June 21, 2025 • 40 mins
Welcome to The Aging Well Podcast, where we challenge the fear-driven, profit-fueled narratives surrounding aging and replace them with science-backed, soul-centered strategies for living fully.
In this episode, Dr. Jeff Armstrong and co-host Corbin Bruton take on the myths of modern longevity culture—biohacking hype, anti-aging products, and pharmaceutical promises—and ask a bold question: What if aging isn’t a disease to cure, but a process to honor? They unpack the cultural forces distorting our view of aging and offer a holistic, inclusive alternative grounded in the 6 Pillars of Aging Well: movement, nutrition, body composition, sleep hygiene, social connection, and spiritual well-being.
This conversation covers:
- Why aging is not a problem to fix—but a season to embrace
- The risks of labeling aging as a disease
- How to cultivate strength, resilience, and purpose over time
- The difference between lifespan and healthspan
- How to live better, not just longerThe power of small, sustainable lifestyle changes
- What it means to be pro-living in a world obsessed with performance
If you're looking for an authentic, compassionate, and research-informed guide to aging well—one that values connection, meaning, and humanity over metrics and gimmicks—this episode is for you.
Please, support The Aging Well Podcast by hitting the ‘like’ button, subscribing/following the podcast, sharing with a friend, and....
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Well podcast where we explored the science stories and
strategies behind living a longer, healthier and more
purposeful life. I am your host Doctor Jeff
Armstrong, joined by my Co host Corbin Bruton.
Let's be honest, most of what wehear about aging today is either
driven by fear or profit. We're told we need to hack our
biology, optimize every metric, or buy the latest supplement to
(00:21):
stay young. We are bombarded with promises
from pharmaceutical giants, techbillionaires chasing
immortality, and fitness influencers peddling silver
bullet solutions. And through it all, one crucial
truth gets lost. Aging isn't a problem to be
solved, it's a process to be honored.
Here at the Aging Well Podcast, we're offering an alternative.
(00:43):
Our mission is inclusive, not exclusive.
We believe aging well is not just for the wealthy.
The bio optimized or the genetically gifted?
It's for all of us grounded in spiritual, physical,
intellectual, emotional and social well-being as well as the
six pillars that we often talk about here on this podcast.
(01:03):
If you're tired of the noise andlooking for a space where
science meets soul, where longevity is about more than
lifespan, it's about health, span, meaning and connection,
you're in the right place. This is not anti aging.
This is pro living. This is the aging well podcast.
Aging well. Welcome back to our listeners
(01:26):
for Part 2 of the Aging Well Podcast.
As we dive in to, you know, justjust great conversation.
We're going to pick up right where we left off last week.
So Doctor Armstrong, right whereyou picked up last week, you
were talking about the importance of exercise science
and some of the stuff that we were actually missing.
(01:48):
What what is it do you think that we're missing or we're
overlooking? And how would you change that if
if you were in control of all ofthe exercise scientists?
If. I was in control.
We don't be. Control.
We'd be teaching a searcher squat to everybody.
Everybody would be doing a searcher squat.
(02:09):
Yeah. I think, again, it would be
putting a little bit more emphasis on strength training
and understanding that lifting heavy is important and it's not
detrimental to the health and welfare of an older adult to
lift heavy because heavy is relative.
You know, if we want to be pushing strength, you know,
(02:29):
again without causing injury, but be pushing strength as
opposed to lifting light weightsfor high repetitions and calling
that thanks training and you know, keep doing cardio, but you
know, do get people moving more,moving as much as possible and
then be doing some higher intensity type of movements in
order to promote a maintenance of VO2 Max.
(02:52):
So it's pretty simple. I don't I don't think I'm early.
I put in great demands on the exercise science field.
It's just kind of let's follow the KISS principle, keep it
simple stupid and get people moving in the right ways and
understand that just because I'm62 does not mean that I am going
(03:12):
to move like a 62 year old. Or hell, I don't even think I
move like 50 year olds. I think, you know, I'm working
at trying to kind of break the mold a little bit.
Now there's people that are in far greater shape than me at
6070, even 80. Sometimes that's genetics, but
sometimes it's most of the timesit's that they've just been
(03:34):
living, living the hell out of life.
Well, also I think having the primary focus be on just
resistance training, you know, some of our listeners are like
probably we're asking themselveswhy, why do I need to change my
routine right now and focus primarily on lifting.
And I think it just comes down to it helps with your overall
(03:56):
strength, your balance, your stability.
All of these are critical and very important for when you
start to age or start to hit into that that third, third age
zone bracket or even that fourthage zone bracket.
I would argue it's important in a second as well.
Well, yeah, totally. Probably even in first, yeah.
So across the lifespan, being able to move a effectively and
(04:20):
to be able to lift as much as you can.
I mean, again, we, we think of, oh, well, you know, how
important it is it for me to be able to deadlift 405 hundred
pounds. Well, maybe not the deadlift
itself per SE, but you know, canyou lift up your grandchild?
Can you lift that? You know, that pocket bed box
(04:41):
that Amazon has delivered? You know, it's like we get dog
food delivered now, like on a monthly basis for the two dogs.
And it's always a big heavy box because there's all these other
stuff in it as well. You know, what would I, if I, if
I was older and weaker and that stuff showed up on my porch when
roll the box into the house? I mean, you know, I want to be
(05:01):
able to lift it and move it around.
I want to be able to function right, so functionality is
really really really important when it comes to aging well.
I think functionality also comesdown to flexibility as well.
And I, I know for my own personal exercise routines, like
I'm really lacking in the flexibility department and I've
(05:22):
always been aware of it, but I've becoming more involved with
the youth recently, like youth groups and stuff like that.
And, and just going around and playing games with, with the
kids and, and keeping up with their energy level.
I have the energy to keep up with their energy level.
I've obviously got the strength to like help lift and move the
(05:46):
items to that we set up for games.
But when it comes to flexibility, man, it's sometimes
it's, it's hard to like get all the way to the ground when
you're in certain positions and you're like, man, this is, this
is embarrassing. Like you don't feel, I don't
feel old at all. Like I feel really youthful.
(06:11):
Yeah. I mean, there's certain days
where you're a little bit more tight in certain joints, but you
just move around and you're good, right.
But man, that flexibility aspectis that's something.
Luckily I'm catching it now and I got to got to work on it.
But yeah, it, I mean, jeez Louise, it range of motion is a
great thing. And if you can't do it then.
(06:33):
Then you better start work start.
Focusing on it, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Because I mean, well, you mentioned like carrying
groceries and Amazon bags, but you know, we just moved into a
new house and also carrying a wheelbarrow.
It's also lifting the cinder blocks.
It's also throwing the giant bags of soil or gravel or
(06:55):
whatever it is that you're doingmake everything look good.
Like I can do all of that. It's just it's just like getting
in positions and like having theflexibility to.
Yeah. Because when I pick stuff up, I
usually just squat down and pickit up, realizing I only have
one, one kind of range of motion.
(07:17):
I need to get the whole aspect of it.
That was pretty eye open. Yeah.
All right, let's get back to this.
Let's get focused. Sounds good.
So in contrast to high performance models, what does
everyday resilience look like through your lens?
Well, I think you kind of touched on that a little bit.
I mean being able to move cinderblocks, move a wheelbarrow.
But even beyond that, I would say, you know, some of the
(07:40):
important things that we will need to do is we get a little
older is can we walk up steps? Can we cross the street fast
enough that, you know, cars aren't going to be delayed or be
hitting us? Can we squat down and get up
from the toilet? You know, can we clean our
houses? Can we cook for ourselves?
Can we carry the groceries in from the car?
(08:02):
You know, I, I love carrying as many of those bags as I can.
I mean, it's somewhat showing off, but it's, you know, I know
that if I don't, then over time I'm going to be able to carry
less and less of it. And it's going to become more
and more of a burden. So when we talk about everyday
resilience, we're looking at being able to manage the tasks
(08:24):
that will enable us to live independently, to function at a
level that gives us a life that we want to have.
