How to Maximize Your Fitness and Longevity

Trevor Hess
Jan 10, 2021
7 min read

Updated: Jan 11, 2021

In one of my recent articles, I discussed the importance of incorporating some stressors in your life, with one of those stressors being exercise. We know exercise is great for our health and longevity, but too much exercise can lead to what's known as overtraining. With overtraining comes elevated cortisol levels as well as HPA axis dysfunction characterized by brain fog, mood, and irritability issues. Even worse, severe overtraining can lead to immune system damage, fatigue, mood disturbances, physical discomfort, sleep difficulties, and reduced appetite.

At the same time, it's important we cover all areas of fitness within our weekly training program in order to avoid imbalances. So, how do we do this without overtraining? We implement a training regimen that yields the minimal effective dose of exercise. In other words, we structure our training program in such a way that we're able to train all areas of fitness and yield the greatest results in the most efficient amount of time.

What are these areas of fitness you might ask? Well, the major areas we'll focus on include:

Cardiovascular Fitness
Muscular Endurance
Strength
Mitchondrial Density
Metabolic Efficiency
Stamina

So for the remainder of this article, I want to walk you through each of these areas of fitness and provide you with tangible advice on how to incorporate them into one, magnificent weekly training program. Without further ado, let's hop right in!

1. Cardiovascular Fitness

Cardiovascular fitness is defined as the maximum amount of oxygen you can utilize, also known as VO2 max. You might have also heard this term defined as maximal oxygen consumption, maximal oxygen uptake, peak oxygen uptake, or maximal aerobic capacity. Regardless, it's simply your maximum rate of oxygen consumption during intense exercise.

So how do we train this area of fitness? Simple — we implement longer-duration interval training using a cardio exercise of our choice. More specifically, my recommendation is the following:

Perform 5 intervals alternating between 4 minutes at max sustainable pace and 4 minutes at recovery pace using a cardio exercise of your choice
Perform this workout once per week

As a bonus, you can increase the difficulty of this workout such as by strapping on a weighted vest or resisted-breathing training mask.

2. Muscular Endurance

Next up is muscular endurance, which as the name suggests, is the maximum amount of work your muscles can endure. To target this area of fitness, the best strategy is to perform what's known as Tabata sets. To implement this approach, my recommendation is the following:

Select an exercise of your choice such as burpees, mountain climbers, jumping jacks, squat thrusts, running, rowing, cycling, or my favorite, kettlebell swings
Using your exercise of choice, perform Tabata sets for 4 minutes, alternating between 20 seconds of all-out exertion and 10 seconds of rest
Perform this workout 3 days per week, preferably on days you expect to be more sedentary

As you can probably tell, you can increase the difficulty of Tabata sets by using an exercise that is weighted rather than one that primarily uses bodyweight, which is why I love kettlebell swings so much.

3. Strength

Strength may be the most important area of fitness, and for good reason. Why? Well, as you age, bone density gradually declines, ultimately increasing your susceptibility to injury. So to combat this, we can implement strength training. However, to get the most bang for our buck, or in other words, yield the minimum effective dose of exercise, we'll utilize complex training.

Complex training is an exercise protocol whereby you superset a strength exercise with another exercise of the same movement pattern, ultimately yielding greater results for both exercises. For our case, we'll perform two strength workouts per week, with one supersetting a strength exercise with a similar mobility exercise and the other supersetting a strength exercise with a similar power exercise. As a result, we can improve our mobility, strength, and power more effectively using this exercise protocol than if we were to simply train them separately.

Now let's look at the specifics. For both workouts, my recommendations are the following:

Warm-up for 5 minutes by implementing deep tissue work (like using a foam roller), dynamic stretching, and animal flow movements
Choose one upper-body push, one lower-body push, one upper-body pull, one lower-body pull, and one full-body exercise, preferably all compounds exercises
Pair each exercise with a similar mobility or power exercise depending on the workout
Complete 3 sets of each exercise, performing 3-8 reps of the strength exercise followed by either 10-20 reps of the mobility exercise or 3-8 reps of the power exercise
Move on to the next movement pattern once you've completed 3 sets of both the strength and mobility or power exercise for the current movement pattern
Cool down with breathwork (check out one of my past articles for ideas), low-intensity cardio, stretching, or my favorite, sauna
Perform each strength workout once per week (2 strength workouts total per week)

To increase the difficulty of your strength workouts, my advice is to simply continue adding weight or change up the exercises. Check out exrx.net for one of the most comprehensive exercise libraries I've found to date if you're looking for new exercises to add to your arsenal.

