About a decade ago, I came across an article about the “happiness curve.” According to researchers at Brookings, our subjective levels of happiness hit their low point in our 40s and then steadily rise from there, creating a chart that quite literally resembles a smile.

Like seemingly all research, this notion has since been challenged by other researchers, but the concept has always stuck with me. And now, as I leave the midlife doldrums behind to enter my 50s, I increasingly find the pattern rings true. I AM happier now than I was at 40 or 45, and I am most definitely happier than I was in my teens and 20s (I was pretty emo back then).

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Of course, like all good things in life, happiness takes work. As Daniel Selling, a therapist at Williamsburg Therapy Group, puts it in an article from CNBC:

“You have to put in the work to be happy. It could mean therapy. It could be having passions. It could be having a career that really speaks to who you are and that you’re contributing to the world, or that you’ve made your money.”

Nonetheless, I have found that many of the concerns I had in my 20s, 30s and 40s are sliding into the rearview mirror as I turn 52 this month.

So what does all this after to do with fitness? Well, in addition to making me happier, aging has changed the way I think about health and fitness in a few key ways.

I care less about how I look and more about how I feel. Selling also points out that as you get older, you just generally care less about what people think of you, and this has been scientifically proven to make you happier. I can 100 percent attest to this concept. Like many young women, I was miserably self-conscious in my 20s, 30s and even 40s, feeling and I could never measure up to societal standards of thinness and beauty. I still don’t meet these unrealistic expectations, but I also don’t care. I work out because I enjoy it and want to stay strong and active for as long as possible. I eat plants because it makes me feel good.

I give myself more grace more often. This has been a hard lesson to learn, because I like to push myself. Aging, however, has a way of forcing you to take it a bit easier on yourself. My body doesn’t recover as quickly from a hard effort, so sometimes I have to take an extra rest day. I’ve also come to recognize that choosing to prioritize some aspects of your life—like work or time with friends and family—means letting go of other expectations. I wrote about this a bit in a blog post about running. I don’t always get the mix right by any means, but I’m getting better at it.

I’m more mindful of functionality. Along with needing more time to recover, aging has made me well aware that strength, flexibility, balance and even range of motion are a “use it or lose it” proposition. In a recent podcast episode, Joan Maiden, an author and personal trainer, talked about the importance of maintaining functionality as we age. She said:

“I never want to get to a point to where I’m afraid to take a step or go up the stairs or be able to do the things I want to do. And I would challenge people: What do you want to do? Don’t let your body be a prison.”

I’m willing to try new things – and fail at them. While I have never been a world-class athlete by any stretch of the imagination, I used to go into any endeavor with the goal of mastery. If you can’t be good at something, why bother to even try? What I’ve come to realize is that the trying is the most important part. I tried Taekwondo and failed miserably. When that stopped being fun, I switched to boxing and am having a blast. Last weekend, a friend took me out to learn how to two-step (yes, I’m from Texas and can’t two step). We were both pretty bad at it, but we had fun trying and vowed to go back and try again.

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Has aging changed the way you think about health and fitness? Drop us a note in the comments or email us to share your story.

In this episode, Alex and Jen interview Joan Maiden, who started a new career as a personal trainer at 50, helping clients overcome tremendous obstacles to lead an active, healthy life. Author of F Old Age, Joan talks about her own fitness journey and shares tips on how to live with passion, purpose and power at any age. You’ll also get a sneak peek of Jen and Joan’s upcoming trip to walk the Boudicca Way in England, named for a legendary warrior woman who stood up to the Romans in AD 60.

How would I describe the heat this summer?

Soul sucking. Misery inducing. So bad that when I step outside, it feels like my energy force leaves my body…vaporized in a boatload of sweat.

As someone who loves to exercise outside, July and August have been challenging months in Dallas, Texas. I’m currently giddy about a “cold front” that’s passing through as I write this piece, promising temperatures only in the mid-90s for the next few days.

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Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who doesn’t mind the heat. I’ve lived with it my whole life. And generally, I’ve never felt a summer so oppressive that it crushed my will to exercise outdoors…until now.

In reviewing my Strava activity data today, I realized I haven’t ridden my road bike since July 30, my longest drought since my broken leg. This is partly weather, partly choice—it’s been brutally hot in the evenings after work, when I often ride. I’m talking temperatures around 105 degrees Fahrenheit. And when I do get up early, I’ve been prioritizing running, as my wife and I have started training for a 25K trail race in November.

But there’s no denying the heat has made exercising outdoors extremely challenging the past few months. After reflection, I’ve come up with a few lessons learned when it comes to extreme heat and exercising outdoors.

Lesson #1: Virtual training is great…until it’s not.

Since mid-June, when it started to heat up, I’ve done 21 indoor bike rides. While I enjoy the gamification aspect of Zwift and the virtual reality rides on Rouvy, when that’s all your doing on the bike, it starts to get tedious.

It doesn’t matter what awesome Netflix show I put on or how much I try to distract myself by racing random people in a virtual world, in the end, I’m still sitting…still. I’d imagine a lot of my fellow runners who have been hitting the treadmill a lot this summer feel the same way.

This past week or two, I’ve hit a wall with virtual cycling. I just can’t take it anymore. Virtual training can be a nice change of pace from your outdoor routine. I mean, who doesn’t want to watch Too Hot to Handle while exercising, right? But when you’re doing it time, after time, after time, it becomes boring. And that’s when you have to switch it up.

Which leads us to…

Lesson #2: Mixing things up can help kick the indoor workout boredom.

Growing tired of Zwift this month, I’ve turned to making up my own indoor workouts, typically of the high intensity interval training (HIIT) variety.

The great thing about indoor HIIT is you can get your heart rate up in a relatively short period of time, get a nice sweat going and feel like you’ve done a solid strength workout. It’s also more efficient from a time perspective compared to churning out miles on an indoor bike or treadmill.

For example, one day, I grabbed a kettlebell, and decide to mix in goblet squats, pushups, kettlebell swings and wall handstands. There wasn’t anything to scientific about this workout—I did a lot of reps of all these things until I felt an endorphin rush.