You know, whether it's being able to hike, play with the
kids, live with the grandkids, you know, walk the dogs, you
know, the list goes on and on. What do you want to accomplish
in life? What do you need to be able to
(08:45):
do to continue to perform that as we get older, you know, and
what do you want to be? What do you want to look like
when you're 90, a hundred, 120, you know, whatever your goals
might be. You know, I think a lot of
people as high, I survived to be70, I've done well.
That's not the case anymore. If you're enjoying the Aging
Well podcast, be sure to like, subscribe, or follow on your
(09:08):
favorite platform so you will never miss an episode.
And if you find our conversations helpful, please
share the podcast with a friend because aging is something we're
all doing and we're better at doing it together.
And support our guests in this podcast financially by visiting
the affiliate links in the episode description below and
use the links or codes provided for discounts on products we
have vetted and feel comfortablerecommending to our valued
(09:30):
viewers and listeners. Thank you.
And now back to the podcast. And that's really, that could be
a really hard pill for people toswallow because but, but you're
right, you're totally right. Because if you think about it,
we in a Western society, you know, our retirement age is 63.
(09:50):
That's the age that is recommended for someone to
retire. But I know I work with a lot of
individuals where they, they're way past 63, you know, they're
in their 70s and they're still working.
I worked with one lady and she was in her 90s actually.
And she was just like, I'm just moving along and I'm not here to
(10:15):
throw anyone's laundry out on why they didn't retire.
Or, you know, maybe they were maybe they were finding that
purpose that they wanted. Maybe because if they're like,
well, I lived for 70 four, it's time to go.
(10:55):
That's not that's not cool. Like make your life worth
living, make it count and and give meaning and give purpose
and create memories and use as much of your life adequately to
experience everything needed. Am I wrong in saying that?
No, absolutely. I mean, to me, I don't want to
(11:16):
ever retire and I don't think anybody should feel like they
have to retire or they've failedin life if they don't retire at
63. But I know there's financial
reasons why many of us will haveto work a lot longer.
But, you know, to me, it's more about productivity and being
useful and, you know, having something to do every day.
(11:37):
I can't imagine getting up in the morning and, like, OK, what
am I gonna do today? Well, let's see what's on TV or,
you know, OK, I'll take a walk around the neighborhood that
that took 40 minutes. Now what do I do?
You know, I want to be productive and I want to be
active and all those types of things.
So people are going to make different choices.
If you really love to travel andall that, and hopefully you're
(11:58):
financially prepared that you can, you know, retire at 63 or
younger and get out there and dostuff, you know, and, and, and
spend that money that you've worked hard to earn.
But the key to, you know, just living well is to be able to
live well when with vitality at whatever you choose to do in
your growing years. So, Doctor Armstrong, we hear a
(12:19):
lot about extending lifespans, but you stress health span and
even meaning span. So what's the difference and why
does it even matter? I think, you know, we look at
lifespan, lifespan really hasn'tdramatically changed in the
human species. I mean, we can live to a certain
age and that's pretty normal, but health span relates to how
(12:41):
healthy or how well we are living, living those years.
And so there's really efforts to, I mean, we talked about, you
know, lifespan or longevity. We're not going to do a whole
heck of a lot to extend how longpeople can live, but we can
improve how healthy they can be in that period of time, you
(13:03):
know, And so pushing up the the health span age so that, you
know, the period of time that third age before we hit into
fourth age, keeping that as longas possible and as close to the
lifespan as possible is what we're talking about when we
stress health span. You know, I think the meaning
span comes to, you know, when wetalk about well centered fitness
(13:26):
and the spies model, it's havingmeaning and purpose in all those
years as well. Because OK, we can live healthy,
we can live long, but to live without meaning, what's the
purpose of a point, right? And so I would probably even
emphasize we need to start looking at rather than lifespan,
health span, well span. You know, how well are we
(13:49):
living? Are we living that spies model
to the fullest and getting, you know, closer and closer to that
asthmatope as we age and in getting better, you know, be our
best today, be better tomorrow is one of my mantras.
That's what we're really lookingat, meaning span or well, span,
and not only living longer, but living with greater purpose or
(14:11):
finding that purpose as we age. So would you say that in order
to extend someone's lifespan, focusing on spiritual and social
Wellness that was just as critical as physical health when
it comes to aging well? Absolutely.
I mean, I think, and I think again, I don't think we're going
(14:31):
to change the lifespan, but you know, health span health is
closely tied to the spiritual, physical, intellectual,
emotional and social. You know, you look at, you know,
the physical being, our genetics, things that we're
doing, exercise, diet and all those spiritual brings purpose
into the whole equation. And you know, living for
(14:54):
something greater than oneself. The more educated we are, so the
intellectual piece, the longer people tend to live in a better
health they have throughout their lifespan.
And you know, emotional, I mean,we can, we are in a society
where emotional well-being has fallen apart.
So much anxiety, so much stress,so much fear, all those types of
(15:18):
things, so much hatred, so much bitterness.
There's so much impacting us emotionally that has a negative
toll on our health. And then of course, you know,
we've talked about the role of social connection in wealth,
wealth span and wealth span and health span and so on.
So all of that is connected. And so I don't think you can
(15:39):
separate the well centered fitness from health, span and
lifespan. Yeah, No, I'm glad you mentioned
that. We're kind of in a mental health
crisis right now. And I think that that statement
alone weighs way more heavier onanswering the question I asked.
(16:00):
And hopefully, yeah, when we first started this podcast, we
weren't just, yes, we we spoke about the physical exercise and
nutrition because that's what weknew about, but it wasn't the
main goal. The goal was to also help
individuals age mentally, emotionally, spiritually, like
(16:23):
even financially at one point, right.
And so, man, I'm really glad that you touched on that.
You said that aging. You said that aging well is
inclusive, not elite. Can you share what that looks
like in in in practice? Yeah, and I think it's keeping
it simple, you know, and, and trying to give access to
(16:46):
everybody. You know, it's very easy for us
to say, OK, you want to age well, you got to exercise, you
got to eat right. You got to maintain healthy body
composition, not smoke, you know, get good sleep hygiene and
have good social connections or purposeful social connections.
Go do it and expect people to beable to do it.
(17:06):
And without the proper tools, the education, without the
proper environment, it's impossible, you know, And so we
have, you know, we've talked about not having the front
porch. We're constructing houses.
We're we're putting people in conditions where it's just
harder and harder to socially connect and interact.
We make it harder to engage in exercise.
(17:28):
You know, people maybe can't afford a gym.
There's not as much outdoor space to be able to move around
to go walking, walk the dogs andsafe neighborhoods and not type
those types of things. Food access.
I mean, you got you want to talkabout how badly we have affected
people's nutrition. I mean, grocery stores push the
(17:50):
crappiest of foods. You know, there's more and more
fast food restaurants growing, fewer, you know, fewer healthy
restaurants, fewer, you know, you know, grocery stores.
People having to buy food at convenience stores.
You have, you know, we look at food assistance programs.
They don't make it easy for people to get healthy food and
(18:10):
don't even make it possible for people to fully understand what
is healthy food. And so there's just so many
factors that are keeping people from being able to age well.
And then we have, you know, these billionaire biohackers
telling us, you know, they're going to live forever because
they're spending millions of dollars.
(18:31):
That's leadism. You know, you're, you're
basically looking at, OK, what are the things that are going to
allow the most elite of us to beable to live well and the rest
of you are just going to have tosuffer through because you
didn't make the right financial decisions to be able to age
well. Is that you're basically
(18:52):
summarizing it that aging well is affordable?
It can be, yes. And you know, it just needs to
be accessible and we have to provide access to people.
