Maximize health and longevity in as little time as possible

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

I am a 40 years old male, and I have been training CrossFit for 20 years.

I am trying to make an exercise program to maximize health and longevity in as little time as possible.

Right now the program looks like this, what can I do better?

Monday
03:00 PM

Every 3 min. in 21 min.
From RPE 6 to RPE 8
1 Rep
Snatch or Clean and Jerk
Week 1: Snatch. Week 2: Clean and Jerk

07:00 PM
45 min. Zone 2 (biking, running, rucking, rowing or swimming)

Tuesday
03:00 PM

Every 2 min. in 20 min.
From RPE 6 to RPE 8
5 reps alternating
Back Squat
Shoulder Press

07:00 PM
45 min. Zone 2 (biking, running, rucking, rowing or swimming)

Wednesday
03:00 PM
Zone 5 (biking, running, rowing or swimming)

Thursday

03:00 PM
Every 2 min. in 20 min.
From RPE 6 to RPE 8
5 reps alternating
Deadlift
Bench Press

07:00 PM
45 min. Zone 2 (biking, running, rucking, rowing or swimming)

Friday
03:00 PM
Every 2 min. in 20 min.
From RPE 6 to RPE 8
5 reps alternating
Weighted Pull-ups
Weighted Ring Dips

07:00 PM
45 min. Zone 2 (biking, running, rucking, rowing or swimming)

Saturday/Sunday
Family time
Playing/Hiking/Swimming/Biking with the kids.

2

BDK,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the question. Doing a full program review is more of a consultation thing. There are a few things I notice that wouldn’t be on my longevity program, but admittedly, some of this is bias and personal preference. A few items:

  • I only see 180-min/wk of conditioning. I suspect getting to ~ 300 minutes/wk that over the next 3-5 months would be a good idea.
  • I don’t love EMOM setup for strength work, though it’s certainly viable as a strategy to get it in if needed.
  • I’d put some single leg, single arm work in there
  • I suspect some variation in rep schemes would be helpful
  • The progression and periodization strategies aren’t clear to me, but those need to be on point as with any program.
  • not sure of your current training and how well this matches up to your preparedness

Overall, I think this is pretty decent and you could certainly do a lot worse! If you want some help sussing out the details, we’re here to help.

-Jordan

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3

Many thanks for your inputs!

Maybe it will be best if I just use one of your Training Templates?

Which on will be best if the goal is to maximize health and longevity in as little time as possible?

4

BDK,

Just so I understand, do you mean improving health/longevity with the lowest amount of time required weekly for training, or how-to maximize fast (e.g. months vs years)? Perhaps both…

Let me know!

5

I mean improving health/longevity with the lowest amount of time required weekly for training.

I like training but I like more to be with my family and friends.

6

Makes sense to me! I’d favor General Strength and Conditioning II, 3-day template. You can split it up however you want over the week, but those sessions should be relatively short and the programming supportive of strength, hypertrophy, and conditioning for this purpose.

Happy Holidays!

-Jordan

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7

Can you explain the thinking behind including single arm/leg movements? Is this a balance thing? Curious because I generally avoid them for fatigue/time considerations.

8

I think they’re useful for improving proficiency in unilateral tasks, which is likely to be common in life. I think humans are asymmetrical when at their best, and that balance training can be accomplished without unilateral work specifically.

I do not think unilateral exercises are more taxing or fatiguing than bilateral ones, but I do think they’re undertrained in many strength-focused athletes. I think there’s pretty good carry over from unilateral work to bilateral stuff, a decent hypertrophy stimulus, and provides a strength stimulus that’s otherwise would be lacking.

1 Like