Experiment. Make up your own indoor workouts. If you don’t want to experiment with your own HIIT workouts, though, maybe you should just wake up earlier, right?

Right?

Lesson #3: Waking up early doesn’t always make things better.

Whether I’m trying to ride my bike or go for a run this summer, I’ve often been faced with a no-win dilemma. Wake up early, and exercise in less hot temperatures and super high humidity. Or wait until the end of the day, and get my training done in super hot temperatures with less humidity.

The past week or so, I’ve even done a couple of runs at night. The temperatures for those runs? 97 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

The point here is that during extreme conditions, you may think that it’s better to wake up in the morning to avoid the higher temperatures. I’ve actually found that when the sun is down, higher temperatures are more tolerable, especially if the humidity is lower. 80 degrees and high humidity almost feels more stifling to me.

So if you’re not a fan of the humidity like me, buy a headlamp. Night running can be a bit thrilling—there’s nothing like running through a trail in the woods by yourself to get the adrenaline pumping.

One note…if you don’t like spiders, don’t do this. The headlamp illuminates them. SO…MANY…SPIDERS.

Lesson #4: Some days you just have to accept outdoor exercise is a no go.

If you’ve got temperatures approaching 110 degrees as we’ve had recently, for example, it may not be a day to exercise outside, no matter how early or late you try. Personally, I’ve had several days recently where I realized it wasn’t wise to go outside to ride my bike or run.

It’s true, heat acclimation can help. I’ve grown up in Texas, so I’m used to working out in the heat. But my wife, for example, who grew up in England, isn’t used to it and doesn’t respond well to the heat. If you live in an area that hasn’t typically had hot weather, it’s best to skip the super hot days.

Even worse? The combination of extreme heat and air pollution. A new study found that extreme heat combined with air pollution can double your risk of dying from a heart attack, according to the Washington Post.

Lesson #5: When it comes to dealing with the heat, you’ve got to find your balance.

When it’s hot outside, you need a balanced approach to maintain your fitness routine.

If you’re used to exercising outside at the same time every day, that won’t work with extreme temperatures. Maybe you get up early on some days. Maybe you work out in the evening other days. Or maybe you exercise in your home or at the gym other days. Plan ahead. Think through your schedule. And most importantly, keep an eye on that ten-day forecast.

And if it’s too hot? Maybe it’s time for a different indoor exercise (like HIIT or yoga), a lower impact exercise like walking or even a rest day.

Welcome to the latest edition of PF Quick Hits, a (mostly) lighthearted look at recent fitness news and trends. Quick Hits is published…well, when we feel like it.

You may not be able to hit 10,000 steps a day, but surely you can hit 3,867?

That’s the number of steps per day you need to reduce the risk of dying from any cause, according to a massive new study from the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology. The research examined data from 17 different studies on step counts. As a cycling-first cardio guy who averages about 7,400 steps a day, I welcome this new study, as it quantifies the benefits of lower daily step counts.

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The study’s main finding? If you’re not walking, you should start walking. While 3,867 steps a day might be the lower limit for finding health benefits from walking, the researchers didn’t actually find an upper limit (though they only have data for up to 20,000 steps a day). Professor Maciej Banach, Professor of Cardiology at the Medical University of Lodz, Poland, summed it up:

“Our study confirms that the more you walk, the better,” says Prof. Banach. “We found that this applied to both men and women, irrespective of age, and irrespective of whether you live in a temperate, sub-tropical or sub-polar region of the world, or a region with a mixture of climates. In addition, our analysis indicates that as little as 4,000 steps a day are needed to significantly reduce deaths from any cause, and even fewer to reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease.”

On a previous episode of our podcast, and I examined the “10,000 steps a day” concept, and found it was created as part of a marketing ploy by a Japanese pedometer company in the 1960s. This study reinforces what we found on that podcast—you should try to get as many steps as is realistically possible for you.

Maybe that’s 3,867. Maybe that’s 10,000. Or maybe you don’t count steps at all, and just keep walking.

Biohacking your home for the low, low cost of $135,000

I’ve always enjoyed reading the “Mansion” section of my paper version Wall Street Journal every Friday, mostly for satirical purposes. “Mansion” includes coverage on big real estate transactions (often by celebrities or business types) and features on the homes of the wealthy.

When I belatedly picked up the section in my newspaper this weekend, I wasn’t expecting it to intersect with my love of fitness and wellness, but here we are. As soon as I saw the headline “The Biohacking Devotees Spending Hundreds of Thousands—Even Millions—to Enhance Their Homes,” I knew I’d want to write about it (snarkily).

First, let’s start with the basics. What exactly is “biohacking?” The WSJ article described it succinctly as, “a wellness lifestyle aimed at optimizing physical and mental performance.” Medical News Today describes it as “do-it-yourself” biology, which sounds totally legit. For the inside scoop, I decided to check in with lifestyle guru Tony Robbins, who has a description of the concept in a blog post (penned by “Team Tony”) on his website:

Biohacking your body means changing your chemistry and your physiology through science and self-experimentation to increase energy and vitality. It’s a broad definition, but that’s also because the concept is constantly evolving.

Team Tony’s blog post even mentions concepts like “implant technology,” and “genetic engineering,” described as “highly controversial and unregulated, for now existing only on the fringes of the biohacking world” and the type of biohacking that “makes the news.”

In the case of the “Mansion” piece, no one seems to be modifying their own DNA, but they do seem to be spending a lot of money. Take the first couple described in the article, who provided insight on their biohacking routine and how they have outfitted their home in support:

He takes 150 custom vitamins and supplements per day; she takes 23. They eat a diet specifically tailored to their genes. They work out with a trainer almost daily. They take posture-management classes. They practice Transcendental Meditation. They say affirmations.

But their biohacking isn’t limited to their bodies. They’ve also biohacked their house… “Biohacking is part of our life,” says Kellie Rastegar, 37. “You’d have to go out of your way to not biohack in our home.”