And I think that's what separates the aging well
podcasts from other podcasts is that we're trying to promote,
what can you do? What are the baby steps that you
(19:13):
can take today to live a healthier, more vital life
tomorrow? And it's not anything that's
that difficult and not going to sit on this podcast and promote,
you know, tons and tons. And there there may very well be
supplements or treatments that we can do that can extend the
lifespan, but that's not accessible to the majority of
(19:35):
people. So what can we do to better the
lives of all people across the globe so that they can live
healthier, longer and more productive lives?
Yeah, give an example. Just one, just one.
Someone's listening to this right now and they're like, OK,
what's my first baby step? What can I do?
(19:55):
Go. I mean, there's so many first
baby steps you can do. I mean, which which pillar do we
want to look at if we want to look at exercise and physical
activity? OK, what can you take one, one
step right now that you didn't take yesterday?
You know, if you we're talking about 10,000 steps.
Well, if you're at, you know, 500 steps because you barely get
off the couch, get up, take a couple steps.
(20:18):
Just doing something, moving around a little bit is going to
be more than you've done yesterday.
And then just do a little bit more tomorrow, a little bit
more. You know, if you, you know, what
is it? Confucius said, you know, the
longest journey starts with a single step.
Believe it's the quote. Wow.
You know, so you know, you not on all of us are going to run a
marathon, but you know, if you decide you want to run a
(20:41):
marathon and you've never run a marathon and you're totally out
of shape and you're 50 lbs overweight, go walk around the
block. It might be a struggle to get
around that block, but you walk around that block today,
tomorrow you might get a little further and a little bit further
and you just keep moving a little bit more.
And it looks at the way we look at diet.
What's one small change that we can make today that can impact
(21:01):
the number of calories we're putting in our bodies?
I use the example all the time in my my classes that if you
drink sugared pop or soda, for those people that speak
incorrectly, a 20 oz bottle of pop is about 260 calories.
So if you cut one of those a day, I forget off the top of my
(21:23):
head how many calories that thatadds up to.
And anybody can do the math. It's, you know, 365 * 260.
But I remember, you know, because I just did it recently
in class that it came out to about 16 2/3 lbs over the course
of the year that you would gain if you increase that caloric
intake or you would lose if you decrease that.
(21:45):
So if you please stop drinking that one pop a day on 20 oz pop,
you can prevent yourself from gaining 16 lbs or lose 16 lbs if
you go in a caloric deficit. So I mean, that's a simple step,
you know, a little less unhealthy fats, eat a little bit
more, eat 1 stock of broccoli today that you didn't eat
(22:07):
yesterday. That's, that's a step in the
right direction, changing, you know, your food intake a little
bit more, eating a little bit more protein if you're not
eating enough protein, being a little less if you're eating too
much protein. Yeah, it's, it's just baby
steps. What about Bob?
Right. Like what?
What am I trying to do? OK, well what's the first step I
need to take to move in that direction?
(22:28):
So basically I'm hearing, you know, park farther away from the
store for to get your steps in, you know, don't don't
necessarily utilize the elevatoror escalator all the time.
Take advantage of those stairs, you know, if you're eating, if
you're eating crummy, throwing some veggies in there, Add
(22:49):
protein, focus on proteins. You know, just real simple
stuff. Long story short, don't
complicate it. Right.
It doesn't have to be complicated.
And that's again why I want thisto be the aging Well podcast.
We're we're getting rid of the complicatedness, you know,
we're, we're simplifying the process of aging well and it's
(23:11):
not going to be about OK, this is the expensive supplement you
have to take, you know, and it'sgoing to cost you.
You know, I forget what, what the I'm trying to remember now
the the supplement that that wealthy longevity, quote UN
quote expert couldn't see my airquotes if you're listening, but
(23:33):
the supplements like 360 some odd dollars a day.
I think it's well over $300 a not a day, but a month.
Most people can't afford that, right?
And that's only a partial part of what he's taking, you know.
So what are the simple things that we can do to make our
quality of life better? Yeah.
I mean, I think that question isfor the individual themselves,
(23:57):
really. What what do they want out of
their life? If they took their life and they
could squeeze as much awesomeness and produce as much
of it as they can, what does that look like?
What steps do they need to take?And I, I think if you're
listening to this right now, yougot to ask yourself that and
(24:17):
what goals are you going to be setting in order to accomplish
that? And if you, if you don't know
what steps to take to accomplishthat, don't tune into this
podcast because that's our our goal.
And if, if we're not talking about it and you have a
question, send us the question and we'll talk about it on this
podcast. That's that's our goal and
purpose with this podcast is to educate and to inspire.
(24:39):
So let's say we do have an individual who's just, they're
like, I just don't know. I just don't have the time.
I don't have the money, I don't have access.
What do you say to a person who feels left behind by modern
longevity? Quote a person from Brooklyn,
forget about it. You know, it's about it.
(24:59):
You don't have to chase after these health upgrades.
There's again, it's the small decisions that we're making and
longevity science. There's some good science out
there, but it's very incomplete.And so understand that most of
what you're being fed is either from influencers on social media
(25:24):
or people who kind of have a product to sell or an agenda to
sell. There's very few that are really
diving into the science that is benefiting true longevity.
And again, if you really want tokind of get deeper into the
science, if you're that science minded, I would encourage people
(25:45):
to to watch the optics fan podcast with Matt Caberline.
Like again, I think he gives some really good, solid
information. He's not one that will really
push the the hacks before pushing the long the lifestyle
changes. And so if you don't have the
(26:07):
money or you don't feel like youhave the money, well, what can
you do with the budget that you have and what doesn't cost as
much money? Because most of this and you
know, look at the people in the Blue Zones, you know, if you
interview anybody in any of the Blue zones across the globe,
none of them are going to be, you know, if you ask them what
(26:27):
helped you live so long, they'renot going to start listing out
all the supplements and the bio hacks that they've been taking
over the course of their lifespan.
They're going to tell it, you know, you're going to see, it's
the social connections, it's thephysical activity that they're
doing, the healthy foods that they're eating that are giving
them that longevity. So it doesn't take a lot of
(26:47):
time, a lot of money, a lot of, you know, access to these things
to be able to be healthy. It's just just kind of get out
there and do it, you know, make the changes, evaluate your
current situation and what can you do in small increments to
make it better tomorrow. Nailed.
It what is well centered fitnessbeing and how does it push back
(27:09):
against the no pain no gain main?
Task I'm glad you asked that. Well centered fitness is really
kind of a concept that I've labeled.
It's nothing new. It's just my label to the
Wellness. It's really kind of spies model
how I label it, you know, so well centered just indicates
(27:31):
that there's a balance and we look at Wellness in general.
Most are going to present it as kind of a pie where, you know,
the spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, social.
Sometimes they put environmentalin that they all are kind of
even pieces of the pie. And I take a different approach
to that. I I tend to feel that the
(27:52):
spiritual and the physical really are more of the the base
of a pyramid. And then we build on top of
that. You know, you build your
intellectual intellectual out feeds our kind of ability to
understand our emotions and the emotions feed in the spirit of
this social and then everything kind of feeds back to the
physical and spiritual. And so it's is constantly kind
(28:14):
of growing, expanding pyramid, but it's all based around an
asthma tope that you know, you have this asthma tope of
perfection. And for those who don't remember
their high school math and asthma tope is that line that
the graph never quite hits. We always keep approaching it.
We get closer and closer, but wenever get right on that line.
(28:36):
And so think of well centered fitness being a target in the
bullseye keeps getting smaller and smaller.
We're still hitting the bullseye.
It becomes a little bit more difficult to hit the bullseye
perfectly, but it's challenging us to get closer and closer to
perfection. But we're never going to
actually get to perfection. And so well, center fitness is
really balancing those areas. Look at the areas where we have
(28:59):
some deficiency and how can we improve those and maintain the
other areas. And we're constantly kind of
shifting around in those different areas.
Some days are going to be betterphysically, some days might be
better spiritually. You know, we have good days and
bad days in our social connections.
