At one end of the health & human performance spectrum are the fine-tuned machines that some may call athletes or “health nuts”. And at the other end of the spectrum are those adults with significant disorders and diseases that significantly impair function, quality of life, healthspan and lifespan.
You have probably heard or read the statistics, but just a reminder - they are staggering to consider! Among U.S. adults, chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, arthritis, type 2 diabetes, etc. affect about 6 in 10 (3 in 5). And furthermore, 4 in 10 (or 2 in 5) of U.S. adults are now living with multiple (2 or more) chronic conditions! These conditions tally upwards of 4 trillion dollars in yearly health care costs.
What’s Your Wellness Score?
Previously, I focused a piece on Aerobic Fitness & Heart Health showing the Framingham Risk Score to estimate 10-year heart attack risk. Here, let’s consider the figure above - what’s your “Wellness Score”? (Side note: Wellness is a more expansive concept but since it’s used in the figure above, let’s go with it for now.)
What is it? How would you subjectively rate yourself? 8? 6.5? 3.75?
How about those around you - family, friends, colleagues, patients, clients?
Being Well
A few things have happened to me recently that have raised this topic. I think some of us think about this often as we value our personal health and well-being or we are in the business of health, fitness, and wellness.
A few weeks ago, I started noticing my students looking “broken”. There certainly has been a lot of attention on the mental health of young people (and all of us) recently. Thus, I took some time at the end of class before ‘The Festival of the Migration of College Students to the Beaches of Florida’ (otherwise known as Spring Break🏖️) to just remind them about some of the tried-and-true basics of personal health and wellness: sleep, get some fresh air and sunshine upon waking, eat well, get some physical activity, and engage in fellowship and share a laugh and a smile. Brush your teeth … and repeat.
Of course, there may be a few more health behaviours to add and certainly more details for each, but if you meet recommendations and best practice in each of these behaviours - you’ll probably have a pretty good wellness score.
Living Well: The Details
Sorry, but I am not going to give any details - that would be an entire series of blogs or a book…. which many have already undertaken. Instead, I’m just going to share my current go-to resource for all-things health, fitness, wellness and good livin’.
It’s the Peter Attia podcast The Drive. And I just ordered his book - Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity.
Despite being a guest on several podcasts, I never listen to them. One of my inner circle friends is one of those “health nut athletes” on the far right of the wellness scale (9.8+). He’s well-educated in the field of exercise/health science and teaches at a university. He has been on me to listen to Attia and I finally tuned into the episode with Dr. Michael Joyner on Exercise, VO2 max, and longevity, which is the topic I was writing on at the same time. From there, I have been filling my 4-hour weekend drive back to Michigan with episodes.
For those interested in living well based on the science and the simple tried-and-true bedrocks (sleep, nutrition, exercise, stress management, mental health), I highly recommend Peter Attia’s The Drive podcast.
Here’s a nice sample focusing on Exercising for longevity: strength, stability, zone 2, zone 5, and more
P.S. I just started heat therapy (sauna, steam) and it’s lights out! Again, no secrets here … tried-n-true. We’ve known this stuff since Ancient Greece and Aristotle.