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Live Longer, Feel Better: A Review of Outlive by Peter Attia

Owen H — Sun, 14 May 2023 13:07:39 +0000

In his groundbreaking book, “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity”, Dr. Peter Attia takes a deep dive into the science and art behind living a longer, healthier life. Drawing from a wide range of sources, Attia discusses the importance of not only living longer but living better, with a focus on overall health and well-being. This comprehensive guide covers various aspects of longevity, including diet, exercise, mental health, and cutting-edge medical screenings such as DEXA scans and VO2 Max testing – services that we offer here at My Vital Metrics.

The Importance of Longevity and Healthspan

Outlive by Peter Attia emphasizes the significance of not only extending our lifespan but also improving our healthspan – the period during which we maintain optimal health and vitality. Dr Attia argues that the key to achieving this lies in addressing the most common causes of death and chronic illness in the developed world, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer.

By focusing on preventative measures and making informed lifestyle choices, we can reduce our risk of developing these conditions and improve our overall health and well-being. In doing so, we can potentially extend our lives and enjoy a higher quality of life well into our later years.

The Role of DEXA Scans in Longevity

One of the critical health screenings recommended by Dr. Attia is the DEXA scan. DEXA (Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) is a state-of-the-art imaging technology that accurately measures bone density, body composition, and muscle mass. By providing detailed insights into an individual’s body composition, a DEXA scan can help identify potential health risks and inform personalized health and fitness plans.

Regular DEXA scans can track changes in body composition over time, allowing individuals to monitor their progress and make necessary adjustments to their exercise and nutrition plans. By incorporating DEXA scans into a comprehensive health assessment, individuals can take control of their health and make informed decisions to improve their overall well-being.

Obviously, the DEXA is the cornerstone of the services we offer to clients and is the first go-to measure to get a sense of their metabolic health.

Exercise: A Pillar of Longevity

Dr. Attia highlights the critical role of exercise in promoting longevity and overall health. He advocates for a well-rounded fitness regimen that includes strength training, cardiovascular workouts, and functional movement exercises. By engaging in regular physical activity, individuals can reduce their risk of developing chronic illnesses, maintain a healthy body weight, and improve their overall quality of life.

Our take on this is that it is clearly the correct position, and like Attia, we always recommend a multi-part fitness regime for our clients. For those of us who need to lose fat though, we would go one further and suggest that people have very clear in their minds the role of each part of exercise. Cardiovascular exercise is not there to ‘burn fat’ as most people think of it, but rather to ensure that everything remains working at optimum. Strength training is not there for its calorie-burning effects, but rather to build strength and muscle mass, and so on. By being clear about the role of each we can ensure that all exercise is targeted.

VO2 Max Testing: Measuring Cardiovascular Fitness

Another essential component of a comprehensive health assessment is VO2 max testing. VO2 max represents an individual’s maximum rate of oxygen consumption during intense exercise, providing a measure of cardiovascular fitness. By understanding their VO2 max, individuals can tailor their exercise programs to improve their cardiovascular health and overall fitness. Attia notes that as a single measure, the VO2 max is a better predictor of all-cause mortality than any other. This means that it should not be only athletes who take these intense tests, but all of us. Please note that for certain health conditions, you might need to get clearance from your doctor before you can complete the VO2 max test.

Nutrition: The Foundation of Health and Longevity

Dr. Attia underscores the importance of proper nutrition in promoting longevity and overall health. He emphasizes the need for a high-quality diet that provides adequate protein, healthy fats, and nutrient-dense carbohydrates while avoiding excessive sugar and processed foods. By making informed dietary choices and focusing on food quality, individuals can optimize their health and reduce their risk of developing chronic illnesses.

Sleep: A Critical Factor in Health and Longevity

A good night’s sleep is essential for overall health and well-being, and Dr. Attia highlights its significance in promoting longevity. Poor sleep quality and insufficient sleep duration have been linked to various health problems, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive decline. By prioritizing sleep and adopting healthy sleep habits, individuals can improve their overall health and well-being.

Mental and Emotional Health: The Missing Piece

Dr. Attia discusses an often-overlooked aspect of promoting longevity: mental and emotional health. He emphasizes the need for individuals to address underlying mental health issues, develop healthy coping mechanisms, and prioritize self-care. By focusing on mental and emotional well-being, individuals can improve their overall quality of life and increase their chances of living a longer, healthier life.

Comprehensive Health Screenings: Taking Control of Your Health

Dr. Attia advocates for a proactive approach to healthcare, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive health screenings to identify potential health risks and inform personalized health plans. In addition to DEXA scans and VO2 Max testing, these screenings may include cholesterol testing, functional movement assessments, and other specialized tests.

Conclusion: Taking Control of Your Health and Longevity

In summary, Dr. Peter Attia’s “Outlive” offers a comprehensive guide to promoting longevity and overall health. By addressing the most common causes of death and chronic illness, adopting a well-rounded exercise regimen, focusing on proper nutrition, prioritizing sleep, and addressing mental and emotional well-being, individuals can take control of their health and increase their chances of living a long, healthy life.

It should be clear by now that we would absolutely stand behind him on all his suggestions for a path to being a centenarian, but we would say that of course.

For those in the UK seeking to take control of their health and optimize their chances of living to 100 and beyond, there are very few companies that offer many of the services recommended by Dr. Attia, but we are fortunate and proud to be one of them.

Here at My Vital Metrics, the tests we offer include DEXA scans, VO2Max testing, cholesterol testing, functional movement assessments, and more. By taking advantage of these cutting-edge health screenings and implementing the strategies outlined in “Outlive,” individuals can make informed decisions about their health and work towards a longer, healthier life.

