Are you up for the Centenarian Olympics?

What are they? Why should I care?

I might have mentioned the Centenarian Olympics several times in previous posts. I might have also alluded to them as I discussed my goals and fitness levels.

But what the heck are the Centenarian Olympics anyway?

Let's do a deep dive into the term coined by longevity researcher Dr Peter Attia.

Who is Dr Peter Attia?

A Canadian-born, Stanford-qualified surgeon, he worked at John Hopkins Hospital for five years in general surgery and two years with the National Institutes of Health as a surgical oncology fellow at the National Cancer Institute researching therapies for melanoma.

He is best known these days for his medical practice that focuses on the science of longevity in addition to public speaking and educating us to live our best lives no matter what cards we've been dealt. Check him out on YouTube or his podcast.

We have all seen Centenarians, Okinawans, Sardinians, and Blue Zone long-livers. Attia says they are unique because of exceptional genes. Typical diseases that take us out are delayed by 10-20-30 years in these Super-Agers.

Having just attended my Uncle Ray's funeral, I can vouch for that. In his 96th year, he lived independently on his farm, attending to his cattle every morning and generally overseeing the farm. A stroke stopped him in his tracks in November. As he was recovering, ready to go into rehabilitation, COVID got him. During that time, he still determinedly moved around with a walker or read his five subscription newspapers on his iPad. The family kept him company and reminisced. He was the one who named people in old photos shared with him when his visitors couldn't. Other days were not so good. Nevertheless, he lived a full to the end, nine weeks after the initial stroke.

But what about those who don't have the luxury of exceptional genetics? Peter Attia proposes that longevity can be hacked to deliver similar or even better results than natural Super-Agers.

So let me explain as best I can what he means.

Training for the Centenarian Olympics means training for the ordinariness of life. He is not referring to training for a specific sport - like my brother-in-law who, at 78, still travels the world playing hockey for Australia in the Master’s Games with his original pair of knees!

Imagine you are 100 for a minute. What might you want to do daily? Dream big!

• Carry a bag of groceries in each hand up three flights of stairs

• Get out of the pool without a ladder

• Get up off the floor after playing with the kids unaided

• Put a suitcase in an aircraft overhead locker (10kgs)

• Drop into a squat to meet a 15kg child running at you, and then pick them up

At my age, 67 this week, with three grandchildren, 16, 18 and 21 years old, the likelihood of meeting my great-grandchildren is high. I want to be ready.

Attia simply worked backwards, reverse engineering the aging process to delay the onset of chronic disease. No one wants to be 100 and incapacitated. But, unfortunately, to be kick-ass at 100 or even 85, you can't be just average at 50 or even 60. No one wants to get there to find out they don't have the genes and should have started 20 years ago. Too late now, buddy! So, if I want to do these things at 100, what do I have to be able to do at 60, 70, and 80 is the question?

It's all about optimising longevity returns. It's about hacking our way, improving our odds with deliberate attention and intention. It's about optimising safely.

He estimates that around 10-12 hours a week is required.

Attia evolved 18 components to optimise aging, under these:

4 Pillars of Exercise

1. Stability

Stability is the foundation of strength. We're talking Core muscles, including obliques, abdominals, glutes, pelvic floor and even scapular (rotator cuff).

Without core stability, we are inefficiently using joints to brace ourselves, applying unnecessary and damaging force. How many people do you know have knee, hip and rotator cuff issues?

Last year I was diagnosed with patellar tendinopathy and shoulder bursitis. With Physiotherapy assistance, I was able to strengthen knee protective muscles to almost eliminate knee pain and strengthen the three rotator cuff muscles to eliminate bursitis. It's doable.

Static balance is the ability to maintain postural stability and orientation, keeping the centre of mass over the base of support at rest—simply good posture.

In addition to static stability, we need dynamic stability. Dynamic postural ability is required to move efficiently, say to swing a golf club.

The impact of technology on static stability is becoming apparent - we are losing our posture as we sit at screens. Attia also notes that since we started school, we have been sitting, which doesn't engage core stability muscles. Recently, standing desks have risen in popularity, and it makes sense.

Stability is posture.

Balance is a significant aging issue. Falls are Australia's number one cause of injury hospitalisation and death, representing 42% of injury hospitalisations and 40% of injury deaths.

Apple Watch now measures 'Walking Steadiness' using walking speed, step length and walking asymmetry. It also warns the user if the metric decreases over time as an indication of fall risk over the next 12 months.

Attia believes Pilates with the right teacher is the best way to build and protect this ability in the long term.

2. Strength

We start losing muscle mass around age 25, and it's not uncommon to have lost 50% by 70-75.

The large muscles must be able to deliver force to the hands and feet to interact with the world. For example, we need to be able to hold a door handle as well as turn it - two different actions requiring different muscles. That dexterity comes from the shoulder through the elbow and the hand to the fingers.

We use 'concentric' strength to lift a bag of groceries (think bicep curl) and use the opposite 'eccentric' strength to steady ourselves going downstairs. This requires good quadricep strength (strengthened by squats) to act as a brake.

Strength, muscle mass and grip strength are highly correlated with longevity.

3. Aerobic Capacity

The key measure for aerobic ability is VO2 Max, the ability to process oxygen not just through our lungs but also through our mitochondria, the powerhouse cells of the body, which generate 90% of the body's energy.

The best method for building aerobic fitness is quite counterintuitive. You would think you must train hard, but the opposite is true. Even elite athletes do most of their training at a level called Zone 2.

For the average person, you can calculate your heart rate zones based on age, then exercise at Zone 2 of those five zones. Most wearables will track your heart rate.

Elite cyclists use a slightly different measure of Zone 2. They ride a stationary bike flat out for 60 minutes to assess their output as Functional Threshold Power (FTP). Zones 1-7 are calculated based on that output rather than heart rate zones. Then, 80% of their aerobic workouts are done at Zone 2 of 7. They actually train all off-season at this all-day easy rate to maintain their fitness

Either way, at Zone 2, you should be able to hold a conversation as you ride, walk etc. Think Heart Rate Zone 2, brisk walking pace, able to hold a conversation. It’s not that hard!

Zone 2 exercise has been shown to increase mitochondrial density - more mitochondrial density means more aerobic capacity.

Mitochondrial density and VO2Max are highly correlated with longevity.

Apple Watch measures VO2Max, amateurishly, but nevertheless gives us an indication of where we are on a scale.

4. Anaerobic Capacity

Anaerobic fitness is developed by doing short bursts at a Zone 5 level. Attia adds one session of Hiit to his 4 x 45 min, otherwise boring Zone 2 sessions a week.

So, his plan is 80% Zone 2 and 20% Zone 5 for maximum benefit.

I have designed my workout plan with the help of my Peloton Bike and app. I do 3 x 30-minute Zone 2 rides, adding a Zone 5 session once a week. (Thank goodness Peloton's FTP calculation only requires 20 minutes flat out to calculate my Zones 1-7)

On alternate days I do Pilates and Strength sessions, adding regular stretching and yoga sessions to maintain flexibility.

That leaves Sunday for a long walk on the beach, a hike in the bush, a paddle along one of our waterways, or an outdoor cycle along one of our many bike trails with my husband to appreciate nature.

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