4. Mitochondrial Density

Mitochondria are the "powerhouse" of your cells and are responsible for producing ATP, which is your body's primary form of cellular energy. In connection, mitochondrial density is how densely packed mitochondria are within your muscles. As a result, the greater your mitochondria density, the more energy your muscles can produce, and the better you can perform.

So how do we increase our mitochondria density? Simple — like cardiovascular fitness, we perform interval training. But rather than longer-duration intervals, we'll instead perform short, intense intervals. More specifically, my recommendation is the following:

Perform 5 intervals alternating between 20-30 seconds of all-out exertion and a full-recovery period using a cardio exercise of your choice (my favorites are sprints and fan bike intervals)
Perform another 5 intervals alternating between 4 seconds of even greater all-out exertion and a full-recovery period, which should be shorter than the previous recovery periods
Perform this workout once per week

Like our workout for cardiovascular fitness, we can similarly increase the difficulty of this workout by implementing a weighted vest or resisted-breathing training mask.

5. Metabolic Efficiency

If you read one of my past articles on continuous blood glucose monitors (CGMs), you'd already know the importance of keeping yourself metabolically healthy. What is metabolic health? To put it simply, it's your body's ability to generate ketones and burn fatty acids for fuel efficiently.

So, how do we improve our metabolic health? — by managing blood sugar fluctuations. To accomplish this, my recommendations are the following:

Perform short, aerobic workouts in the morning, preferably in a fasted state, such as by going for a walk in the sunshine or performing deep tissue work
Avoid frequent snacking (yes, it's a myth that frequent eating is beneficial for your metabolic health)
Save all your carbohydrates for the end of the day and until then, eat high amounts of quality fats and moderate amounts of quality protein
Stay physically active all day long such as by utilizing a standing desk and implementing pomodoro breaks like the Tabata sets we discussed earlier
Become more resilient by engaging in cold thermogenesis and sauna therapy

Since metabolic efficiency isn't a concrete workout, there's not really strategies to increase any sort of difficulty involved, since we're trying to rather maintain our metabolic efficiency. However, I would say you definitely can increase the difficulty of your stress-resilience tactics, such as by increasing your time of exposure to extreme cold or heat. At the end of the day, the true difficulty with regards to this area of fitness is simply holding yourself accountable to do these strategies day in and day out so you ensure you stay metabolically healthy.

6. Maximum Stamina

Stamina is the ability to move at a low to moderate intensity for 90 minutes or longer, so maximum stamina is simply maximizing the length of time you can remain at a given intensity. However, again, like metabolic efficiency, the point is not to cover a specific area of fitness per se, but rather to maintain your health. And just how exercise is important for health, so is relationships. So, rather than scheduling a 2-hour long workout performed by yourself every single week. Instead, train your maximum stamina by implementing activities that incorporate community and relationships at the same time.

More specifically, my recommendations are the following:

Go on a backpacking trip with friends
Go on a long bike ride with friends
Take part in a yoga session with friends
Sign up for an obstacle race, century ride, triathlon, marathon, 5K, or Spartan Race with friends
Go on any other crazy adventure like rafting or rock climbing with friends

You get the picture, do something exciting that challenges your stamina, but that you can also do with friends. I know, I know, you're a hard-charging, independent go-getter. But that is exactly the reason I've included this last area of fitness — to stress the importance of taking some time out of your week to build your relationships with people who are like-minded and value their health like you.

Summary

So there you have it, a perfect weekly routine that'll ensure you train all areas of fitness with the minimum effective dose of exercise to avoid overtraining, while of course, remaining metabolically healthy and social. Now, I know, I didn't give you exact programs, but I did give you a solid foundation from which to start. If you do, however, want a done-for-you weekly program, check out my personal training services and I'd be glad to help you maximize your potential. Nevertheless, implementing this type of approach will certainly give you more time in the week to be more productive and do the other things you love. It truly is a win-win, so give this weekly routine a try and I promise you won't regret it!

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