We do think that Dr Attia’s book is so important, we are going to do a bit of a series of blog articles to cover different aspects of the testing we do and how it relates to his suggestions.

Body Changes and Progress Measurement during Lockdown

Owen H — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 19:03:57 +0000

Short on time? We cover the following topics – click the links to skip down

Introduction

How will these changes affect my hard-won gym progress?

Goal: Muscle Gain

Goal Body Recomposition / Fat Loss

General Changes to expect in the body

How should I measure Progress during this time

Is there anything good about lockdown life?

The Lockdown has meant that all of our lives have had to change, and one of the biggest changes to our lifestyles that many of us have felt, is the removal of access to our gyms.

If your social media feeds are anything like mine, you will have seen a plethora of videos and pictures of people’s home-gym efforts. PTs have really stepped up however, and are offering all sorts of online classes, free videos of workouts, and a whole host of ideas for things which can be done.

Of course for many, these changes and upheavals will make it increasingly difficult to keep focus on their fitness goals. Add the fact that many will have to be home-schooling their children, have to adjust to living, working and working out all in the same space. Finally we can’t discount the other big change for those who don’t need to commute, this means that the only time we will get any exercise at all, even in terms of number of steps taken, will be if we set out to do exactly that. Steps and general activity levels will not come just as part of one’s day, but will need dedicated activities to achieve.

So how will these changes affect my hard-won gym progress?

With so many changes to our routines happening at once, it will be difficult to quantify exactly how these things will affect you as far as your body composition, fitness, and overall health is concerned. So lets break it down by your goals and look at some of the changes you’re likely to see.

Goal: Muscle Gain

Unless you have managed to procure some hefty gym equipment or have access to some private gym, it is likely that you are making do with bodyweight exercises, fitness bands, suspension training with a TRX or similar and if you’re lucky, a pull-up bar of some sort. All these pieces of equipment are great, and with a bit of imagination, you can create quite a decent home workout.

However, unless you started off in an untrained state, it is unlikely that you will be able to pack on a load of muscle with these. The more likely scenario is that with consistent use of the above equipment and making use of super slow reps, and ensuring that you always train to fatigue, you come out of this having preserved your gains.

Of course, if you have managed to get yourself some decent weights kit, then you might still be able to gain, but ensure that your calories are carefully managed. You might want to go for a very controlled and clean gain, rather than an outright bulk phase.

Goal: Recomposition / Fat Loss

The great news is that you don’t need a great deal of equipment to get a decent cardiovascular workout, which should be a part of any recomposition or fat loss regime. However, running and cycling don’t give you a whole lot of options. So while it should be ok when the weather’s nice, to get outside on a run or jog, or to get to a park and do sprints of some sort, or indeed, if you have access to a bike, generally getting your minimum exercise.

The other half of things, the resistance training, which should also be a part of any recomposition effort will face similar issues to those detailed in the Muscle gain section above. However, if you have access to some bands, and by making use of bodyweight and using some imagination, you should be able to get enough muscle stimulation to meet your needs

General Changes to expect in the body.

Besides the affects listed above, another issue that people may have is about balance. Without bands, weights or a pull-up bar, it is harder to find exercises for the back than it is for the chest, shoulders, arms and legs. We need to be conscious of this, as working chest and shoulders without good back workouts can lead to a more internally rotated posture and general imbalance between these muscle groups.

If you do have access to some of these, and are managing decent workouts, there are other imbalances and changes which you might not have thought about. With fitness bands, it can be quite difficult to get exactly even tension on both sides of the band. Position of the body, position of the band, and ensuring it is exactly even, will help, but it is not the controlled gym environment with controlled weights which gyms offer us. We need to be aware of this and be careful in the positioning of our fitness bands.

How should I measure progress during this time?

Alas MVM is currently closed, so you may be wondering how you should measure your progress during the lockdown. Of course, all measures which you can do yourself have problems and may be hiding the truth. A static weight may be masking the fact that you are losing muscle and gaining fat in equal measure. Increasing weight however is unlikely to be increasing muscle mass, so should be viewed with some suspicion.

During this time, it might be wiser to focus on your processes and systems, and measure your inputs and outputs rather than thinking in terms of end results. The lockdown means that our lives have taken on a level of consistency and sameness that would be very rare otherwise. This enables us to set goals for our processes, and track this. So you can set yourself a goal of exercising X times per week, and success looks like achievement of this. Or you could set your goal to measure and track your calories in, and measure your adherence to this.

Is there anything good about Lockdown?

Well, yes. As I said above, this time offers us the opportunity to really embed some great habits into our lives. we can refine and improve our daily processes – whether that’s ensuring that we get our exercise in, or counting and measuring our calorie intake, or even just putting some time aside for stretching each day. With what could be a couple of months or more of lockdown, we have the time to embed these as habits and lock them into our daily routines. Having great habits is one of the first steps to successful and lasting body transformations. I’d recommend the book Atomic Habits by James Clear if you want more on this.

Lastly, when we come out of lockdown – when the gyms open again – will be the most ideal time we have to take some proper measurements and get great baselines of our health and fitness. As soon as we are able, My Vital Metrics will be up and running again, and ready to give you the baseline stats you need to see, to really see how you can progress with your fitness goals for the rest of 2020 and beyond.

Join the Waitlist

Below is the form to join the waitlist.

When London opens up again, My Vital Metrics will be back, and looking to test as many people as we can. We will be offering great discounts, and priortising bookings for waitlist members.

Please fill out the below, and we’ll be in touch.