You really would have to go out of your way. For example, if you were trying to avoid biohacking in the this home, you’d have to bring your own bottled water. If you drink water out of the tap, you’re getting hydrogen-infused water, which is apparently “infinitely more powerful than normal water.”

You’d also have to avoid working out in their gym, or else, you’re getting extra oxygen pumped into your body from some sort of oxygen-pumping machine. You’d even have to avoid accidentally falling into the $65,000 “light-therapy bed” or mistakenly hooking yourself up to the “$16,990 BioCharger machine that uses light, frequencies and harmonics, voltage and pulsed electromagnetic field technology to, its makers claim, promote cellular rejuvenation, enhance cellular health and revitalize the body.”

Grand total for biohacking this home? $135,000. Another couple featured in the article spent $250,000 on biohacking their home with similar equipment (closer to $1 million, apparently, if you count their indoor basketball court as part of the biohacking bill).

While these couples may be going about their biohacking in opulent fashion, the article points out there are merits to the basic concepts of biohacking: the quality of the air, water and light in your home are important for your health. The author quotes the CEO of a company that’s worked with the Mayo and Cleveland Clinics to establish international building standards for wellness, and he believes you can biohack your home on a budget:

The company’s founder and CEO Paul Scialla says sufficiently improving indoor air, water and lighting can be done for 1% of construction costs or less. “It doesn’t have to break the bank,” he says.  

With the median sales price of homes in the United States hovering at about $416,000, that means you’d only have to spend about $4,000 to make those types of improvements, a far cry from the money being spent by the wealthy couples chronicled in the Wall Street Journal.

Rediscovering the fun in exercise by thinking like a kid

I read a enjoyable piece from the New York Times this week that talked about incorporating the concept of play into your workouts. The article highlighted a workout program called the “Primal Play Method” created by personal trainer Darryl Edwards:

Mr. Edwards began incorporating play into his workouts and his clients’: climbing trees, balancing on railings and crawling on all fours instead of going to the gym. Eventually he developed a workout aimed at building strength and endurance through childlike play. His clients give piggyback rides and play tag instead of lifting weights.

Not only do clients get a solid workout, he said, it changes how they see movement. One mother who struggled to find time to exercise started working out with her children on their way to school, jumping over sidewalk cracks and playing hopscotch, and now arrives to work invigorated.

The premise of this workout method centers on the idea that a lot of people are bored with their workouts, so harkening back to their childhood, when movement was still fun and not a “chore,” can be motivating. This can be as easy as throwing a frisbee with a friend in the park, bouncing a ball while walking the dog or incorporating bursts of running (or skipping) into your walks.

While I probably won’t be skipping in public anytime soon, the article definitely reminded me of the outdoor activities I loved as a child. I’m still riding bikes as an adult, but I haven’t popped any wheelies lately. And I definitely haven’t climbed any trees. Maybe it’s time to change that.

What do you think of the “primal play” method? Is this something you would try? Or would you feel too silly?

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For the past few months I’ve felt like an imposter. Way back in January, I wrote a post about why women should lift weights, but it’s taken me a full six months to start taking my own advice. I’ve finally jumped on the strength train, and the results have been interesting, but before getting into that, here’s how it all started…

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I had been boxing at a gym in San Francisco for several months when I decided to take a class taught by the gym owner, Dave Park. Midway through an interminable set of long jumps across the gym floor, I started experiencing some knee pain. I told Dave about it. Did he say I should take it easy, modify the exercise? No, he said I needed to do more strength training. Now, obviously, sometimes you do need to listen to your body and back off, which I did that night, but the seed had been planted. I later learned from a friend who boxes at the same gym that Dave had struggled with knee issues himself after years of boxing, so I thought perhaps he was on to something.

Dave is a force of nature, and over the next several months, when I would show up at the boxing gym, he’d remind me of the need for more strength training in my life. (Lest anyone think this was a sales pitch, I pay a flat fee to take as many classes as I like.) Six months later, I’ve committed to two days of strength training a week, and here’s what I’ve learned.

DOMS is Real

My first full-on weight training session nearly immobilized me. Hello, DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). This is not surprising, since DOMS is usually the result of changing up your workout routine to recruit different muscles. According to Lauren Haythe, a yoga teacher and Certified Kinesis Myofascial Integration Practitioner, in an article on CNN Health:

“Your body is making adaptations to better prepare your muscles to do that activity again.”

wrote about DOMS in a previous post. His solution was a massage gun (which I am too cheap to purchase). However, counterintuitively, doing the same exercise again can also help with DOMS. I was skeptical about this at first, but after a second class in the same week, I found my soreness diminished rather than getting worse.

I’m SO Hungry

One of the more unpleasant side effects of my new strength training regime, is that I find myself extremely hungry after these sessions—not necessarily right after, but often the next day. Research is mixed on this topic. An article on VeryWellFit.com sums it up like this: “Some research suggests that strength training can lead to a significant increase in appetite. However, others have suggested no increase in caloric intake.”

For me, however, the hunger is very real and at levels I’ve only previously experienced after very long runs during marathon training. Interestingly, men and women may experience post-workout hunger differently. According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, while high-intensity exercise reduces energy intake in men, it may increase energy intake in women.

To avoid eating back all the calories I’ve burned and then some after a workout, I’ve been following some of the tips offered in this article from Shape, namely making sure I eat something soon after a tough workout and upping my protein intake to support all that new muscle I’m building.

I Guess Muscle Does Weigh More than Fat?

Another unpleasant side effect of strength training is that I’ve gained a few pounds. Some of this may just be the “summer spread” my sisters and I seem to experience. While many people gain weight over the holidays, we seem to gain it over the summer—chalk it up to some weird quirk of genetics, I suppose. However, between the boxing and added strength training, I’ve begun to see some nice definition in my arms and calves, so I’m hoping at least some of it is muscle.

While a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat, duh, muscle is denser than fat, so it looks a bit leaner. What’s more, increasing muscle mass has a wealth of benefits, especially as we age. Here are just a few from health.com:

• “Lean muscle mass can help manage blood sugar, keeping Type 2 diabetes at bay.

