Build A Body For The Long Run
Use this elite Marine’s fitness tips (plus the latest longevity science) to power up your strength and cardio workouts for benefits that will last for life
The older we get, the busier we often find ourselves, especially in our late forties. That’s when ageing starts to strip our bodies of the muscle that protects us in old age and when work demands and family responsibilities gnaw away at our time. US Marine Corps Colonel Joseph Galvin, 49, wrestles with this very dilemma every day. As a judge advocate, he’s often working on-base at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina from around 7am to 6pm, and he’s married with two energetic sons, so even his downtime is active. Galvin created a 14-hour-a-week regimen that keeps him in great shape: he’s the captain of the All-Marine Triathlon Team and has earned a perfect score on the Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test (PFT) for 25 years in a row. His most recent results: 24 pull-ups without a rest, 167 crunches in two minutes and a three-mile run in 17 minutes and six seconds. The good news is that recent research reveals you don’t have to train as intensely as Galvin does to gain the lifeextending benefits of strength work and aerobic training. But there’s still a lot to learn from the colonel.
BE SURE TO TEST YOURSELF OFTEN
Taking an annual strength and cardio test like the PFT enables you to track your fitness. If, like Galvin, you’re training in a group with people half your age, even better – you’ll have more motivation to push yourself.
LET’S GO! The PFT includes options. (The maximum/minimum scoring ranges for men are noted.)
01/ Max with good form: pull-ups (23/3) or press-ups (87/20)
02/ 2 mins of crunches (115/40) or a plank (3 mins, 45 secs/ 1 min, 10 secs)
03/ A 3-mile run (≤18 mins/33 mins) or a 5k row (≤18 mins/26 mins)
REDLINE IT, SOMETIMES
Galvin competes in both Olympiclength triathlons and Half Ironmans and typically runs, swims or bikes for about an hour a day, starting at 4.45am. He alternates steady sessions with high-intensity intervals and does a longer session on the weekend. The benefits of cardio for longevity are
well-documented. Research from the Cooper Institute in Texas established that a man’s midlife fitness, measured by his one-mile completion time, is a strong predictor of long-term heart health. Aim for a time of under eight minutes. Other research is adding unexpected insights. A study in the Journal Of The American College Of Cardiology followed more than 55,000 adults over a 15-year period and found that, compared with non-runners, people who run had a 45% reduced risk of death from a heart attack or stroke, as well as a 30% reduced risk of death from any other cause.
What’s surprising, says Stuart Phillips, a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University who specialises in longevity, is that the data showed that you actually get a lot of the health benefits if you run for only about 50 minutes a week. It’s smart to use some of that time doing high-intensity work. In a Mayo Clinic study, researchers found that high-intensity aerobic intervals are particularly good at helping your body slow ageing. Intervals boost your mitochondrial function, which declines with age, and give your muscle cells vigour. In the study, people did four rounds of four-minute maximum intensity on a spin bike, with three minutes of active recovery. LET’S GO! Do at least 90 minutes of cardio per week and vary the intensity from sessions where you can talk while you’re exercising to intervals where you’re out of breath.
FORTIFY YOUR BODY ARMOUR
Galvin typically does 10 minutes of core work before his cardio every day and a 30-minute strength circuit after. Historically, researchers believed that cardio was more valuable than strength training for health span, but now the two are seen as equally important and complementary, explains Professor Phillips. ‘The list of diseases for which being stronger is a preventive measure includes metabolic syndrome, heart disease, cancer, anxiety and depression,’ he says. One measure of strength that’s associated with longer life is the number of press-ups you can do without stopping. A JAMA Network Open study revealed that people who could do more than 40 were
96% less likely to suffer a cardiovascular-disease event over the next 10 years than those who couldn’t manage 10. ‘Press-ups test your strength in relation to your weight and so are a good indicator of your physical condition,’ explains the study’s co-author Justin Yang, assistant professor of medicine at Boston University.
LET’S GO! Two 30- to 45-minute strength sessions per week are enough to extend your health span, says Professor Phillips. But for the greatest benefit, aim to do three or four. Doing regular work that targets your abs is critical because a strong core improves your stability. One of Galvin’s favourite core circuits is plank, crunches, lying leg lifts, side crunches and Russian twists; do 1 min of each for 2 rounds.