Working on my aerobic/pulmonary fitness is a thing for me this year. I don’t like to run, nor do I have great form. That said, the Cooper test remains the best “free” test of your cardiovascular fitness and can give you a decent approximation of your V02Max. I’m testing quarterly this year. This is not to particularly show my aerobic prowess.

While much of the podcast community is painfully derivative of one another and over complicate well being, this podcast with Dr. Benjamin Levine and Rhonda Patrick is fantastic for those of us interested in improving our heart fitness in middle and late middle age.

I’m interested in this aspect for a couple of reasons. I have a tendency to ignore my cardio. It has become increasingly clear to me that I cannot do this as I approach my 60s. Second, we can make improvements in our 60s that impact heart health. If we wait too long, there are real limitations that can arise.

The point of it is as part of an effort to extend our professional lives and energy for work and adventure. Secondly it is to support just overall well-being without the need for pharma help. That said it is more about doing the work so that if you do still have hypertension or other condition, that requires a pharma protocol, you’ve done the work to have a strong wellbeing foundation. It’s not about taking a pill in lieu of doing the work.