related condition.

Sprinting 1-2x per week is the best bet for the long run. For health and longevity, you will want to mix up the type of work you do. Sometimes you want to do more reps at shorter distances (e.g. 10-15 reps @ 20yds, 6-10 reps @ 40yds, 4-8 reps @ 60yds), and then you will also want to play around with longer distances (e.g. 3-5 reps @ 100-150m, 2-4 reps @ 200m, or 1-2 reps @ 400m) as well as distances that expose you to top speed for longer periods of time (i.e. repeat reps of 10-20m flying sprints).

And again, most people aren't going to be capable of safely performing these feats right away, but in the grand scheme of things taking one, or two, or even 3-4 years to build yourself up to being able to do these things safely is really just a drop in the bucket when you are considering a lifetime of training and the possible health and longevity gains that can be made by mastering the vital skill of sprinting and building your body's tolerance and work capacity therein.

Now we are moving away from maximal effort movement and we are moving instead into extended duration submaximal movement. Personally, I hate jogging. It's fucking miserable and it's boring as hell. I'd much rather be running my ass off in a 200m or 400m sprint, and barring that I would simply rather be walking really fast.

So I have taken to walking long distances several times per week, or walking slightly less long distances but doing so either with the addition of a little bit of load, say a 25lbs or a 50lsb weight vest, doing so up steep inclines, or even a little bit of both of those things at once.

So while I enjoy speed walking my way through a 5 to 10 mile walk and logging as many steps as I possibly can that day in as short of a period of time as possible, I also enjoy cranking the incline up on the treadmill to maximum and walking at a 3.0-3.5mph pace for several miles at a time. I think you'll find that brisk, loaded incline walking is an incredible conditioning tool that will challenge you in ways that you didn't think were possible.

All that said, I'm not telling you not to jog. If you enjoy running then by all means run! But for the purposes of this particular modality I think that extending the distance and decreasing the pace slightly is a better bet for the long-term bigger picture that we are trying to achieve here (maximal health and longevity), as opposed to something like, just for example, trying to run the fastest one mile time that you can possibly run. The training required to achieve this latter feat is not necessarily the optimal training for maximizing health and longevity.

You can perform extended duration brisk movement training anywhere from 2-4x per week, just depending on what else you're doing at the time, how much free time you have, etc. I would shoot for two times at a minimum, and three is probably the sweet spot, but as long as you're getting out there consistently over time I think you will reap the benefits here.

So there you go guys. That is my take on a Fountain of Youth program! A training philosophy that I think will add years to your life and Life to those years if it is adhered to consistently. Obviously there are other factors to consider (besides training) when it comes to longevity: primarily diet, hydration, sleep, and general stress levels. But from a training perspective I think this is about as close as we can come finding the Fountain of Youth. We still have to work hard everyday and earn it, but if it's something you want to pursue then there's nothing stopping you from doing it except your will to execute it.