So Concerned With Longevity, We Forgot to Live

I think we’ve become so concerned with longevity that, in some ways, it’s making us old. I know that sounds backwards, especially when so much of the conversation around longevity has been positive.

We have more information than ever about strength, cardiovascular fitness, sleep, recovery, nutrition, blood sugar, bone density, mobility, and all the other things that can influence how well we age. We’re asking better questions about our health, and I think that’s a good thing. The science isn’t the problem.

I think the problem is what can happen to our relationship with our bodies when optimizing them becomes the primary goal. There are now endless things we can track, measure, improve, and manage. Our sleep, steps, heart rate, recovery, protein, hydration, supplements, strength, mobility, VO2 max, glucose, and probably seventeen other things I’m forgetting.

None of those things are inherently bad. The problem is that somewhere along the way, the tools can start to become the point. Your body becomes a project you are constantly working on instead of the thing that allows you to experience your life.

Before long, we can become incredibly good at preparing our bodies to live without actually going out and living.

I think we need to remember that our physical lives and our actual lives aren’t two separate things. They are the same thing. Your health is, in large part, a byproduct of the life you’re living.

Bodies adapt because we use them. We become capable by doing things that require capability. You can prepare in the gym, and I absolutely think you should, but eventually you have to get out of the gym and into the sandbox of life.

I Learned This Earlier Than I Would Have Liked

I faced some pretty significant injuries at a young age. I had two hip surgeries and a shoulder surgery in my twenties, and although I was young, there were some pretty dark periods during those years. I dealt with a lot of pain and uncertainty about whether I would be able to continue doing the things I loved.

I was fortunate because I was already working in the fitness industry and was surrounded by some incredibly smart people who helped guide me through that process. But no matter how much knowledge those people had, they couldn’t do the work for me. I still had to show up, rehab, train, put in the effort, and slowly rebuild trust in my body.

This was well before we were consumed by all of the longevity information and optimization protocols we have today. My motivation at the time was actually pretty simple. I wanted to live my life.

I’ve never really been a gym rat, which probably sounds crazy coming from someone who owns a gym. I enjoy training and appreciate what it does for me, but the gym has never been the destination.

I trained because I wanted to golf. I wanted to hike. I wanted to travel, be active, try things, and say yes to opportunities without immediately questioning whether my body could handle them. The gym helped prepare me for those things, but those things were always the point.

My hip and shoulder still require maintenance today, and they probably always will. I’m okay with that. I know what helps, I have tools, and I stay on top of things. If something needs to be addressed, I address it and keep going.

Pain Free Isn’t the Finish Line

I think we need to be careful with the idea that the ultimate goal of health is to reach some magical state where nothing ever hurts. I’m not convinced that exists. The human body is messy, and sometimes a hip feels tight, a shoulder gets cranky, or your back feels stiff.

Of course, I’m not suggesting that we ignore pain. If something is significant, persistent, worsening, or concerning, address it. Get help, figure out what’s going on, and do the work necessary to improve it.

But there is a big difference between paying attention to your body and becoming afraid of it.

One of the greatest things training has given me isn’t the promise that I’ll never hurt. It’s the confidence that when something does come up, I have tools and I know how to respond. I don’t need my body to feel perfect before I use it.

What’s Available Instead of What’s Ideal

I think it would behoove more of us to operate from the question, “What’s available today?” rather than constantly asking, “What would be ideal?”

Maybe you didn’t sleep perfectly. Maybe your readiness score says something you don’t like. Maybe your hip feels a little tight. Maybe you only have thirty minutes. That’s life.

What’s available to you today? Start there and go use it.

Walk the trail. Play golf. Ride your bike. Work in the yard. Kayak. Play with your kids or grandkids. Carry your own stuff. Travel. Try something new. Find activities you genuinely enjoy and do them over and over again.

Your body doesn’t need every condition to be perfect before it’s allowed to participate in your life.

That’s also why I think being active outside the gym is so important. The gym gives us a controlled environment where we can manipulate load, repetitions, rest periods, exercise selection, and intensity. That makes it a fantastic place to build capacity, but life isn’t controlled.

Life asks you to bend, reach, carry, climb, react, walk farther than you expected, navigate uneven ground, pick something up from a weird position, or keep going when you’re a little tired. There is value in exposing your body to that unpredictability.

Measurements Are Tools, Not the Meaning

I absolutely believe in having baseline measurements for strength and endurance. We use them at SFC because they give us valuable information about someone’s physical capacity and can help guide training.

But those measurements are tools in the toolbox. They are not the meaning behind the work.

What good is a great metric if you never use the capability it represents? Can you spend the day walking around a new city? Can you hike with your friends? Can you get down on the ground and back up? Can you carry your luggage? Can you try an activity you’ve never done before without first wondering whether your body is capable of doing it?

That’s where the magic happens. The gym gives us a place to build capacity, but life gives us somewhere to use it. You have to actually go out and test your ability. You can’t spend your entire life preparing to use your body someday.

Maybe We’re Chasing the Wrong Thing

There will always be another thing you could improve. Another metric to track, another weakness to address, another protocol to follow, another supplement to take, or another expert telling you there is one more thing you should optimize.

At some point, you have to decide that you’ve prepared enough for today and go do something with the body you have. The gap between the person doing the thing and the person preparing to do the thing doesn’t necessarily close with more preparation. Eventually, it closes because you decide to go.

Maybe that’s the part of the longevity conversation we’re missing. We don’t just want to preserve capacity for the sake of having it. We want to stay connected to the people, places, activities, and experiences that make us feel like ourselves.

So yes, train. Get stronger. Build your endurance. Eat well. Sleep. Pay attention to your health. Know your numbers when they’re useful. Address what hurts. Do the boring things that matter and build a toolbox that helps you navigate your body as it changes.

But then get the freak out of the gym and use it.

I don’t want to spend the next several decades protecting my ability to live someday. I want to use that ability now. Maybe the goal isn’t to perfectly optimize our way into old age. Maybe it’s to build a life we refuse to stop participating in.

And if we can stay connected to the doing, our bodies will be the proof.

Be Capable,
Laci

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