But that is kind of what the well centered fitness model is
all about, how it pushes againstthe no pain, no gain mentality.
(29:24):
I'm kind of mixed on that. I mean the no pain, no gain.
I mean, it generally tells us that, you know, it has to hurt
in order to get better, you know, to make it.
And we don't always have to havenegative stressors in our lives
to make us get better. You know, sometimes the
(29:46):
positives can fuel our spiritual, physical,
intellectual, emotional and social growth as well.
But there does have to be a certain level of agitation to,
you know, stress on a system in order for it to adapt.
And so no pain, no gain, I thinktakes it over the top a little
bit. You know, we always have that
(30:06):
mentality in the bro gym. You know, it's no pain, no gain.
Do damn, but you know, we we need to have a little bit of
pressure on ourselves on the system in order for it to adapt,
but it doesn't have to be hurtful.
So I don't know it pushes back against it, but doesn't
(30:27):
necessarily encourage it either.I think when we're talking about
well centered, it's just really making positive approaches
towards improvement in those areas of the spies model that
makes sense. Yeah, totally.
I think there's a difference between pain, as in this hurts
in my joints and my ligaments versus all my muscles are
(30:50):
burning though, you know what I mean?
And I think being in tune and being aware of your body, if
just speaking on a physical aspect of it, getting
uncomfortable, being uncomfortable helps you grow.
And I don't think it's just physical.
I think it's mental. I think it's emotional.
(31:10):
I mean, you probably have college students where you are
giving them assignments and it'smentally challenging for them.
And some of them are like, Oh mygosh, I just feel like I'm I'm
just going to burn out. This is just, this is so tough.
But then there's probably otherswhere they're like, you know
what, this is a challenge, but I'm it's just making me smarter.
(31:32):
It's making me stronger. I'm obtaining, I'm obtaining,
you know, mental strength as I'mas I'm getting it.
So I think, yeah, what, you know, the old saying, what
doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
You know what doesn't, what doesn't breakdown your muscle to
the point where it can't build itself back up.
(31:54):
I think it could be good for you.
You know what I mean? Like you got to, you got to
build yourself back up. You get knocked off that horse,
get back on. With that being said though,
don't don't open yourself up to severe injury.
Yeah, and you're focusing on thephysical.
I think, you know, the whole point of, well, centered fitness
is, I mean, I'm an exercise physiologist.
So the principles of adaptation,you know, the specificity, the
(32:18):
overload principle, progression,reversibility, individuality,
all those apply to the spiritual, the physical,
intellectual and emotional and social as we are attempting to
improve in those areas. And so everybody's going to
adapt a little bit differently. Everybody's going to take need a
little bit more stress than others.
You know, we, we can't overdo certain areas because it's going
(32:43):
to always work to the detriment of other areas.
You know, if I focus too much onthe spiritual, I'm neglecting my
spiritual health and my physicalhealth, my intellectual,
intellectual might kind of coincide with that spiritual
development. But you know, say you're, you
know, somebody that all they do is, you know, underneath praying
24/7. Well, that's not healthy from a
(33:05):
physical standpoint. You're not really growing maybe
in your intellect, whether it's,you know, even understanding of
your religious principles and you know, spiritual principles
emotionally, you know, you're not engaged with anything other
than that one issue of praying, praying, praying and then you're
not interacting with people socially.
(33:26):
So there's good and bad with allthis stuff, but we can overdo
certain areas and under do otherareas.
And it's where I always talk about opportunity cost.
You know, we have a certain amount of time in a day to do
the things that we need to do. When we're looking at being well
centered, we want to be as much balanced across all of those
different components or dimensions as much as possible.
(33:48):
Gotcha. You know, I think this is a good
segue. So you, you actually, you often
talk about being more human, notmore optimized.
So what is? What does that mean?
Well, I think, you know, we got to be realistic.
We got to be people, you know, and we again, it goes back to
the whole biohacking and some ofthe longevity community that
(34:10):
it's all about optimizing your health, you know, and you have
to be, you know, strongest physically.
You have to have the best, you know, running time or, you know,
the leanest amount of fat, leastamount of fat on your body and
most amount of muscle mass. You know, we, we have to be
human first. We're not machines, We're not
fine tuning a machine to perform.
(34:32):
We are growing and this is whereI can I think we're at kind of
dovetails with my We Have a Spiritual problem podcast is,
you know, I, I tend to favor theapproach too hard that we are in
a spiritual evolution, you know,that we are growing to be more
(34:52):
complex and more unified as a human species.
And it's not about optimization.It's about just becoming the
most more human. And it's really kind of hard to
narrow down into just one or twosentence response.
But I think that's hopefully something we'll be underscoring
across this podcast is that, youknow, again, it's not about
(35:15):
optimizing our scores, not getting better numbers.
It's about being better humans, being better people so that
we're more functional, being able to be more purposeful,
being able to be more vital to our societies.
So what exactly does that look like though?
You know what I mean? Because that could be, I guess,
different societies, different cultures, different demographics
(35:38):
just within America alone, right?
Just within our own state of Oregon.
You know, the Willamette Valley is going to be way different
than Central Oregon, which is going to be way different than
the Rogue Valley down in Southern Oregon, which is going
to be different than the Walawa's in the northeastern
(36:00):
portion of Oregon. And So what?
What does that look like exactlywith with so much diversity and
differences? What's common about all of us?
We're human, right? Yeah.
I mean, it's it's that finding that commonality, you know, we
all you mentioned earlier if I cut, do I if I cut myself, do I
(36:22):
not bleed? I think was the the quote you
used. Well, I but.
I just said when I cut it, just oh.
Maybe that's what I was thinkingof.
Yeah. And I was that's at that point I
was thinking that that whole quote, if if I cut myself, do I
not bleed? Well, that's the same thing.
So whatever aspect of the individual, you know, your, what
(36:47):
your, your demographics are, what your ethnicity is, you
know, what your gender is, what your age is, the core of it all,
we're all human. And you know, we all have, you
know, I think it's, what is it like it's more 90% of our
genetic code is identical, you know, so we're, we're, we're
(37:07):
more the same than we are different.
And so, you know, it's more important to be looking at what
makes us human and what optimizes us in our performance.
Catch it? Well, as we launch or relaunch
the Aging Well podcasts, what doyou hope our listeners come away
with week after week? Well, I hope, you know, a lot of
(37:30):
just what we've been talking about over these two episodes
is, you know, that you can age well, that it's not out of the
reach of anybody, that we just have to take those small baby
steps on a daily basis. And what can we improve today
that's going to make us better tomorrow?
And, you know, just keep keep atit and, you know, don't feel
(37:53):
shamed if you're not aging as well as somebody else.
But what can you do to age better?
And, you know, don't feel superior because you can afford
things that others can't afford to, you know, afford you the
opportunity to theoretically agebetter, you know, and, and share
in this experience that, you know, again, we're human, you
(38:14):
know, and it's an experience to be shared.
And I think if we're going to beeffective in this podcast, we're
going to turn people away from the biohackers, from the
influencers, from the pharmaceutical companies.
We're going to change the face of Western medicine so that, you
know, people are getting well instead of just getting their
(38:37):
symptoms treated. And you know, just do your best
today, do better tomorrow. So basically, to summarize
everything, whether we're wishing our listeners good
morning, good afternoon, or goodevening, we're just hoping that
they have a good day, right? If they're about to embark on
this journey and they're, they don't know what to do with that
(39:01):
first step, we recommend having a baby step, right?
Very first approach is that babystep in order to build a solid
foundation of a, you know, fitness lifestyle.
We recommend that they they build that foundation using 6
(39:21):
solid pillars of overall well-being.
And would you like to add anything else to this?
Yeah, just keep turning in, hit that like button, you know if
you know depending on the platform you're on, follow or
subscribe so that you know you're going to get all the
updates as we bring more and more information out as we have
(39:42):
interviews on a weekly basis working at aging well.