• Muscle contributes to healthy aging, helping you maintain mobility and stay active.

• Having more muscle increases your basal metabolic rate.

Two weeks into my dalliance with strength training, I’m determined to keep at it. Near the end of a two-hour Saturday strength/boxing session at the gym, I felt like I was moving in slow motion. Dave (who thankfully wasn’t teaching that day) caught my eye during the warmup. “I'm tired,” I blurted out. “Yes, but you’re getting stronger,” he said, with a smile.

Yes, I am, Dave. Yes, I am.

Studies say … drink more coffee, wait, no, less coffee. If you’ve ever been confused about all the conflicting health research out there, this episode is for you. While Alex and Jen like to talk about the science behind fitness, they are not scientists. In this episode, Jen chats with Wendy Cedron Craft, an actual scientist, about what to look for when reading research on health and fitness topics—or any topic for that matter. Wendy also shares about her own personal fitness journey, including her recent experience in getting back to running after a badly broken leg.

In this episode, Alex and Jen talk about sleep. What impact does sleep (or lack thereof) have on your health? How much sleep do you actually need? And can exercise help you sleep better? Jen and Alex answer these questions, plus Jen recounts her bizarre experience in a strip mall sleep lab.

Looking for the results of this episode’s experiment? According to Jen and Alex, both slept about the same amount as normal after one alcoholic beverage (consumed while recording this episode), with *slightly* lower overall sleep quality scores.

The older I get, the more I get my parents.

In the past year or so, for example, I’ve started to cultivate a deeper understanding of why my dad loved gardening.

I’ve always known why he said he liked it. Let’s flash back to high school. I was a student, he was a teacher. In the same small school. I managed to go six years and avoid his tutelage, save for one class: public speaking.

For a teenager, nothing could be worse than taking a class taught by your own parent—it’s incredibly awkward. If you do well in the class, everyone will accuse you of getting preferential treatment. If you do poorly, your parent will be unhappy with you. For a sixteen-year-old kid grappling with typical teenage emotions, it felt flat out embarrassing. But it was a required class, and he was the only teacher, so I had to take it.

Over the course of the semester, we learned about the different types of speeches (e.g. a “how to” speech, a persuasive speech, and so on). Before we began studying each type of speech, my dad would give a demonstration speech, and he was an excellent orator. I don’t remember any of the speeches I gave in his class, but I do remember one of his. Vividly.

The speech was was classified as an “entertaining speech,” which can take many forms but usually relies on an emotional delivery. His speech served as a tribute to his mother, who had passed away a few years earlier. He talked in detail about her love of gardening. That’s why he’d picked up the hobby, and even after she died, he’d used it as a way stay connected with her. I remember being visibly moved by the speech, and I’m sure he noticed. This was the moment the embarrassment I felt about being in my dad’s class disappeared.

One year ago to this day, my wife and I got married in England. During part of the trip, one of her friends was kind enough to let us stay in her home while she was away on vacation. In return, all she asked was for us to water her flowers in her back garden. She had a lot of them, and it wasn’t a task that you knocked out in five minutes. It took a while.

During our stay, I handled the flower watering, and quickly realized that it wasn’t a chore, but a pleasure. We were there for several days, and every day, I enjoyed walking through her garden and tending to all of the flowers, no matter how long it took. It felt incredibly relaxing.

This summer, my wife and I have planted several flowers of our own in pots in our backyard, and I’ve been taking care of them on a daily basis. I especially love taking a few minutes to water them when I’m working from home, which gives me a momentary respite from the typical stresses of professional life.

I’ve not only felt a sense of relaxation through my daily interactions with the plants, but also felt more connected to my father, who passed away more than five years ago. The same way he felt more connected to his mom. And now, I truly understand why he loved gardening.

Mental health benefits of gardening

Even if you don’t have an emotional connection to the activity, gardening can be beneficial for your mental health. Charles D. Hall, a professor and researcher in the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University, cites numerous psychological benefits of gardening:

• Anxiety and stress reduction

• Attention deficit recovery

• Decreased depression

• Enhanced memory retention

• Improved happiness and life satisfaction

• Mitigation of PTSD

• Increased creativity, productivity and attention

• Reduced effects of dementia

• Enhanced self-esteem

I’ve personally noted a reduction in stress and in increase in happiness when I tend to our flowers. It feels good to help sustain another life-form, and the plants add beauty to our outdoor space.

Practical tips for gardening at home

If you’d like to start a garden, you don’t have to start big. Even if you’ve only got a small space, you can start with a a few plants. We’ve built up to about ten flower pots in our backyard this year, and I can report with excitement that all of the plants are still alive, despite the hot Texas summer. A few things I’ve picked up:

• Follow the directions: Pay close attention to the directions that come with each plant. The amount of sun and shade the plant receives is critical. Some plants do well in full sun, and some need more shade. Keep this in mind when purchasing you plants, particularly in reference to your own space where you’ll be keeping the plants.

• Water in the morning: This helps your plants avoid fungal infections and allows more time for the water to soak into the soil, according to information from Iowa State University. If you water during hours of full sun, you’ll lose more to evaporation.

• Water at the roots: I thought the plants would like it if I gave them a simulated rain shower, but I was wrong, and ’s sister set me straight. You should always water at the roots of the plants. A watering wand helps with this. See my video for more on this:

Taking care of my little garden has turned out to be an unexpected joy, helping me carry on my dad’s memory and serving as another brick in my wall of defense against anxiety. If you’re looking for ways to reduce stress and anxiety, gardening might help you, too.

With smoke from wildfires blanketing parts of the eastern U.S. and Canada, and a “heat dome” scorching central parts of the continent, it’s been a rough summer for outdoor exercise enthusiasts. In this episode, Jen and Alex talk about outdoor workouts in less than ideal conditions like heat, humidity, smoke and poor air quality. Should you push through or head indoors? And if you decide to run, bike or hike, what precautions should you take?

