On my 7km New Year’s Day walk, I listened to a Peter Attia podcast that had been recommended by my personal trainer, Cameron David. Peter Attia, MD, is recognized as perhaps the world’s leading expert in the science of healthspan and Longevity.
I’ve long been interested in the subject of healthspan. This is different from lifespan. Healthspan refers to our ability to stay healthy and fit as long as possible as we move inevitably toward the cliff that every human must eventually face. I’ve known about Peter Attia and followed various things others had referenced from his research, but had never listened to this particular podcast, which acts as a kind of overview.
At one point, Peter was asked to describe what he would regard as the five key tactics for longevity.
The five “buckets,” or tactics, that Peter has selected are:
Nutrition
Sleep
Exercise
Pharmacology (includes vitamins and supplements)
Emotional health
There are of course no real surprises here. I think most people are aware of these elements and their importance in keeping us healthy, even if what we know and what we do tend to… ahem, differ. Of these, Peter says his favorite is exercise, because it has a greater impact in both longevity and healthspan than any of the others.
The Secret Ingredient for Longevity
When asked to list the top priorities for anyone who wishes to extend their healthspan, the first foundation Peter refers to is Stability. You could call it the secret ingredient for longevity.
“You need to have stability,” he explains. “You have to have the chassis and the tires, right? So you must have every aspect of motor control, coordination, ability to dissipate force, the ability to receive force, the ability to balance. There’s so much that goes into stability that it I think got a full half chapter in the book (Outlive, the Science & Art of Longevity).”
He says that it’s far and away the most complicated to explain, but claims that it’s really obvious to see it when it’s not there. He refers to his own life in saying that “Every one of us is lacking in stability. It was the biggest re-education for me as I pivoted to this way of training.”
What does Stability look like? Peter describes it this way: “So it’s everything from learning how to appropriately pressurize your intra-abdominal space to how to unlock your ribs, maintain an appropriate center of gravity, how to be able to isometrically contract muscles as necessary, how to be able to do it under control, how to have good foot mechanics.” If you’re a dancer, these should sound familiar.
Peter feels that Stability is so important that he’s done dedicated podcasts because each component is quite nuanced. “And the good news,” he says, “is while most of us show up to the middle part of our life with enormous deficits in this area, they’re all retrainable. We’re actually still quite plastic, even in old age.”
He continues by describing the other foundational components, which are strength and power, and cardiovascular fitness, also referred to as aerobic efficiency.
Dancers are Ahead of the Crowd in Stability
It struck me that dancers are well ahead of most of the population in all of these areas. First, they practice stability on a regular basis. This is the most important element in being able to dance, even as a beginner. In addition, dancers develop strength and power, especially those who push themselves to competitive DanceSport. And you don’t need to be an athlete to improve your cardiovascular fitness through dance. Everyone who has spent any amount of time at a social dance knows how dancing contributes significantly to aerobic capacity.
So once again, dance comes to the foreground as a key element in helping people get and stay fit, and extend their healthspan.
What’s really great about this is that you don’t even have to be someone who goes out to social dances or trains for competition. Even just attending a dance class once a week will improve your stability, strength and power, and cardio fitness. If you aren’t dancing yet, there’s no time like the present to get started. And if you are a dancer, think about making consistent dance training, and perhaps even competition, a part of your permanent lifestyle.
If you’re interested in Peter’s podcast, you can watch it below:
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