Episode 08: How You Move Defines How You Live
Welcome to my podcast, asking the question, if not now, when? This is Cindie Brown and thank you for joining me today. For more information, visit me at www.ifnotnowwhen.best.
A wonderful quote from Peter Attia, "How you move defines how you live". There is no new news regarding the importance of movement to our physical and mental health but I absolutely loved preparing for this episode learning how movement expands executive function, processing speed of information, memory, emotional health and of course longevity increasing stability, flexibility, mobility, strength, muscle mass, bone density, aerobic function, anaerobic function, functional movement, freedom from pain, sexual function and mitigates cognitive decline. As Jim Kwik calls it, "As the body moves the brain groves." It's not only about body fitness but mind fitness and both are interconnected. Physical fitness impacts the entire body including the brain in a very positive way.
In my previous episode on longevity I mentioned I want to be able to squat down with ease and pick up my future grand children and great grand children and be able to play with them and dance Tango at 110. Well movement and exercise is one of the ways I can control that possibility. It's my hope, by sharing this information it helps you with increasing your health and life span.
I remember quite a few years ago I had the fortune of meeting Nancy McNameria. She was a customer of mine in her early eighty's. She was tall and elegant and a had a sense of grace about her. She had a personal trainer and was at the gym working out 4 days a week. She was active and mentally sharp as the president of her company and on the board of a few industry trade organizations. Meeting her, I knew I wanted to be like her when I grew up. To this day she is my role model. Not much longer after that I met an amazing 70 year old kick boxer. Again so motivational and confirmed my aspirations of living healthy to 120. Recently I learned about Olga, a 94 year old track star. There is a book written about her is called: What Makes Olga Run? By Bruce Grierson. Equally motivating. He writes exercise is a stressor and stress reliever. It can add years to your life but more importantly it adds life to your years. He sites a study where Princeton Researchers built new neurons in the hippocampus of mice by exercising them and then they looked closely at the new neurons they had created. There was something different about them. They showed a dampened response to stressful situations. That seems to be an explanation as to why exercise reduces stress or is a stress reliever. Individuals who have built neurons from exercise seem to dial down the level of chatter. Exercise helps reserve the effects of what I referred to earlier as the a genetic bad hand and makes every good habits you have more potent.
According to the Harvard Medical Review movement and exercise are not the fountain of youth but it's a good long drink of vitality. Exercise gives us energy, triggers happy hormones, improves bone density, muscle mass, protects your bones, balance is improved reducing the risk of falling. A fall at 30 where you get up and brush yourself off can be fatal at 80 if you don't have the muscle and bone density to help protect ourselves and recuperate quickly so we are not bed ridden. Once bed ridden, muscles atrophy and many times a downward spiral. And here's the thing, when we are in our 80's and then decide, OK I need to develop muscle mass and bone density, it’s a lot harder than starting young and continuing that process.
When talking about exercise and longevity, I can't help but think of Dr. Peter Attia, MD. One of his obsessions is how to live longer and better. He always says, "I've seen first hand how access to information improves the quality of our lives." I couldn't agree more. He is a wealth of information and I hope by sharing some of what I have learned from him, will do just what he had said, help improve the quality of your life. If I had to give an example of an analytical person it would be him. I listen to his podcast called, The Drive. I walk for an hour before dance listening to Podcast and audio books as my daily learning time and one of the podcasts I religiously listen to is his. It's very "sciency" and I find myself stopping frequently and Googling terms that he uses so I know what the heck he's talking about but it's challenging and I learn so much.
Regarding exercise, he says we know resistance training and cardio exercise or extend life spans but we don't know optimal levels. But that a combination of cardio, resistance training, balance and flexibility training are optimal. This all makes sense. Resistance training helps with bone density and strength with muscles protecting our bones. As we age, we lose muscle mass (1% a year after 30 years old) so resistance training helps slow that process down and maintain our muscle mass. Flexibility helps with agility and movement and balance training as in Yoga helps us reduce the risk of falls. According to the National Council on Aging, falls are the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries for older Americans. Peter always tells his patients rule #1 with exercise is you can't get injured. It is taking 10 steps backwards. That's why I stopped riding horses. I used to do dressage which is like ballroom dancing with a horse. But after being thrown a few times I figured picking another hobby would be a good idea. Now, I dance with men. There have been a few crazy moments but none as crazy as being thrown off a horse.