I am a pretty disciplined person—some might say obsessively so. As I mentioned in a previous post, I rely on a variety of apps as well as my trusty IRL accountability buddies to help me achieve my health and fitness goals. I know that rest and recovery are important to any exercise routine, but recently I tried something even more radical. I took two weeks off of tracking and training and just allowed myself to do whatever I pleased.

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Surprising results

Week one, I was in Colorado with my family, celebrating my sister’s wedding and enjoying time with my 8-year-old nephew, Malachi. He and I ran around a bit and shot a silly TikTok video, but I didn’t do any kind of focused training and allowed myself to eat anything I wanted. I returned home right in the midst of San Francisco Pride—an epic, monthlong celebration in the city I call home. Rather than getting right back to the grind, I allowed myself another five days of celebration, going out with friends, marching in the Pride parade and generally just having a great time.

At the end of all this, I expected to find my fitness goals in shambles. But much to my surprise, I had actually dropped a few pounds, had no trouble getting right back into boxing and felt great. More important, though, I had regained my motivation. I couldn’t wait to get back to the gym or go for a run. What had started to feel like drudgery had now become a treat.

The case for a workout holiday

While scores of articles discuss the importance of rest and recovery days (Alex and I took a deep dive on this in an episode of the podcast), far fewer advocate taking longer periods off. I did find a few, though, that supported my anecdotal findings.

An article in Well + Good talks about some of the benefits of an extended break from working out, suggesting that a week off—or even a few—can help you:

• Avoid workout burnout. It’s important to give your body and mind a break.

• Combat stress overload. This one really interested me. According to Dr. Jonathan Leary, a chiropractor quoted in the article: “People need to know that exercise, though often good stress, is still a stress on the body.” He points to the buildup of cortisol, which can come from stress but also from pushing it too hard in the gym.

• Give your willpower a break. Willpower is a finite resource—well, maybe. This is a hotly debated area of research right now. For an opposing view, see the Harvard Business Review. In any case, I will say that my willpower definitely hits the wall from time to time.

• Boost your strength. The article pointed to pro athletes, who know the importance of taking time off.

If you’re worried about losing fitness, take heart. The article above pointed to a study published in Medical Science in Sports & Fitness that indicates you won’t lose all your fitness gains in a few weeks. Quoting Dr. Leary again:

"Based on research, an active person can go up to three weeks without working out and it will not have too much of an impact on their muscle size or cardio output. Take the vacation—when you're in a relaxed head space, it works wonders on the body, too."

But don’t take it from me. Quoted in Insider magazine, Luke Worthington, personal trainer to the likes of Robert Pattinson and Dakota Johnson, says:

“If we have been working out consistently and effectively, then taking a planned break while on holiday can actually be one of the most physiologically beneficial things we can do.”  

So there you have it. If you feel the need to take a break from exercise, dieting or whatever else it is that’s become a chore, a little vacation may be just what’s needed to reset your goals, restore your willpower and rekindle your motivation.

Next time you want to get high, try going for a run! In this episode, Jen and Alex explore the science behind the “runner’s high,” and its surprising source. We’ve always heard it’s endorphins that cause that blissful feeling after exercise, but recent research shows there another type of chemical in your body that is responsible for that relaxing feeling: endocannabinoids. Just what are they, and what sort of exercise brings them on? Alex and Jen answer those questions and share their own experiences with the runner’s high.

Welcome to the latest edition of PF Quick Hits, a (mostly) lighthearted look at recent fitness news and trends. Quick Hits is published…well, when we feel like it.

I suffered a major attack of the DOMS this week.

DOMS stands for “delayed onset muscle soreness,” and often kicks in one to two days after a strenuous workout, particularly if you haven’t worked out in a while or are trying a new activity.

In my case, I’d done barbell deadlifts for the first time in approximately…2,394 days. Give or take.

One day later, my hamstrings were barking, and I knew the solution: my trusty massage gun. After a couple of excruciatingly painful sessions administered by my lovely wife (which required some gentle persuasion), the muscle soreness disappeared.

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I’ve found my massage gun to be a reliable way to speed recovery from muscle soreness, and new research confirms my experience. A new Well + Good article summarizes a comprehensive review of multiple studies on massage guns, and the benefits aren’t just limited to recovering from soreness:

Specifically, a single use of a massage gun resulted in increasing muscle strength (particularly in the upper body) and increasing explosive muscle strength (think fast, powerful movements like sprinting). With multiple and consistent uses of a massage gun, the study found that muscular pain can be reduced as well, especially for decreasing delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) 48 hours after challenging workouts.

Interestingly, the study further found that the use of a massage gun had no overt change on flexibility. But the majority of studies that found a decrease in pain also found an improvement in flexibility, so there may be some nebulous connection there!

This sounded too good to be true, so I went and checked out the study for myself. The authors have no conflicts of interest, which means this study wasn’t funded by Therabody (they make the TheraGun, perhaps the most well-known massage gun).

Speaking of TheraGun, you may be thinking to yourself, “gosh, a massage gun sounds great, but I can’t afford a TheraGun like Therabody athlete Cristiano Ronaldo.” It might take something close to Ronaldo’s salary to afford the standard TheraGun, which currently retails for $599 on Amazon (I refuse to link to this, I’m not doing product marketing here).

The good news, though? You can find plenty of bargain massage guns with solid reviews on Amazon for under $100, which means you don’t have to make Ronaldo money to reap the benefits of this new fitness technology.

What’s “Zone 2” training, and why should you try it?

I read a great Men’s Health article about “Zone 2” training this week in my Apple News+ feed, but unfortunately, it’s behind a paywall. Paywalls aside, I’ve noticed an increasing amount of digital ink being expended on Zone 2 training, so I thought I’d investigate. The increasing interest in Zone 2 training seems to parallel a decline in popularity of HIIT workouts, as you can see in this Google Search Trends data:

Since Men’s Health wants you to pay for their article, I found another men’s magazine that happily shares knowledge on “Zone 2” training for free (thanks, GQ). Turns out, “Zone 2” training is exactly what it sounds like:

The jargon-y term might make this type of training sound extremely complicated, and its loudest proponents tend to be the type of guy who enjoys tracking (and Tweeting about) the time spent in this sometimes-elusive state, with the most advanced watches, chest straps, and tracker-embedded underwear. But it’s actually just exercising at a relatively low intensity for a long period of time.