Aging well and then also anotherthing we we also do encourage
the listeners to get involved. If you have any questions or
there's a subject that you want us to dive into, feel free to
notify us. Doctor Armstrong does put the
link to our e-mail. In the description, so feel free
(40:05):
to reach out to us on any subjects that you might have,
any questions that you might have, any new literature that's
out there that you'd like us to dive into.
Do that. We want to help you with your
journey as far as aging well. And we, we just want you to
carpet momento, seize the momentand age well.
(40:25):
Thank you for listening. Hope you benefited from today's
podcast and until next time, keep aging well.
Well podcast where we explored the science stories and
strategies behind living a longer, healthier and more
purposeful life. I am your host Doctor Jeff
Armstrong, joined by my Co host Corbin Bruton.
Let's be honest, most of what wehear about aging today is either
driven by fear or profit. We're told we need to hack our
biology, optimize every metric, or buy the latest supplement to
(00:21):
stay young. We are bombarded with promises
from pharmaceutical giants, techbillionaires chasing
immortality, and fitness influencers peddling silver
bullet solutions. And through it all, one crucial
truth gets lost. Aging isn't a problem to be
solved, it's a process to be honored.
Here at the Aging Well Podcast, we're offering an alternative.
(00:43):
Our mission is inclusive, not exclusive.
We believe aging well is not just for the wealthy.
The bio optimized or the genetically gifted?
It's for all of us grounded in spiritual, physical,
intellectual, emotional and social well-being as well as the
six pillars that we often talk about here on this podcast.
(01:03):
If you're tired of the noise andlooking for a space where
science meets soul, where longevity is about more than
lifespan, it's about health, span, meaning and connection,
you're in the right place. This is not anti aging.
This is pro living. This is the aging well podcast.
Aging well. Welcome back to our listeners
(01:26):
for Part 2 of the Aging Well Podcast.
As we dive in to, you know, justjust great conversation.
We're going to pick up right where we left off last week.
So Doctor Armstrong, right whereyou picked up last week, you
were talking about the importance of exercise science
and some of the stuff that we were actually missing.
(01:48):
What what is it do you think that we're missing or we're
overlooking? And how would you change that if
if you were in control of all ofthe exercise scientists?
If. I was in control.
We don't be. Control.
We'd be teaching a searcher squat to everybody.
Everybody would be doing a searcher squat.
(02:09):
Yeah. I think, again, it would be
putting a little bit more emphasis on strength training
and understanding that lifting heavy is important and it's not
detrimental to the health and welfare of an older adult to
lift heavy because heavy is relative.
You know, if we want to be pushing strength, you know,
(02:29):
again without causing injury, but be pushing strength as
opposed to lifting light weightsfor high repetitions and calling
that thanks training and you know, keep doing cardio, but you
know, do get people moving more,moving as much as possible and
then be doing some higher intensity type of movements in
order to promote a maintenance of VO2 Max.
(02:52):
So it's pretty simple. I don't I don't think I'm early.
I put in great demands on the exercise science field.
It's just kind of let's follow the KISS principle, keep it
simple stupid and get people moving in the right ways and
understand that just because I'm62 does not mean that I am going
(03:12):
to move like a 62 year old. Or hell, I don't even think I
move like 50 year olds. I think, you know, I'm working
at trying to kind of break the mold a little bit.
Now there's people that are in far greater shape than me at
6070, even 80. Sometimes that's genetics, but
sometimes it's most of the timesit's that they've just been
(03:34):
living, living the hell out of life.
Well, also I think having the primary focus be on just
resistance training, you know, some of our listeners are like
probably we're asking themselveswhy, why do I need to change my
routine right now and focus primarily on lifting.
And I think it just comes down to it helps with your overall
(03:56):
strength, your balance, your stability.
All of these are critical and very important for when you
start to age or start to hit into that that third, third age
zone bracket or even that fourthage zone bracket.
I would argue it's important in a second as well.
Well, yeah, totally. Probably even in first, yeah.
So across the lifespan, being able to move a effectively and
(04:20):
to be able to lift as much as you can.
I mean, again, we, we think of, oh, well, you know, how
important it is it for me to be able to deadlift 405 hundred
pounds. Well, maybe not the deadlift
itself per SE, but you know, canyou lift up your grandchild?
Can you lift that? You know, that pocket bed box
(04:41):
that Amazon has delivered? You know, it's like we get dog
food delivered now, like on a monthly basis for the two dogs.
And it's always a big heavy box because there's all these other
stuff in it as well. You know, what would I, if I, if
I was older and weaker and that stuff showed up on my porch when
roll the box into the house? I mean, you know, I want to be
(05:01):
able to lift it and move it around.
I want to be able to function right, so functionality is
really really really important when it comes to aging well.
I think functionality also comesdown to flexibility as well.
And I, I know for my own personal exercise routines, like
I'm really lacking in the flexibility department and I've
(05:22):
always been aware of it, but I've becoming more involved with
the youth recently, like youth groups and stuff like that.
And, and just going around and playing games with, with the
kids and, and keeping up with their energy level.
I have the energy to keep up with their energy level.
I've obviously got the strength to like help lift and move the
(05:46):
items to that we set up for games.
But when it comes to flexibility, man, it's sometimes
it's, it's hard to like get all the way to the ground when
you're in certain positions and you're like, man, this is, this
is embarrassing. Like you don't feel, I don't
feel old at all. Like I feel really youthful.
(06:11):
Yeah. I mean, there's certain days
where you're a little bit more tight in certain joints, but you
just move around and you're good, right.
But man, that flexibility aspectis that's something.
Luckily I'm catching it now and I got to got to work on it.
But yeah, it, I mean, jeez Louise, it range of motion is a
great thing. And if you can't do it then.
(06:33):
Then you better start work start.
Focusing on it, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Because I mean, well, you mentioned like carrying
groceries and Amazon bags, but you know, we just moved into a
new house and also carrying a wheelbarrow.
It's also lifting the cinder blocks.
It's also throwing the giant bags of soil or gravel or
(06:55):
whatever it is that you're doingmake everything look good.
Like I can do all of that. It's just it's just like getting
in positions and like having theflexibility to.
Yeah. Because when I pick stuff up, I
usually just squat down and pickit up, realizing I only have
one, one kind of range of motion.
(07:17):
I need to get the whole aspect of it.
That was pretty eye open. Yeah.
All right, let's get back to this.
Let's get focused. Sounds good.
So in contrast to high performance models, what does
everyday resilience look like through your lens?
Well, I think you kind of touched on that a little bit.
I mean being able to move cinderblocks, move a wheelbarrow.
But even beyond that, I would say, you know, some of the
(07:40):
important things that we will need to do is we get a little
older is can we walk up steps? Can we cross the street fast
enough that, you know, cars aren't going to be delayed or be
hitting us? Can we squat down and get up
from the toilet? You know, can we clean our
houses? Can we cook for ourselves?
Can we carry the groceries in from the car?
(08:02):
You know, I, I love carrying as many of those bags as I can.
I mean, it's somewhat showing off, but it's, you know, I know
that if I don't, then over time I'm going to be able to carry
less and less of it. And it's going to become more
and more of a burden. So when we talk about everyday
resilience, we're looking at being able to manage the tasks
(08:24):
that will enable us to live independently, to function at a
level that gives us a life that we want to have.
You know, whether it's being able to hike, play with the
kids, live with the grandkids, you know, walk the dogs, you
know, the list goes on and on. What do you want to accomplish
in life? What do you need to be able to
(08:45):
do to continue to perform that as we get older, you know, and
what do you want to be? What do you want to look like
when you're 90, a hundred, 120, you know, whatever your goals
might be. You know, I think a lot of
people as high, I survived to be70, I've done well.
That's not the case anymore. If you're enjoying the Aging
Well podcast, be sure to like, subscribe, or follow on your
(09:08):
favorite platform so you will never miss an episode.
