Blueprint to ageing well: 10 key takeaways from Peter Attia’s Outlive

As a leading authority on longevity medicine, Peter Attia has dedicated his career to understanding how to age gracefully and with vitality.

The average human life expectancy is now longer, and researchers are working hard to find ways to extend it.

Nevertheless, if we lose our bodily functions and become frail in our golden years, all the extra years we have gained will be for naught.

This is an important read if your goal is to age well while maintaining the abilities of your youth.

Here are 10 key actionable takeaways from his book, offering a blueprint to aging well.

1. Confronting the Four Horsemen

Peter identifies the top four causes of death and then works backwards to minimize your chances of getting them:

1. Heart disease

2. Cancer

3. Neurological disease

4. Diabetes

In Outlive, he provides a lot of information to mitigate the risks of these 4 Horsemen, which will be covered below.

But a major one is—cutting out fructose.

2. The Power of Exercise

Beyond cardio and weight training, Attia recommends incorporating flexibility and mobility exercises. These routines are essential to maintaining functional independence as you age.

Here’s the exercise plan he recommends (with links for more information) on a weekly basis:

– Weight training 3 days

– Zone 2 training 3 hours

– VO2 max training 1 day

Prepare yourself for natural decline as you age by staying fit.

Training in Zone 2 stimulates mitochondrial function.

3. Train for The Centenarian Olympics

The Centenarian Olympics is a personal competition against the body’s natural decline.

Attia encourages you to Identify your aspirations for the last decade of your life whether it’s playing with grandkids or hiking, and to start training for those activities now.

Strength and cardio stamina is particularly important to participate in the Centenarian Olympics.

4. The Critical Role of Stability

With age comes a loss of balance, increasing the risk of injuries. 

Attia suggests taking these actions (with links to video demonstration) to maintain balance as we age:

•  Feet: toe spacers to restore spread of toes
•  Shoulder stability: dead hang & scapular controlled articular rotations (CARs)
•  Step up exercise
•  Grip strength

5. Enhancing Bone Density

Falling and fractured bones have a mortality rate of 15%-30%, so maintaining strong bones is essential.

A DEXA scan measures bone density and provides helpful information about your risk for osteoporosis and fractures. Peter then suggests a combination of nutrition (protein), strength training, hormone replacement therapy (if prescribed), and bone density-increasing drugs when necessary.

6. Prioritizing Heart Health

Peter emphasizes the need to reduce ApoB, a major cause of heart disease. In his view, statins and PSK9 inhibitors can improve blood lipid profiles, in particular ApoB, which he identifies as a major cause of cardiovascular disease.

7. Simplified Nutrition

Do not get bogged down by diet labels, but rather focus on calorie restriction. He recommends increasing monounsaturated fats, protein, and fasting in your diet while reducing sugar, alcohol, processed oils, and carbohydrates.

8. Limit Alcohol

While alcohol can be enjoyed in moderation, it has drawbacks, including empty calories and interference with fat oxidation. Attia’s recommendation: no more than seven servings per week and no more than two servings per day.

9. The Importance of Quality Sleep

Sleep is everything

In fact, Peter suggests it might be even more important than exercising for overall well-being.

Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep.

Tips for a good night sleep:

•  Reduce blue light before bed
•  Drop the room temperature
•  Reduce caffeine & alcohol

10. Emotional Well-being and Longevity

Lastly, don’t overlook your emotional health. A long life is not worth living if it’s an unhappy one. Loneliness is correlated with an increased risk of mortality. Cultivate meaningful connections to ensure that your long life is a happy one.

Some final words…

It’s time to wrap up my 10 actionable takeaways from Peter Attia’s book Outlive that can transform the way you approach your health and longevity. Your quality of life in your golden years will depend on these small actions you take today. Our sedentary lifestyle today would result in a miserable long life if we lost most of our bodily functions.

I know this is a back to back post on health and aging (you can read the first post here), but I am summarizing these 10 actionable takeaways because it is a lengthy and dense book, but one that is highly important. Not many people have the time to read it.

I promise I will return to talking about investing topics in the next post. Or if you enjoy me sharing what I know about health, exercise and longevity, let me know by leaving a comment below. Perhaps I’ll talk more about it here or on Instagram.

If you are a nerd like me, you can get the book Outlive here.

To aging well,

Thomas