So yeah, just basically working out in heart rate zone #2. But determining that number might not be as easy as you think, according to GQ, with smartwatches and fitness trackers offering different definitions of each heart rate zone, and people’s actual maximum heart rates varying as much as 20 beats from various heart rate zone calculation methods. Most heart rate zone charts I see on the internet label zone 2 as 60 to 70 percent of your max heart rate, so we’ll go with that.

According to the GQ article, the most important benefit of training in this zone is not fat loss, but rather building a solid cardiovascular base for your body. My most important takeaway from the article? This sort of lower-intensity training should make up about 80 percent of your physical activity, with higher intensity workouts (like HIIT or more intense cardio) making up the other 20 percent.

While you can try to target your presumed zone 2 by checking your smartwatch while training, the easiest way may be a little bit more old fashioned: using the “talk” test. When you’re training in zone 2, you should be able to carry on a slightly-strained conversation.

Talking while training? Zone 2 sounds like it was made for fitness friends.

Twins conduct a not-so-scientific workout experiment

Think you need long, grueling workouts to get stronger and build muscle? Maybe all you need is 20 minutes.

Twin adventurers Ross and Hugo Turner wanted to find out if longer strength workouts would translate to bigger gains, so they decided to do their own research. Here’s how they described their experiment on their blog:

The twins monitored their bodies over a three-month fitness challenge to understand if training twice as much offered twice the results.

The twins hypothesized that a 40-minute gym session might deliver 10 - 20% uplift in performance over the 20-minute session.

Each gym session (taking place across Virgin Active gyms in London) was an endurance program designed for a 20-minute session, with each of the four exercises having 14 reps with four sets. Ross, who was doing the 40-minute session, doubled this 20-minute session, keeping the weights and intensity the same, to create an exact carbon copy of Hugo's session.

They were surprised to find that their hypothesis didn’t hold, and that despite the differences in training time, their results over a range of measures (max pull-ups, bench press, deadlift, etc.) were nearly identical after three months.

While there’s no real science involved here and the sample size for this study was two (identical) people, I actually love the results. I tend to keep my strength sessions to 20-30 minutes, and have seen no real differences in my body compared to when I did longer, more traditional sessions many years ago.

And even though the Ross twins weren’t bringing the science, there’s evidence out there that short muscle-building workouts can be just as effective, or even more effective, than longer ones.

Is working out with your spouse or romantic partner a good idea? In this episode, Alex is joined by his wife Abbie to discuss how working out with your partner can both improve the relationship and help you reach your fitness goals…as long as you set some ground rules. If you’re thinking about starting a new exercise routine with your partner, Alex and Abbie have some tips for you based on their own experiences.

The rise of wearable technology has made it easier to track all kinds of health data— from step count to sleep quality. If recent articles are any indication, the new darling in this category is heart rate variability (HRV). Previously measurable only by an electrocardiogram in a doctor’s office, these tiny fluctuations in the length of time between heartbeats hold promise as an indicator of overall health.

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What is HRV and why does it matter?

HRV is linked to the autonomic nervous system, which controls our heart rate, blood pressure, digestion and breathing. This system is divided into two parts: the sympathetic (think “fight or flight”) and parasympathetic (chill out) mode. HRV measures the balance between these two systems and is an indication of cardiovascular health and resilience from stress. According to the Cleveland Clinic:

“Your heart’s variability reflects how adaptable your body can be. If your heart rate is highly variable, this is usually evidence that your body can adapt to many kinds of changes. People with high heart rate variability are usually less stressed and happier.”

However, researchers are starting to find that HRV holds the key to much more. I recently came across an article in Forks Over Knives citing research out of the University of Southern California that indicates deep breathing exercises could reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease. The reason behind this, researchers posit, could well be HRV. Other studies have linked low HRV with mental health conditions, autoimmune disorders, chronic pain and fatigue.  

Perhaps most interesting, however, is the link between HRV and morality. According to a meta-analysis in the Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Review, “Lower HRV parameter values were significant predictors of higher mortality across different ages, sex, continents, populations and recording lengths.” On the flip side, higher HRV could lead to longer life. According to ProHealth Longevity:

“… Centenarians with higher HRV had greater survival rates by 1.6 additional years. Further, the lower HRV group had a 5-times increased risk of mortality, suggesting that higher HRV is a significant contributor to longevity. Notably, the longest-lived subject in the group was also the one with the highest HRV (110 milliseconds).”

Tips for increasing HRV

The good news about HRV is that while it tends to decrease with age, there are simple things we can do to increase HRV. Here are just a few:

Decrease stress. As Alex and I discussed on a recent podcast episode, stress has myriad effects on the body, and they are not pretty. Both physical and psychological stress can lower HRV by tipping our body’s homeostasis into fight or flight mode. Hence any of the methods that lower stress can raise HRV as well.

Exercise regularly. There is an inverse relationship between heart rate and HRV (lower heart rates correlate with higher HRV). By increasing cardio fitness, exercise tends to lower your resting heart rate and increase HRV. According to a systematic review in the European Review of Aging and Physical Activity, all forms of “endurance, coordinative, and multimodal training” had positive impacts on HRV. Resistance training, not so much, though there are numerous other benefits from strength training.

Take some deep breaths. As the Forks Over Knives article points out, resonance breathing, or deep, intentional breathing, can have a profound effect on HRV. A 2022 randomized, controlled study of healthy young adults found that 20 minutes per day of resonance frequency breathing not only improved HRV but “improved cognition and reduced perceived stress.”

Watch what you eat…and drink. While a relatively new area of study, some research indicates a healthy diet may be associated with HRV. On the flip side, alcohol has a decidedly negative effect on HRV. In a post on Aging with Attitude!, demonstrates that even one glass of wine can have measurable impact on HRV (an effect I have noticed as well).