And if you find our conversations helpful, please
share the podcast with a friend because aging is something we're
all doing and we're better at doing it together.
And support our guests in this podcast financially by visiting
the affiliate links in the episode description below and
use the links or codes provided for discounts on products we
have vetted and feel comfortablerecommending to our valued
(09:30):
viewers and listeners. Thank you.
And now back to the podcast. And that's really, that could be
a really hard pill for people toswallow because but, but you're
right, you're totally right. Because if you think about it,
we in a Western society, you know, our retirement age is 63.
(09:50):
That's the age that is recommended for someone to
retire. But I know I work with a lot of
individuals where they, they're way past 63, you know, they're
in their 70s and they're still working.
I worked with one lady and she was in her 90s actually.
And she was just like, I'm just moving along and I'm not here to
(10:15):
throw anyone's laundry out on why they didn't retire.
Or, you know, maybe they were maybe they were finding that
purpose that they wanted. Maybe because if they're like,
well, I lived for 70 four, it's time to go.
(10:55):
That's not that's not cool. Like make your life worth
living, make it count and and give meaning and give purpose
and create memories and use as much of your life adequately to
experience everything needed. Am I wrong in saying that?
No, absolutely. I mean, to me, I don't want to
(11:16):
ever retire and I don't think anybody should feel like they
have to retire or they've failedin life if they don't retire at
63. But I know there's financial
reasons why many of us will haveto work a lot longer.
But, you know, to me, it's more about productivity and being
useful and, you know, having something to do every day.
(11:37):
I can't imagine getting up in the morning and, like, OK, what
am I gonna do today? Well, let's see what's on TV or,
you know, OK, I'll take a walk around the neighborhood that
that took 40 minutes. Now what do I do?
You know, I want to be productive and I want to be
active and all those types of things.
So people are going to make different choices.
If you really love to travel andall that, and hopefully you're
(11:58):
financially prepared that you can, you know, retire at 63 or
younger and get out there and dostuff, you know, and, and, and
spend that money that you've worked hard to earn.
But the key to, you know, just living well is to be able to
live well when with vitality at whatever you choose to do in
your growing years. So, Doctor Armstrong, we hear a
(12:19):
lot about extending lifespans, but you stress health span and
even meaning span. So what's the difference and why
does it even matter? I think, you know, we look at
lifespan, lifespan really hasn'tdramatically changed in the
human species. I mean, we can live to a certain
age and that's pretty normal, but health span relates to how
(12:41):
healthy or how well we are living, living those years.
And so there's really efforts to, I mean, we talked about, you
know, lifespan or longevity. We're not going to do a whole
heck of a lot to extend how longpeople can live, but we can
improve how healthy they can be in that period of time, you
(13:03):
know, And so pushing up the the health span age so that, you
know, the period of time that third age before we hit into
fourth age, keeping that as longas possible and as close to the
lifespan as possible is what we're talking about when we
stress health span. You know, I think the meaning
span comes to, you know, when wetalk about well centered fitness
(13:26):
and the spies model, it's havingmeaning and purpose in all those
years as well. Because OK, we can live healthy,
we can live long, but to live without meaning, what's the
purpose of a point, right? And so I would probably even
emphasize we need to start looking at rather than lifespan,
health span, well span. You know, how well are we
(13:49):
living? Are we living that spies model
to the fullest and getting, you know, closer and closer to that
asthmatope as we age and in getting better, you know, be our
best today, be better tomorrow is one of my mantras.
That's what we're really lookingat, meaning span or well, span,
and not only living longer, but living with greater purpose or
(14:11):
finding that purpose as we age. So would you say that in order
to extend someone's lifespan, focusing on spiritual and social
Wellness that was just as critical as physical health when
it comes to aging well? Absolutely.
I mean, I think, and I think again, I don't think we're going
(14:31):
to change the lifespan, but you know, health span health is
closely tied to the spiritual, physical, intellectual,
emotional and social. You know, you look at, you know,
the physical being, our genetics, things that we're
doing, exercise, diet and all those spiritual brings purpose
into the whole equation. And you know, living for
(14:54):
something greater than oneself. The more educated we are, so the
intellectual piece, the longer people tend to live in a better
health they have throughout their lifespan.
And you know, emotional, I mean,we can, we are in a society
where emotional well-being has fallen apart.
So much anxiety, so much stress,so much fear, all those types of
(15:18):
things, so much hatred, so much bitterness.
There's so much impacting us emotionally that has a negative
toll on our health. And then of course, you know,
we've talked about the role of social connection in wealth,
wealth span and wealth span and health span and so on.
So all of that is connected. And so I don't think you can
(15:39):
separate the well centered fitness from health, span and
lifespan. Yeah, No, I'm glad you mentioned
that. We're kind of in a mental health
crisis right now. And I think that that statement
alone weighs way more heavier onanswering the question I asked.
(16:00):
And hopefully, yeah, when we first started this podcast, we
weren't just, yes, we we spoke about the physical exercise and
nutrition because that's what weknew about, but it wasn't the
main goal. The goal was to also help
individuals age mentally, emotionally, spiritually, like
(16:23):
even financially at one point, right.
And so, man, I'm really glad that you touched on that.
You said that aging. You said that aging well is
inclusive, not elite. Can you share what that looks
like in in in practice? Yeah, and I think it's keeping
it simple, you know, and, and trying to give access to
(16:46):
everybody. You know, it's very easy for us
to say, OK, you want to age well, you got to exercise, you
got to eat right. You got to maintain healthy body
composition, not smoke, you know, get good sleep hygiene and
have good social connections or purposeful social connections.
Go do it and expect people to beable to do it.
(17:06):
And without the proper tools, the education, without the
proper environment, it's impossible, you know, And so we
have, you know, we've talked about not having the front
porch. We're constructing houses.
We're we're putting people in conditions where it's just
harder and harder to socially connect and interact.
We make it harder to engage in exercise.
(17:28):
You know, people maybe can't afford a gym.
There's not as much outdoor space to be able to move around
to go walking, walk the dogs andsafe neighborhoods and not type
those types of things. Food access.
I mean, you got you want to talkabout how badly we have affected
people's nutrition. I mean, grocery stores push the
(17:50):
crappiest of foods. You know, there's more and more
fast food restaurants growing, fewer, you know, fewer healthy
restaurants, fewer, you know, you know, grocery stores.
People having to buy food at convenience stores.
You have, you know, we look at food assistance programs.
They don't make it easy for people to get healthy food and
(18:10):
don't even make it possible for people to fully understand what
is healthy food. And so there's just so many
factors that are keeping people from being able to age well.
And then we have, you know, these billionaire biohackers
telling us, you know, they're going to live forever because
they're spending millions of dollars.
(18:31):
That's leadism. You know, you're, you're
basically looking at, OK, what are the things that are going to
allow the most elite of us to beable to live well and the rest
of you are just going to have tosuffer through because you
didn't make the right financial decisions to be able to age
well. Is that you're basically
(18:52):
summarizing it that aging well is affordable?
It can be, yes. And you know, it just needs to
be accessible and we have to provide access to people.
And I think that's what separates the aging well
podcasts from other podcasts is that we're trying to promote,
what can you do? What are the baby steps that you
(19:13):
can take today to live a healthier, more vital life
tomorrow? And it's not anything that's
that difficult and not going to sit on this podcast and promote,
you know, tons and tons. And there there may very well be
supplements or treatments that we can do that can extend the
lifespan, but that's not accessible to the majority of
(19:35):
people. So what can we do to better the
lives of all people across the globe so that they can live
healthier, longer and more productive lives?
Yeah, give an example. Just one, just one.
Someone's listening to this right now and they're like, OK,
what's my first baby step? What can I do?
(19:55):
Go. I mean, there's so many first
baby steps you can do. I mean, which which pillar do we
want to look at if we want to look at exercise and physical
activity? OK, what can you take one, one
step right now that you didn't take yesterday?