Peter also suggests the exercise we do shouldn't put strain on the joints or minimize the strain on the joints and maximize the strain on the muscle. To activate the muscle without activating the joint you can do that with lighter weights and yet the muscle gets challenged.
So let's talk about joints for a minute. Dr. Eric Chehab MD, Orthopedic Surgeon at the Bone and Joint Institute in Illinois talks about the multiplier effect regarding weigh on the joints. He says weight is amplified in our joints so if you gain one pound it's 4 extra pounds of pressure on the knees when walking, 6 pounds going up and down stairs, 8 pounds more with running. It is a significant multiplier. He says there are similar multipliers with the hips and back as well. Bone density only increases up to 30 years old and then starts to decline so it is important before 30 to maximize bone density. For women after menopause, bone density reduces significantly. Weight bearing exercise is critical to maintaining bone density. After 30 we can't increase density but we can maintain it.
There's all kinds of information on every kind of exercise instruction readily available that we can do from home, at a gym and at group instruction lead by very talented people But what's important is you choose an exercise form that you like and that you can stay consistent with. Movement should be a part of your life. Our bodies were made to move. The expression, "use it or lose it" comes to mind. Another common expression regarding exercise is, "the best exercise is the exercise you will do", so choosing something you enjoy.
OK, so you're going to have to indulge me for just a minute regarding one of my passions and an exercise, I guess you could call it an exercise I enjoy, it doesn't feel like it but it's dance. I have always loved to dance and actually when music I like is playing I even find it hard to concentrate on a conversation. I feel the music in every cell in my body. When I dance I am so in the moment that there are only two things happening in my world when I am dancing, the music and connection to partner. It's a special moment with that partner. It's being present. "When the song is over, I feel like I have just had this beautiful moment with this human. It's like having a non verbal conversation with someone. They say meditation is clearing your mind and I realized that's what happens when I dance. There are no emails, no problems to solve, no to do list, only bliss for the segment of those few minutes. The types of dances I do are partner dance obviously which are Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba, Brazilian Zouk and Argentine Tango. And I found that each dance represents a culture and each of those dance environments has a different energy. All good, all positive but different. Partner dance is like two bodies feeling like one. Socially I find the dance communities to be so positive and friendly in very city I go. People who are like minded enjoying the same activity and find joy in dance. For me, it's ecstasy. So, enough about dance but it it's really fun and I would certainly suggest if anyone does enjoy dancing to look into it both for single people and for couples. It's a great activity.
So, author, speaker, psychologist, Kelly McGonigal" PhD, wrote the book The Joy of Movement. She explains: "Movement is how we engage with life. It brings together our mental and physical health." She talks about how movement opens us up to incredible vulnerability and strength and both converge. Nobody better than Kelly to explain why exercise is beneficial for mental health. She says, exercise has a profound effect of our sense of belonging, resilience, and overall mental health. Our genes expect us to move and it allows us to experience joy. Movement truly enhances every aspect of our lives. It changes the structure of our brain. She said the most exciting thing about writing this book was the discovery of how it sensitizes our brain to pleasure by ramping up our reward system in our brain making everything we do more enjoyable. There's no drug that can do that triggering the rewards system they way exercise does. She says it teaches your brain to expect things to be pleasurable.
