How to Build Fitness for a Longer, Healthier Life

Do you want to live a long, healthy life – free from chronic disease and physical decline? Of course you do. The real question is: are you training for it?

While genetics and circumstances also play a role, your long-term health is far more within your control than most people realise – and there’s actually a lot you can do to improve it. While there are other factors which can affect your health throughout life, building your fitness is the most important.

Become an Everyday Athlete for longevity

Most people don’t have specific goals when it comes to their fitness – they just want to be better versions of themselves. They know that doing physical exercise is good for you. But even if you’re not training for anything in particular, you should still set goals for yourself. Wouldn’t it be powerful to say yes to any physical challenge – without months of preparation? (Of course, wihin reason – you’re unlikely to be able to swim across the English Channel or run the 100 metre sprint in 10 seconds anytime soon!)

I try to do intense physical activity 5 to 6 days a week (cycling and/or gym/ running). I even bought a smart watch in July 2025 to better track my progress. In particular, I have been inspired by Peter Attia’s book Outlive, which I read with intent during the summer.

If you want to maximise your health span and live disease and illness-free for as long as possible, you have to become an Everyday Athlete – someone who is used to running and lifting weights daily – someone who isn’t chasing medals, but who is training for life.

Put in the effort to build fitness for longevity

Building fitness is not easy, even for someone (like me) who is quite focussed on these goals. There are no cheats or shortcuts – you have to put in the hard work. No-one else can do it for you; building fitness for longevity requires consistent effort, ideally most days of the week. You must also realise that most people under-consume protein, particularly as they age – yet it’s the primary nutrient required to preserve muscle mass.

To become a badass, you must: eat lots of protein, lift heavy weights frequently, go running/cycling/swimming (or whatever cardio exercise you prefer) several times a week, while prioritising sleep, drinking lots of water and getting sunlight.

VO2 max: a key metric for longevity and fitness

In particular, Peter Attia is a big advocate of monitoring and improving VO2 max – the maximum rate of oxygen consumption attainable by your body during physical exercise. Ideally, this should be measured by a complicated and expensive lab test (one which involves a treadmill and oxygen mask hooked up to a computer) – but smart watches are the next best thing and will estimate your VO2 max for you (this is the reason I bought one).

Aim to improve your VO2 max as much as possible. At minimum, reach the Elite threshold for your age group, ideally one or two age groups younger(!) There are virtually no downsides of having a high VO2 max – but there are very real downsides to having a low one.

Benefits of a high VO2 max

VO2 max is the best single metric to measure cardiovascular health, and the benefits of having a high VO2 max for your sex and age group are profound. You will have a greater healthspan and lifespan (in other words, you’re more likely to live a longer and healthier life, with a much reduced risk of chronic disease). In large studies, individuals in the highest VO2 max categories had dramatically lower all-cause mortality than those in the lowest groups.

You’ll have better physical performance, which will allow you to be better at everything, and greater energy efficiency – making daily activities less tiring. There is also a growing body of evidence suggesting that improving VO2 max can lead to improved cognitive and mental performance, including protecting against dementia, enhanced working memory, attention and problem solving skills.

Build muscle mass to improve health span

Improving VO2 max is only part of the picture, however. Increasing muscle mass is also important, as this is another strong predictor of health span. Having a lot of muscle is good for a number of reasons:

Improved insulin sensitivity: skeletal muscle is the largest site of glucose disposal in your body. More muscle improves blood sugar control and lowers type 2 diabetes risk.
Stronger bones and joints: lifting weights regularly increases bone mineral density and reduces osteoporosis risk.
Healthier fat distribution: resistance training shifts fat from visceral (around organs) to subcutaneous storage.
Weight management: muscle mass helps to maintain a healthy weight, even during periods of reduced activity – because muscle is a metabolically active tissue that increases daily calorie expenditure.
As we age, improved muscle mass reduces the risk of falls and fragility, also allowing us to perform normal daily tasks like carrying shopping, getting up from the floor, climbing stairs etc.
Much like cardiovascular training, some studies suggest that resistance training can improve executive function (mental skills that allow us to plan, organise, make decisions, set goals, manage behaviour and emotions), memory and attention, while reducing stress, depression, anxiety and building self confidence.
Higher muscle mass is strongly associated with reduced all-cause mortality

The ultimate weekly workout routine

So now you can see that improving both cardiovascular health and muscle mass is the key to becoming an Everyday Athlete, and ultimately to living a healthier life for longer. We should all aspire to this. Increasing cardiovascular fitness and muscle mass carries enormous upside with minimal risk when approached sensibly (i.e. with proper training, warm up/cool-down exercises, and stretching). The only real cost is your time and discipline – you’ll need to give up about an hour per day to train properly (this means focussed, intentional training – i.e. not looking at your phone, and does not include warming up and cooling down).

In fact, according to Peter Attia, who is probably the world’s leading expert on health and longevity, there are four key facets of physical training you must focus on:

Strength training (three 60 minute sessions per week). For maintaining and building muscle mass as we age.
Stability training (one hour per week, broken up into 5-10 minute blocks). Forms the foundation of the exercise framework, including planks, lunges, body weight squats and burpees.
Aerobic (Zone 2) cardio (three 60 minute sessions per week). Includes cycling or running at a moderate pace, or swimming.
Anaerobic (Zone 5) cardio (one 30 minute session per week). Examples include sprinting, fast swimming, jumping jacks or high-intensity interval training (HIIT).

Actionable takeaways: build fitness for a longer life

Train consistently: 5–6 days per week of strength, stability, and cardio builds lifelong fitness.
Prioritise protein: Support muscle growth and metabolic health as you age.
Monitor VO2 max: Track cardiovascular fitness and aim to improve over time.
Build muscle: Strength training boosts bones, joints, and overall longevity.
Invest in recovery: Sleep, hydration, and rest are essential for performance and health.
Focus on consistency: Small, repeated efforts compound into long-term results.
Train for freedom, not medals: Improve mobility and vitality to enjoy life at any age.

You don’t drift into old age, you train for it

The version of you at 70, 80, or 90 is shaped by the standards you accept, the sessions you skip, and the effort you choose to give now, when it would be easier not to. Your path to longevity starts by training regularly. Building fitness isn’t about chasing aesthetics or outperforming others. It’s about preserving freedom. The freedom to move well, think clearly, carry your own shopping, travel, explore and say yes to life without hesitation.

Becoming an Everyday Athlete is simply a decision to raise your baseline. To lift heavy things. To move with intensity and to build your muscle. To treat sleep, protein and recovery as investments rather than afterthoughts. Strength training and VO2 max improvement are key for building fitness for longevity.

Over time, those small, repeated actions compound — just like money. One day, you’ll wake up and realise how much fitter you are than everyone else. As with all things that require long-term thinking, you don’t need perfection, you need consistency.

Aaaand with that in mind, I better get off to the gym…