You know, if you we're talking about 10,000 steps.
Well, if you're at, you know, 500 steps because you barely get
off the couch, get up, take a couple steps.
(20:18):
Just doing something, moving around a little bit is going to
be more than you've done yesterday.
And then just do a little bit more tomorrow, a little bit
more. You know, if you, you know, what
is it? Confucius said, you know, the
longest journey starts with a single step.
Believe it's the quote. Wow.
You know, so you know, you not on all of us are going to run a
marathon, but you know, if you decide you want to run a
(20:41):
marathon and you've never run a marathon and you're totally out
of shape and you're 50 lbs overweight, go walk around the
block. It might be a struggle to get
around that block, but you walk around that block today,
tomorrow you might get a little further and a little bit further
and you just keep moving a little bit more.
And it looks at the way we look at diet.
What's one small change that we can make today that can impact
(21:01):
the number of calories we're putting in our bodies?
I use the example all the time in my my classes that if you
drink sugared pop or soda, for those people that speak
incorrectly, a 20 oz bottle of pop is about 260 calories.
So if you cut one of those a day, I forget off the top of my
(21:23):
head how many calories that thatadds up to.
And anybody can do the math. It's, you know, 365 * 260.
But I remember, you know, because I just did it recently
in class that it came out to about 16 2/3 lbs over the course
of the year that you would gain if you increase that caloric
intake or you would lose if you decrease that.
(21:45):
So if you please stop drinking that one pop a day on 20 oz pop,
you can prevent yourself from gaining 16 lbs or lose 16 lbs if
you go in a caloric deficit. So I mean, that's a simple step,
you know, a little less unhealthy fats, eat a little bit
more, eat 1 stock of broccoli today that you didn't eat
(22:07):
yesterday. That's, that's a step in the
right direction, changing, you know, your food intake a little
bit more, eating a little bit more protein if you're not
eating enough protein, being a little less if you're eating too
much protein. Yeah, it's, it's just baby
steps. What about Bob?
Right. Like what?
What am I trying to do? OK, well what's the first step I
need to take to move in that direction?
(22:28):
So basically I'm hearing, you know, park farther away from the
store for to get your steps in, you know, don't don't
necessarily utilize the elevatoror escalator all the time.
Take advantage of those stairs, you know, if you're eating, if
you're eating crummy, throwing some veggies in there, Add
(22:49):
protein, focus on proteins. You know, just real simple
stuff. Long story short, don't
complicate it. Right.
It doesn't have to be complicated.
And that's again why I want thisto be the aging Well podcast.
We're we're getting rid of the complicatedness, you know,
we're, we're simplifying the process of aging well and it's
(23:11):
not going to be about OK, this is the expensive supplement you
have to take, you know, and it'sgoing to cost you.
You know, I forget what, what the I'm trying to remember now
the the supplement that that wealthy longevity, quote UN
quote expert couldn't see my airquotes if you're listening, but
(23:33):
the supplements like 360 some odd dollars a day.
I think it's well over $300 a not a day, but a month.
Most people can't afford that, right?
And that's only a partial part of what he's taking, you know.
So what are the simple things that we can do to make our
quality of life better? Yeah.
I mean, I think that question isfor the individual themselves,
(23:57):
really. What what do they want out of
their life? If they took their life and they
could squeeze as much awesomeness and produce as much
of it as they can, what does that look like?
What steps do they need to take?And I, I think if you're
listening to this right now, yougot to ask yourself that and
(24:17):
what goals are you going to be setting in order to accomplish
that? And if you, if you don't know
what steps to take to accomplishthat, don't tune into this
podcast because that's our our goal.
And if, if we're not talking about it and you have a
question, send us the question and we'll talk about it on this
podcast. That's that's our goal and
purpose with this podcast is to educate and to inspire.
(24:39):
So let's say we do have an individual who's just, they're
like, I just don't know. I just don't have the time.
I don't have the money, I don't have access.
What do you say to a person who feels left behind by modern
longevity? Quote a person from Brooklyn,
forget about it. You know, it's about it.
(24:59):
You don't have to chase after these health upgrades.
There's again, it's the small decisions that we're making and
longevity science. There's some good science out
there, but it's very incomplete.And so understand that most of
what you're being fed is either from influencers on social media
(25:24):
or people who kind of have a product to sell or an agenda to
sell. There's very few that are really
diving into the science that is benefiting true longevity.
And again, if you really want tokind of get deeper into the
science, if you're that science minded, I would encourage people
(25:45):
to to watch the optics fan podcast with Matt Caberline.
Like again, I think he gives some really good, solid
information. He's not one that will really
push the the hacks before pushing the long the lifestyle
changes. And so if you don't have the
(26:07):
money or you don't feel like youhave the money, well, what can
you do with the budget that you have and what doesn't cost as
much money? Because most of this and you
know, look at the people in the Blue Zones, you know, if you
interview anybody in any of the Blue zones across the globe,
none of them are going to be, you know, if you ask them what
(26:27):
helped you live so long, they'renot going to start listing out
all the supplements and the bio hacks that they've been taking
over the course of their lifespan.
They're going to tell it, you know, you're going to see, it's
the social connections, it's thephysical activity that they're
doing, the healthy foods that they're eating that are giving
them that longevity. So it doesn't take a lot of
(26:47):
time, a lot of money, a lot of, you know, access to these things
to be able to be healthy. It's just just kind of get out
there and do it, you know, make the changes, evaluate your
current situation and what can you do in small increments to
make it better tomorrow. Nailed.
It what is well centered fitnessbeing and how does it push back
(27:09):
against the no pain no gain main?
Task I'm glad you asked that. Well centered fitness is really
kind of a concept that I've labeled.
It's nothing new. It's just my label to the
Wellness. It's really kind of spies model
how I label it, you know, so well centered just indicates
(27:31):
that there's a balance and we look at Wellness in general.
Most are going to present it as kind of a pie where, you know,
the spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, social.
Sometimes they put environmentalin that they all are kind of
even pieces of the pie. And I take a different approach
to that. I I tend to feel that the
(27:52):
spiritual and the physical really are more of the the base
of a pyramid. And then we build on top of
that. You know, you build your
intellectual intellectual out feeds our kind of ability to
understand our emotions and the emotions feed in the spirit of
this social and then everything kind of feeds back to the
physical and spiritual. And so it's is constantly kind
(28:14):
of growing, expanding pyramid, but it's all based around an
asthma tope that you know, you have this asthma tope of
perfection. And for those who don't remember
their high school math and asthma tope is that line that
the graph never quite hits. We always keep approaching it.
We get closer and closer, but wenever get right on that line.
(28:36):
And so think of well centered fitness being a target in the
bullseye keeps getting smaller and smaller.
We're still hitting the bullseye.
It becomes a little bit more difficult to hit the bullseye
perfectly, but it's challenging us to get closer and closer to
perfection. But we're never going to
actually get to perfection. And so well, center fitness is
really balancing those areas. Look at the areas where we have
(28:59):
some deficiency and how can we improve those and maintain the
other areas. And we're constantly kind of
shifting around in those different areas.
Some days are going to be betterphysically, some days might be
better spiritually. You know, we have good days and
bad days in our social connections.
But that is kind of what the well centered fitness model is
all about, how it pushes againstthe no pain, no gain mentality.
(29:24):
I'm kind of mixed on that. I mean the no pain, no gain.
I mean, it generally tells us that, you know, it has to hurt
in order to get better, you know, to make it.
And we don't always have to havenegative stressors in our lives
to make us get better. You know, sometimes the
(29:46):
positives can fuel our spiritual, physical,
intellectual, emotional and social growth as well.
But there does have to be a certain level of agitation to,
you know, stress on a system in order for it to adapt.
