The document summarizes key points from a presentation on exercise for longevity given by Alex Lightman. It discusses how exercise can help maximize healthspan, fitspan and lifespan by reversing the effects of aging on telomeres, VO2max, muscle mass and bone density. Specifically, it recommends high-intensity interval training 4-6 days a week along with weight lifting 3 days a week. It also explores the relationship between exercise, neurogenesis and cognitive benefits. Barriers to exercise among Americans are identified and creative strategies for improving exercise habits are suggested.

1. Exercise for Longevity:
Finding Your Personal Optimum
Presented by
Alex Lightman
At The Personalized Life
Extension 2012
Conference
Sun, Apr 1, 2012,
3:45 PM
Attribution: By Shustov (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

2. (Exercise + Diet) x Creativity
x Tribal Communication
= Longevity Evolution

3. Lifespan:
Years Until
You Are
Declared
Dead
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Source: Comparison of male and female life expectancy at birth for countries and territories as defined in the 2011 CIA Factbook, with selected
bubbles labelled. The dotted line corresponds to equal female and male life expectancy. The apparent 3D volumes of the bubbles are linearly
proportional to their population, i.e. their radii are linearly proportional to the cube root of the population. Data is from
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2102.html and h
ttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2119.html

4. Healthspan:
Years That
You Can
Stay Out
Of
Assisted
Care
Attribution: By U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication 2nd Class Michael Gomez
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Attribution not legally required

5. Tony Robbins Once Said
"You Can Do
Anything
As Long As
You Have Enough
Reasons"

6. Fitspan:
Years That
You Can
Learn and
Do New and
Challenging
Exercises
and Sports
Attribution: By Shustov (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/
3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

7. Hundreds of Aspects of Health
Decreased by Aging
Increased by Exercise

13. What Exercise Does For The
Body Is Interesting...
But What It Does
For The Brain Is VITAL.
Dr. John Ratey, Harvard.
SPARK: The Revolutionary New
Science of Exercise and the
Brain – highly recommended!

14. Linear Decay Functions
There are 4 Aspects of Linear Decay in our
Biological Systems:
1. Telomeres
2. VO2Max
3. Sarcopenia: “Muscle Poverty"
4. Osteopenia: “Bone Poverty"

15. Reversing Linear Decay Functions
All four are reversed by vigorous exercise.
Specifically running 4-6 days a week.
Including two sessions of High-Intensity
Interval Training, (HIIT), and 3 days a week of
weight lifting.
Including at least one session a week of squats
with weights, deadlifts, and clean and jerks.

16. Telomeres
Conception
15000 Units
At Birth
10000 Units
At Death
5000 Units
Source: By Ya-Hui Chi , Zi-Jie Chen and Kuan-Teh Jeang (The nuclear envelopathies and human diseases) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia
Commons

17. How high can you get your VO2Max
The highest VO2Max recorded is 95 for
humans (Cross-Country Skier)
Most Olympic Marathoners are in the
mid-70s.
Highest domesticated animal is 150 for
race horses.
Highest mammal is the cheetah – up to 300
(Can run 60 miles an hour but only for two
minutes)

18. VO2Max
We Lose 1 To 0.1 Point of V02Max
from Age 28 On Each Year Until
Death (average of about .4, more if
someone sits and is overweight,
less if lots of walking)
Unless You Exercise (Though Some
Initial Improvement from Loss of
Body Fat)

19. Increase VO2Max
30 Is The Lowest You Could Have
And Be Considered In Fitspan
20 Is The Lowest Edge Of
Healthspan
10 Is The Low Edge Of Lifespan

20. Sarcopenia: “Muscle Poverty"
From The
Age Of 30
We Lose 1%
Of Our Lean
Muscle Mass
Each Year

21. Osteopenia: “Bone Poverty"
From The Age Of 30 On
Women Lose 1%
Bone Mass Year.
From The Age Of 40 On
Women Lose 2.5%
Bone Mass From
Their Hips And Spines.

22. Neurogenesis
Creation Of
New
Neural
Stem Cells
Or New
Brain Cells
Source: By Oscar Arias-Carrión [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

23. Neurogenesis Is Engendered By
Exercise
This Occurs Primarily In The Hippocampus
Due To Two Things:
For Men Increasing Heart Rate To 75%
Or More Of Maximum Heart Rate For 45 Minutes
(220-Age Is An Approximation)
For Women This Is Increasing Heart Rate to 65%
For 45 Minutes During Exercise
Also, TOUCH, but this is much less easy to
quantify. Extremely important for prematurely
born infants.

24. Gaining VO2Max Related
Neurogenesis Benefits
To Find the Lower End of Neurogenesis
Territory, Take A Maximum Heart Rate of
220 Beats Per Minute And Then Subtract
One's Age:
220 BPM – Age = X
(This is an approximation. Testing can
show you have a higher or lower MHR).

25. Gaining VO2Max Related
Neurogenesis Benefits
For Men An Exercise Heart Beat Rate Of
75% of MHR Is The Lower End
For A 48 Year Old Man
That Is 220 - 48 = 172/0.75 =
For Neurogenesis, Elevate Heart Rate to 130
And Above for 45 Minutes and Then Learn
Something NEW Within Three Weeks

26. Gaining VO2Max Related
Neurogenesis Benefits
For Women An Exercise Heart Beat Rate Of
75% of MHR Is The Lower End
For A 48 Year Woman
That Is 220 - 48 = 172/0.75 =
For Neurogenesis, Elevate Heart Rate to 112
And Above for 45 Minutes and Then Learn
Something NEW Within Three Weeks

27. Why Don’t We Exercise More?
1. Only 1/3rd of Americans exercise.
2. Of the 104 million Americans who
exercise, they burn an average of 100
calories a day from exercise.
3. If you average this out to all Americans,
this comes to 33 calories a day from
exercise.

28. Why Don’t We Exercise More?
4. Americans are consuming an
extra 800 calories a day from the
'50s and extra 500 calories a day
from the '70s.
5. 78% of Americans are overweight
6. 35% of Americans are obese.

29. Why Don’t We Exercise More?
7. My own calculation is that
every Americans over the age
of 14 would have to run two
marathons a month for 10 years
to get Americans back to the
same average body fat
percentage of 1975.

30. Overexercising?
• Unless you are running and weight lifting 12
hours or more a week (walking doesn’t
count), it’s unlikely you are overexercising.
If you want, you can get an AM/PM Cortisol
test.
You can also get tests of inflammation.
Be a citizen-scientist. Write me if you are OE.

31. My Favorite Exercise Hypothesis
If VO2Max is so important, and can be
estimated by race results from races 10K
to marathon, what ultimately limits your
race results?
THE CENTRAL GOVERNOR HYPOTHESIS
Your brain’s beliefs are the ultimate limit on your
race performance, therefore your VO2Max,
therefore a core aspect of your longevity

32. Last Advice:
• Be Wildly Creative. Do New Exercises In
New Ways in New Places with New People.
Embrace Change and Flux.
• Have Exercise Buddies. Open Offer To Run
or Lift Together If You Are In Santa Monica.
• Practice Weirdo Fitness! Do Your Exercises
In Public.
• Be my friend on Facebook or Google+ and
participate in the discussions on exercise.
Alex Lightman alexcto4G@gmail.com