Although a lot stays constant in my life, the past several months have ushered in a few changes.
In terms of constants - I continue to: 1) value wisdom and the intellectual pursuit of many topics; 2) maintain my academic focus on human health and performance including long-term athletic development (LTAD); and 3) value a healthy lifestyle of sleep, fresh air and sunshine upon waking, movement throughout the day / breaks in sedentary behavior + some moderate-to-vigorous intensity activity and resistance training, a fairly prudent whole food diet, and laughter.
One change that occurred is that I left one job and started another. In the midst of having some personal and professional struggles during 2022, I had to re-evaluate my values as I was losing ground with my big 3: autonomy, wisdom/intellect, and health.
During this same time, a good friend finally got me to listen to The Drive podcast with Peter Attia, MD. I mentioned this in my last #WellnessWednesday post. I have been thoroughly enjoying the podcast. And although the guests have been outstanding and provide deep expertise on their sliver of specialization in health, wellness, fitness, and medicine, I probably enjoy Attia’s AMA (Ask Me Anything) or solo episodes where he highlights his thoughts and summarizes the evidence of good, healthy living towards the quest for longevity - all of which falls in line with the basic principles of health and wellness practiced by Hippocrates, the father of medicine, and the Ancient Greeks.
Not but 20 minutes ago, I am driving and listening to Attia talk about his book Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity and thought to myself - “I need to write something connecting my thoughts about the parallels between LTAD and longevity”. So, here we are.
What does LTAD have to do with longevity?
Those who know or have followed (Twitter) my professional work over the last decade will likely associate me with LTAD. LTAD was defined in the 2016 position statement from the National Strength & Conditioning Association as
“the habitual development of ‘athleticism’ over time to improve health and fitness, enhance physical performance, reduce the relative risk of injury, and develop the confidence and competence of all youth.”
Although youth is the last word in the definition, it is often mentioned that this is a “cradle-to-grave” framework. And indeed, the Soviets embodied this notion of a physically cultured nation of children, adults, soldiers, industrial workers, and grandparents via the Ready for Labour and Defence or GTO program in the first half of the 20th century. Besides industry and the military, this also spilled into the sport school model and the pursuit of dominance in international athletics as a sense of national pride with great results (pharmaceuticals aside …..) as the USSR dominated Olympic competition from 1952 up until its’ dissolve in about 1990.
The modern-day LTAD model that is being adapted in youth sport organizations has been misinterpreted by many. This is partly because of the use of the term ‘athlete’ or ‘athletic’. My colleague Rick Howard (a co-author on the NSCA position statement) usually starts his LTAD presentations with - “everybody is an athlete”. Of course, some disagree. But for now, let’s just agree that everybody should be a competent and confident mover with an acceptable level of physical fitness.
This last point becomes the connection between LTAD and lifespan (or more appropriately “healthspan”). The performance and participation pathways are the same highway - it’s just I-94 and M-43. Or maybe the same highway with different cars driving on it - a Ferrari and a Pontiac Firebird. Regardless of the analogy, the key (as stated in the NSCA position statement pillar #2) is that individuals of all ages, abilities and aspirations should engage in long-term athletic development programs that promote both physical fitness and psychosocial wellbeing.
If this can be done long-term or across the lifespan, then perhaps we can get close to outliving LTAD!