And so no pain, no gain, I thinktakes it over the top a little
bit. You know, we always have that
(30:06):
mentality in the bro gym. You know, it's no pain, no gain.
Do damn, but you know, we we need to have a little bit of
pressure on ourselves on the system in order for it to adapt,
but it doesn't have to be hurtful.
So I don't know it pushes back against it, but doesn't
(30:27):
necessarily encourage it either.I think when we're talking about
well centered, it's just really making positive approaches
towards improvement in those areas of the spies model that
makes sense. Yeah, totally.
I think there's a difference between pain, as in this hurts
in my joints and my ligaments versus all my muscles are
(30:50):
burning though, you know what I mean?
And I think being in tune and being aware of your body, if
just speaking on a physical aspect of it, getting
uncomfortable, being uncomfortable helps you grow.
And I don't think it's just physical.
I think it's mental. I think it's emotional.
(31:10):
I mean, you probably have college students where you are
giving them assignments and it'smentally challenging for them.
And some of them are like, Oh mygosh, I just feel like I'm I'm
just going to burn out. This is just, this is so tough.
But then there's probably otherswhere they're like, you know
what, this is a challenge, but I'm it's just making me smarter.
(31:32):
It's making me stronger. I'm obtaining, I'm obtaining,
you know, mental strength as I'mas I'm getting it.
So I think, yeah, what, you know, the old saying, what
doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
You know what doesn't, what doesn't breakdown your muscle to
the point where it can't build itself back up.
(31:54):
I think it could be good for you.
You know what I mean? Like you got to, you got to
build yourself back up. You get knocked off that horse,
get back on. With that being said though,
don't don't open yourself up to severe injury.
Yeah, and you're focusing on thephysical.
I think, you know, the whole point of, well, centered fitness
is, I mean, I'm an exercise physiologist.
So the principles of adaptation,you know, the specificity, the
(32:18):
overload principle, progression,reversibility, individuality,
all those apply to the spiritual, the physical,
intellectual and emotional and social as we are attempting to
improve in those areas. And so everybody's going to
adapt a little bit differently. Everybody's going to take need a
little bit more stress than others.
You know, we, we can't overdo certain areas because it's going
(32:43):
to always work to the detriment of other areas.
You know, if I focus too much onthe spiritual, I'm neglecting my
spiritual health and my physicalhealth, my intellectual,
intellectual might kind of coincide with that spiritual
development. But you know, say you're, you
know, somebody that all they do is, you know, underneath praying
24/7. Well, that's not healthy from a
(33:05):
physical standpoint. You're not really growing maybe
in your intellect, whether it's,you know, even understanding of
your religious principles and you know, spiritual principles
emotionally, you know, you're not engaged with anything other
than that one issue of praying, praying, praying and then you're
not interacting with people socially.
(33:26):
So there's good and bad with allthis stuff, but we can overdo
certain areas and under do otherareas.
And it's where I always talk about opportunity cost.
You know, we have a certain amount of time in a day to do
the things that we need to do. When we're looking at being well
centered, we want to be as much balanced across all of those
different components or dimensions as much as possible.
(33:48):
Gotcha. You know, I think this is a good
segue. So you, you actually, you often
talk about being more human, notmore optimized.
So what is? What does that mean?
Well, I think, you know, we got to be realistic.
We got to be people, you know, and we again, it goes back to
the whole biohacking and some ofthe longevity community that
(34:10):
it's all about optimizing your health, you know, and you have
to be, you know, strongest physically.
You have to have the best, you know, running time or, you know,
the leanest amount of fat, leastamount of fat on your body and
most amount of muscle mass. You know, we, we have to be
human first. We're not machines, We're not
fine tuning a machine to perform.
(34:32):
We are growing and this is whereI can I think we're at kind of
dovetails with my We Have a Spiritual problem podcast is,
you know, I, I tend to favor theapproach too hard that we are in
a spiritual evolution, you know,that we are growing to be more
(34:52):
complex and more unified as a human species.
And it's not about optimization.It's about just becoming the
most more human. And it's really kind of hard to
narrow down into just one or twosentence response.
But I think that's hopefully something we'll be underscoring
across this podcast is that, youknow, again, it's not about
(35:15):
optimizing our scores, not getting better numbers.
It's about being better humans, being better people so that
we're more functional, being able to be more purposeful,
being able to be more vital to our societies.
So what exactly does that look like though?
You know what I mean? Because that could be, I guess,
different societies, different cultures, different demographics
(35:38):
just within America alone, right?
Just within our own state of Oregon.
You know, the Willamette Valley is going to be way different
than Central Oregon, which is going to be way different than
the Rogue Valley down in Southern Oregon, which is going
to be different than the Walawa's in the northeastern
(36:00):
portion of Oregon. And So what?
What does that look like exactlywith with so much diversity and
differences? What's common about all of us?
We're human, right? Yeah.
I mean, it's it's that finding that commonality, you know, we
all you mentioned earlier if I cut, do I if I cut myself, do I
(36:22):
not bleed? I think was the the quote you
used. Well, I but.
I just said when I cut it, just oh.
Maybe that's what I was thinkingof.
Yeah. And I was that's at that point I
was thinking that that whole quote, if if I cut myself, do I
not bleed? Well, that's the same thing.
So whatever aspect of the individual, you know, your, what
(36:47):
your, your demographics are, what your ethnicity is, you
know, what your gender is, what your age is, the core of it all,
we're all human. And you know, we all have, you
know, I think it's, what is it like it's more 90% of our
genetic code is identical, you know, so we're, we're, we're
(37:07):
more the same than we are different.
And so, you know, it's more important to be looking at what
makes us human and what optimizes us in our performance.
Catch it? Well, as we launch or relaunch
the Aging Well podcasts, what doyou hope our listeners come away
with week after week? Well, I hope, you know, a lot of
(37:30):
just what we've been talking about over these two episodes
is, you know, that you can age well, that it's not out of the
reach of anybody, that we just have to take those small baby
steps on a daily basis. And what can we improve today
that's going to make us better tomorrow?
And, you know, just keep keep atit and, you know, don't feel
(37:53):
shamed if you're not aging as well as somebody else.
But what can you do to age better?
And, you know, don't feel superior because you can afford
things that others can't afford to, you know, afford you the
opportunity to theoretically agebetter, you know, and, and share
in this experience that, you know, again, we're human, you
(38:14):
know, and it's an experience to be shared.
And I think if we're going to beeffective in this podcast, we're
going to turn people away from the biohackers, from the
influencers, from the pharmaceutical companies.
We're going to change the face of Western medicine so that, you
know, people are getting well instead of just getting their
(38:37):
symptoms treated. And you know, just do your best
today, do better tomorrow. So basically, to summarize
everything, whether we're wishing our listeners good
morning, good afternoon, or goodevening, we're just hoping that
they have a good day, right? If they're about to embark on
this journey and they're, they don't know what to do with that
(39:01):
first step, we recommend having a baby step, right?
Very first approach is that babystep in order to build a solid
foundation of a, you know, fitness lifestyle.
We recommend that they they build that foundation using 6
(39:21):
solid pillars of overall well-being.
And would you like to add anything else to this?
Yeah, just keep turning in, hit that like button, you know if
you know depending on the platform you're on, follow or
subscribe so that you know you're going to get all the
updates as we bring more and more information out as we have
(39:42):
interviews on a weekly basis working at aging well.
Aging well and then also anotherthing we we also do encourage
the listeners to get involved. If you have any questions or
there's a subject that you want us to dive into, feel free to
notify us. Doctor Armstrong does put the
link to our e-mail. In the description, so feel free
(40:05):
to reach out to us on any subjects that you might have,
any questions that you might have, any new literature that's
out there that you'd like us to dive into.
Do that. We want to help you with your
journey as far as aging well. And we, we just want you to
carpet momento, seize the momentand age well.
(40:25):
Thank you for listening. Hope you benefited from today's
podcast and until next time, keep aging well.
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