So there you have it—HRV is an emerging area of interest when it comes to overall health and fitness. And if you’re a data junkie, according to Harvard Health Publishing, it just might warrant a closer look:  

“You might see a connection to HRV changes as you incorporate more mindfulness, meditation, sleep, and especially physical activity into your life. For those who love data and numbers, this could be a way to track how your nervous system is reacting not only to the environment, but also to your emotions, thoughts, and feelings.”

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With screen time skyrocketing, our kids are more sedentary than ever. In this episode of the podcast, Alex goes solo to talk about the negative impacts a sedentary lifestyle can have on our kids, including the effect on their heart health. He also shares some practical tips to help you get your kids interested in exercise. Getting kids more active is an important issue for society, so even if you’re not a parent, this episode is for you!

A few weeks ago, I headed off a caffeinated disaster in my household.

The kids had requested my wife purchase them PRIME, a popular hydration drink partially owned (and fully marketed by) by two YouTubers, Logan Paul and KSI. If you’re not familiar with PRIME, and you’re a parent of a child over the age of 10, I’d be shocked.

My wife grabbed a couple of cans of what she thought was the latest flavor of PRIME hydration. Before the kids got their hands on the drinks, I happened upon them in the kitchen and noticed that the can looked like slightly different from the PRIME bottles we’d previously purchased.

The “PRIME” logo was emblazoned on the side of the can, but below it, I saw two words in a smaller typeface: “energy drink.” As I examined the can, I noticed it boasted having 300 milligrams of electrolytes and 200 milligrams of caffeine (and being zero sugar and vegan, yay!).

Of course, the caffeine content alarmed me. For kids who rarely have any form of caffeine, the effects of a quick infusion of 200 milligrams could be uncomfortable. Imagining the kids suffering from racing heartbeats and a lack of sleep, I immediately poured the drinks out in the sink and threw away the evidence.

I hadn’t thought about this debacle much about in recent weeks, until I saw a New York Times article on PRIME Energy drinks. This excerpt from the story felt familiar:

In an email response to questions, representatives for Mr. Paul, the social media personality, and Prime Energy noted that the company’s cans labeled the drink as “not recommended for children under 18.” But parents and school officials are sometimes confusing the drink with Prime Hydration, a caffeine-free sports drink from the social media stars that is sold in bottles. That drink is also immensely popular, with more than $250 million in sales in its first year and customers waiting in line for hours to buy it at some grocery stores in Britain.

Looks like we weren’t the only parents who had confused PRIME hydration with PRIME energy. I wanted to share with you a comparison between the energy drink can and the hydration drink bottle, but similar to those customers in the U.K., this is what I found when searching for PRIME hydration on local store shelves (I gave up after my third store).

That said, I’m not just trying to pick on one brand, despite my personal experience and PRIME’s current cultural relevance among our YouTube youth. There’s numerous energy drinks on the market: old stalwarts like Red Bull, Monster, and Five Hour Energy, plus newer entrants like CELSIUS and Gatorade Fast Twitch. The Times article mentions several of these brands, and cites health concerns from school officials, a doctor and even a student, who worry about the negative health impacts of these drinks.

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Research backs up these concerns. One study bluntly calls out the potential negative impacts of energy drinks for kids aged 12 - 19:

Consumption of [energy drinks] have been associated with multiple medical complications including anxiety, agitation, migraines, gastrointestinal upset, insomnia, arrhythmias, other cardiovascular complications, and in rare cases, even death. Recent literature has also found an increasing number of problems with behavior modification and cognitive capabilities in adolescents who use [energy drinks].

This study also noted “most cases of toxicity are attributed to caffeine, guarana and taurine,” which is important, because many of these energy drinks don’t just contain caffeine, but also features loads of other vitamins and “supplements” linked to energy. It doesn’t take a scientist to figure out combining all these energy-boosting substances in a drink could be bad for our kids. It’s flat out obvious.

Another study from Finland examined connections between energy drink use and “negative health indicators” in a large group of 13- to 15-year-olds. Researchers found kids who consumed energy drinks were more likely to report a variety of bad health behaviors, including smoking and tobacco use, marijuana use, problematic social media use, skipping breakfast, and even a lack of brushing teeth (dental health is serious business). In addition, kids consuming energy beverages reported sleep problems and and other health issues.

Consuming Energy Drinks Over 40

But what about us aging adults? Many of us drink coffee…what’s wrong with taking it up a notch?

A lot. Dr. Stephen Meldon, the director of emergency services at the Cleveland Clinic, outlined the risks of energy drinks for aging adults in a 2013 article from Next Avenue, a nonprofit journalism collective focused on issues for older adults:

Downing highly caffeinated energy drinks is like taking a heart stress test, Meldon says. Younger people can tolerate the effects, like insomnia and palpitations, better than older people can. If someone 50 or above came into his emergency room complaining of chest discomfort and palpitations, Meldon says he'd admit them for observation in case they were having a heart attack. “We need to be cautious in this age group,” he says, “because of underlying medical conditions.”

With heart health at the forefront for those of us over 40, I thought I’d check out some research on the links between energy drinks and heart health. Again, the results are not surprising. A study from Texas A&M University found some energy drinks caused “adverse effects on the muscle cells of the heart,” including “an increased beat rate and other factors affecting cardiac function.” Another study found energy drinks flat out raise your blood pressure, noting “those with hypertension should be more vigilant and limit their energy drink intake.”

And while there’s evidence out there that energy drinks do what they claim to do—increase your focus and yes, your energy—other studies show that they don’t do so better than a cup of coffee.

With the extreme amount of caffeine and added ingredients in energy drinks—vitamins, amino acids and herbal supplements—why take the risk? Based on the research, and my own hypertension, I’m sticking to my morning coffee (in moderation, of course).

Feeling forgetful? Lacking energy or focus? Experiencing headaches? It could be stress. In this episode, Jen and Alex explore the impact of stress on your body, and talk about some practical ways to hit the reset button on stress and elicit what’s known as the “relaxation response.” How does exercise help alleviate stress? And can stress actually lead you to exercise less? Jen and Alex answer these questions, and share their own experiences with combating stress.