Also, exercise can be an anti-depressant. It can also enhance anti-depressant medication and therapy. This is common knowledge but that exercise makes us better and enjoying things, people haven't heard of it yet and it's relatively new news. Exercise dumps hormones into our blood stream. Our muscles are an endocrine organ and your muscles secret hormones into your bloodstream that effect every organ in our body. It's common knowledge our muscles secret hormones and proteins that fight cancer cells and improve heart health. But they also secret hormones and proteins that are really good for your brain health. Combined what you like, music and nature, it enhances your experience even further. Moving in synchrony with someone releases oxytocin, endorphins all these bonding neurochemicals it just amplifies that effect. Music does the same thing. That's kind of the explanation I think for why I enjoy dance so much. Anyway, doing hard things together also builds ties. She show exercise increases the sense of meaning in life. There's a chapter in the book about overcoming obstacles. She talks about the biology of movement and the joy of movement is the joy of social connection. Movement is always a part of our celebrations.
I have found when we exercise your body craves healthier food and more likely to choose health options. It improves the quality or your sleep especially if you exercise in the morning and when you feel better physically and mentally, your relationships improve. Also depending on the type of exercise you do or sport you do, you also have the opportunity to meet like minded people and it can be quite social. In my example of dance, it has provided a wonderful opportunity to meet like minded, fun and engaged people.
I am going to share some of my daily habits that may give you some ideas to incorporate in your life. So first, whenever there is an option to take the stairs, I do. And when I park my car at a store I usually do park kind of far away giving me the opportunity to walk. One of the funniest things is to watch people wait in their car at the gym to get the closest parking spot possible so they don't have to walk too far to go in and work out. As far as my exercise routine, in the morning, after I walk my dog I lift weights every other day and cardio on the other days that I'm not lifting weights. With both I do in an interval format that way my heart beat goes really high then it goes low then it goes high and then it goes low again. I have heard this from many health experts that this type of exercise is most beneficial for longevity. It helps increase our heart rate variability as well. When we are younger our Heart Rate Variability is high and as we age it get's lower. I want to keep it up high. I'm able to measure it with my Oura Ring. The same wearable that measures my quality of sleep. Also, every day before working out I jump on my rebounder, its a mini trampoline. I was told by my oncologist this is good for my lymphatic system.
I think the hardest part about exercise is getting out there and doing it consistently. At least for me it is. I know intellectually how good exercise is for me and how vital it is for longevity but discipline to make it a habit and not matter what to keep going it not easy. I found for me if I don't do it consistently, I am doomed. I'll make every excuse in the world to say aww tomorrow, I'll do it tomorrow. But I do find once I get started, it's not that hard. I think our tendency sometimes to avoid exercise may have something to do with our bodies wanting to conserve energy but the paradox is when we exercise we have more energy. Having the discipline to make exercise a lifestyle is the game changer and for most it then become something your body craves when you don't exercise. What has helped me in being consistent with exercise is making sure it is a habit. Then I'm not relying on my will power but rather a habit that pushes me forward.
I'm going to leave you with a poem you may have heard before that I read many years ago regarding a habit: It's called, The Habit Poem:
I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half of the things you, do you might as well turn over to me and I will do them - quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed - you must be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons, I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of great people, and alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine though I work with the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a person.
You may run me for profit or run me for ruin - it makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet.
Be easy with me and I will destroy you.
Who am I?
I am Habit.
I really want to be a "kick ass 100 year old" as Peter Attia would call it and I hope you will be one right along with me. So learning what's going to help me get there and using habits to keep me on track is my strategy. Thank you so much for joining me today. Wishing you peace, joy, love and good health. Good bye for now.
Peter Attia A framework for Exercise https://peterattiamd.com/framework-for-exercise/?utm_source=emaildrip&utm_medium=email3
What Makes Olga Run? By Bruce Grierson https://brucegrierson.com/books/what-makes-olga-run/
Movement for Longevity <https://themovingjoint.com/movement-for-longevity/>
Kelly McGonigal http://kellymcgonigal.com/
NCOA Falls Preventions Facts: https://www.ncoa.org/news/resources-for-reporters/get-the-facts/falls-prevention-facts/#:~:text=%3E-,Falls%20Prevention%20Facts,enormous%20economic%20and%20personal%20costs.
Jim Kwik https://jimkwik.com/
