How to Slay Death

Or at least keep it at bay.

Not on my watch it’s not.

From the moment we’re born, the race begins. Somewhere out on that track, there is a banana peel we inevitably step on. The banana peel is called Death. It could be many yards away, or on the next few. We have no way of knowing.

Also, our racetrack is beset by illness, these are like headwinds or uneven ground, they too, can hide that banana peel, but overall make the race less fun. We had better watch our step as best as we can. How?

Well, to completely switch metaphors, we need to arm ourselves — first with knowledge, then with action. What do we need to know?

Know the Enemy

What does the metaphorical banana peel we will battle look like? (Hint: it’s not always brown and squishy). Again, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) keeps count of these bananas. Great progress has been made over time. Just 100 years ago, the average life expectancy was 54. I think about that a lot. Every year or so the CDC publishes the leading causes of death. Here is a little clip of the 2017 report (pdf):

See what will stop you from ever collecting a dime of that Social Security you’ve been paying into? Early in adulthood, we are more likely to die from OOPS! or being depressed enough about adulting to want to kill ourselves. Tragic. More interestingly (for me, and people my age) is that second graph. The banana peel is as likely as not to have cancer or heart disease written on it. Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease (CLRD), Stroke and Diabetes add another 10%. So, about 5 out of the five of the banana peels are lifestyle related.

So What Can We Do About It?

Well, you can take medications as prescribed. And you should, if a doctor recommends it. But how cool would it be if you came into your follow-up exam and your doctors is confused that different disease markers are declining, and s/he can lower your doses or discontinue medicines entirely. Crazy? Not at all. Here is an accessible article in Knowable with many links to scientific papers. “The Workout Drug.” Here is a scientific paper “The Physiology of Optimizing Health with a Focus on Exercise as Medicine” on figuring out how exercise (or lack thereof) contributes to most of the killers listed above:

Existing but limited randomized trial evidence on exercise interventions suggests that exercise and many drug interventions are often potentially similar in terms of their mortality benefits in the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease and diabetes, rehabilitation after stroke, and treatment of heart failure.

Annual Review of Physiology 
 Volume 81, 2019 
 Pedersen, pp 607-627

Run if you want to live (or swim, or bike, or dance. . . )

When I first started my fitness journey seriously, I was focused on resistance training. But then I read stuff like this:

More recently, accumulating evidence from large-scale studies suggests that mortality from all causes decreases with increasing CRF levels, apparently without upper limit of CRF [Cardiorespiratory fitness.] 

Burtscher J, et al.. “The upper limit of cardiorespiratory fitness associated with longevity: an update.” AIMS Public Health. 2019;6(3):225‐228. Published 2019 Jul 4. doi:10.3934/publichealth.2019.3.225

In other words, there is no upper limit to how much cardio-vascular fitness kills death. The better your wind, the more death you slay. Period.

But I’m still not wrong about resistance training.

Even one time or less than 1 h·wk⁻¹ of RE [Resistance Exercise], independent of AE [Aerobic Exercise], is associated with reduced risks of CVD and all-cause mortality. BMI mediates the association of RE with total CVD events.

“Associations of Resistance Exercise with Cardiovascular Disease Morbidity and Mortality“
LIU, YANGHUI¹; et al Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise: March 2019 – Volume 51 – Issue 3 – p 499-508 doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001822

And here is, oh, 40 references on the benefits of strength training for older adults in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.

So there you have it, and this is just a taste. When I research a story like this, I go further down the rabbit hole and end up with like 30 open browser tabs. Our ancestors died younger because of insecure food and a lack of sanitation and vaccination. We have those now, but die of other preventable diseases. But with changing our movement patterns, we can kick their asses, too.

There is so much to learn and do! Why not Book a FREE Discovery Consult, or at least contact us below. We can chat about your goals and how I can help you reach them.