“My whole life I look at the mirror and see the best-built man, and all of a sudden I see a bunch of crap. It’s terrible!"

These candid words from none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter resonated deeply with me.

While my body never remotely resembled a female equivalent of Schwarzenegger’s physique, it has definitely seen better days. Aging is hard on the body but perhaps harder on the mind, and our culture does not make it any easier.

The Age of Invisibility

During a recent run with a good friend, we reflected on how in our culture with its hyperfocus on youth, beauty and productivity, aging can make you feel irrelevant. An article out of Baylor University Medical Center, “The Aging of America: culture, stress and sex,” draws a contrast between aging in traditional and industrial societies:

… in industrial societies, old age is not generally a revered status and elders may not always be honored within their families or among their friends and other associates, as well as in society at large. This is, however, more often the case of female elders.

Ouch! It is a well-known fact that as we approach middle age, women become “invisible” to the rest of society. As I enter this age of invisibility, I find it in some ways liberating. I’m less self-conscious about what I wear or how I look, and I often enjoy being a “fly on the wall” in social situations, without being bothered by unwanted attention. However, it can also be a lonely place, feeling that all the benefits our society bestows on youth have passed you by.

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Aging with Grace

While myriad companies, products and potions offer promises of youth in our capitalist society, as Schwarzenegger points out in the interview, there really is no magic bullet for aging. So what are we to do with this inevitability? In the words of Schwarzenegger, “It’s not pleasurable. But you cope with it.” This is basically the attitude I’ve adopted as well. In a society that tells women we aren’t enough at any age, I’m determined to age with grace. Here some strategies that have helped me.

Expose yourself (literally!). It’s a well-known psychological principle that what you try to resist—whether it’s a thought, emotion or temptation—only gets stronger. The antidote to this is exposure. By exposing yourself to the unwanted thought or sensation without judgment, over time it becomes easier to accept. When it comes to aging, seeing the changes in my body triggers shame and the urge to hide myself. Instead, I’ve started to stand naked in front of the mirror a few times a week and just look at myself, noncritically. At first it was hard, but over time, it’s gotten easier. My body has become less the enemy and more like an old friend (no pun intended).

Build strength. Many of the changes we notice most as we age are the result of declining muscle mass and strength. The bad news is that this starts as early as 30. The good news is that we can slow the decline through strength training and exercise, according to an article from the National Institute on Aging:

“While there is no way to fully “stop the clock,” it’s possible for many older adults to increase muscle strength with exercise, which can help maintain mobility and independence into later life.”

Do what you can. This gets me to my last point, and again back to Schwarzenegger. Few of us are “perfect” when it comes to health and fitness—Schwarzenegger smokes cigars, I like IPAs and red wine—but we can all do something, whether it’s lifting weights or going for a walk or doing puzzles to keep our minds sharp. All of it counts. As puts it, “exercise is money in the bank of your health.”

These are a few things that have worked for me. I would love to hear your stories.

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I’m a bit of a pull-up fanatic. I believe pull-ups are one of the best indicators for overall strength, and one of the most challenging fitness movements.

The U.S. Marine Corps shares a similar fitness philosophy. Pull-ups serve as one of the three components of the Marines’ physical fitness test.

While it’s probably a little late for those of us over 40 to sign up, we can still use the Marines’ fitness requirements for inspiration, especially if you’re getting back into fitness or even getting into shape for the first time in your life.

New Recruit? Start with Pull-Ups, Running and Planks

The Marines’ Initial Strength Test (IST) provides some intriguing introductory fitness goals. To begin new recruit training, wannabe Marines must be able to do at least:

• Three pull-ups or 34 push-ups in two minutes (males)/One pull-up or 15 push-ups in two minutes (females)

• One-and-a-half mile run in 13 minutes, 30 seconds (males)/One-and-a-half mile run in 15 minutes (females)

• Forty seconds in a plank position (males and females)

I love this test for its simplicity. It provides a nice balance between increasing your strength and your cardiovascular health. Bodyweight strength training, including pull-ups, push-ups, planks and squats, provides an excellent way to start building functional muscle.

On top of that, learning how to increase your pull-up strength will also build your confidence. There’s nothing more amazing than the feeling of being able to lift your head up over that pull-up bar, especially using strict form, as the Marines require.

Running 1.5 miles at about a moderately-fast pace (9-10 minute per mile) also is not a completely unrealistic cardio goal.

Shooting for Active Duty? Try the Marines’ Over 40 Fitness Standards

Once you’ve mastered the IST, you’ve got to pass the Physical Fitness Test (PFT) to become a full-fledged Marine. And if you want to stay in the Corps, you’ll have to pass this test every year.

Of course, the Marines have minimum standards for passing this test, which change based on your age. Instead of a 1.5 mile run, the PFT includes a three-mile run. The PFT uses a point-scoring system, so once you hit the maximum number for your age, you aren’t able to score any more points.

Let’s focus on standards for pull-ups and the three-mile run, which again can provide you with motivation as you move past your initial training and evolve your overall fitness.

I’ll use myself as an example—I’m 41, and on the pull-ups, I could score maximum points in two minutes (20 pull-ups, humble brag), but I’d score middling points on my three-mile run (around 23-24 minutes depending on weather conditions).

The great thing about these tables is they go over age 50, proving we can still keep our pull-up strength through middle age and hold ourselves to their high standards of fitness as we get older.

Not impressed with the Marines’ standards? Maybe you’re ready for the Navy Seals training test, which involves doing a 500-yard swim, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and a 1.5 mile run, with only a bit of rest in between.

Running 1.5 miles at less than a 7 minute per mile pace, after you do all that? Now that’s a challenge.

For Jenn Bencheck, running 100 miles was nothing compared with the grit and determination it took to overcome two life-changing neurological disorders. Now a registered yoga teacher, Jenn shares her story, including her experiences with ultra running and why fitness friends and positive thinking were keys to her success.  This episode is our first in a series we’re calling “real fitness journeys,” where we’ll feature guests with inspiring stories about how fitness influenced their lives.