Hey, It's time for another instalment of the Vitamin––the weekly fitness newsletter that helps you be healthier, stronger, and leaner while navigating fitness bullshit. The stuff that *actually* mattersThe wellness industry wants you to believe you have to optimise every iota of your life to be healthy, and it’s bullshit. In reality, if you do the following, you’re ticking almost all the boxes for being fit and healthy. Body compositionBody composition – i.e. muscle and body fat – have a pretty strong correlation with increasing or decreasing the risk of all-cause mortality and overall health. For example, excess body fat is linked with increased mortality risk, while this risk decreases as fat-free mass increases. [1] When most people hear this, they assume they need to be super shredded. But you might be surprised to learn that the risk associated with body fat tapers off at levels much higher than most people would assume. Jayedi and colleagues found the lowest mortality risk was observed at a BF% of 22% for men and 35% for women. [2] Obviously, if you want to get leaner because that’s something you want to do–great. But from a health perspective, leaner doesn’t necessarily mean better. As for muscle mass––skeletal muscle is an independent marker of metabolic health, and low muscle mass and strength are linked to an increased risk of metabolic disease. [3] And let’s not forget lifting weights can help stave off sarcopenia (age-related loss of muscle mass, quality, and function) and osteopenia (when grandpa fucks around and breaks his hip because he tried being a hero opening a jar of whatever the fuck). Avoid being too sedentaryI don’t think I need to explain the benefits of regular movement and physical activity to readers of this newsletter. But to contextualise just how detrimental being too sedentary is – spending more than 9 hours per day being sedentary versus less than 6 hours is associated with a 192% increase in the risk of death. On the other hand, 60 mins of physical activity (regardless of intensity) is associated with a ~50% reduction in the risk of death. [4] How you do this is up to you. You can do ‘formal’ cardio if you enjoy it, play a sport, or go outside for a walk. Yeah, I know ‘zone 2’ cardio is having its 15 minutes of fame. But the intensity matters far less than getting enough movement each day. For example, a recent study found that increasing physical activity, measured by time spent doing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (what zone 2 would fall under) or step counts, was associated with lower risks of death and cardiovascular disease. [5] As for step count, based on the most recent review on the topic, anywhere between 7,000 and 9,000 steps/day seems to be the optimal dose for reducing mortality risk (though there are slight benefits to doing more). The same study found that each additional 1,000 steps/day was associated with a 9% reduction in all-cause mortality risk. So even a little bit is better than nothing. Eat fairly healthy most of the timeWhile I won’t go as far as to say “food is medicine,” there is a strong association between diet quality and lower mortality risk from all causes, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. This association may be due to healthier diets lowering inflammation, reducing oxidative stress, and providing antioxidants from fruits and vegetables, neutralising harmful substances and protecting cells from damage. [6] [7] From a body composition perspective, a healthier diet can help you manage hunger and reduce calorie intake, decreasing the likelihood of gaining excess body fat (see point 1). While I tend to stay away from giving concrete guidelines on this stuff, some good guidelines would be:
Limit how much alcohol you consumeThere’s a popular belief that low levels of alcohol intake provide protective effects against the risk of all-cause mortality. I hate being that guy (I don't–I love it), but this doesn’t seem true. A recent review involving more than 4.8 million people and ~425,000 deaths found that, when all biases and potential confounders were accounted for, low levels of alcohol consumption (<25g/day) didn’t provide protection against the risk of dying from any cause (compared to lifetime nondrinkers). [9] And the risk increased as alcohol intake exceeded this amount. According to their analysis, women who drank more than 25g of alcohol per day and men who drank more than 45g of alcohol per day had a higher risk of mortality compared to those drinking less than these amounts. For example, men who drank 45-<65g of alcohol per day had a 22% increase in risk compared to men who drank 1.3 to <25g per day. This increased to ~43% when alcohol intake increased to ≥65 g/day. Conversely, women who drank 25 to <45g of alcohol per day had a 22% increase in risk compared to women drinking 1.30 to <25g of alcohol per day. The risk increased to 35% when women increased their alcohol intake to 45 to <65g of alcohol/day. Just to be clear, I’m not telling you what you should do. But, if we’re going to talk about health, you should be informed about the risks associated with drinking alcohol. (Related.) ––––––––– Other than the above, find healthy ways to deal with stress, drink more water (duh), and if you’re not a parent but spend your time before bed doom scrolling, put the phone down and go the fuck to sleep. Most importantly, ignore anyone who makes it any more complicated than this because there’s a very good chance they’re trying to sell you bullshit. Want to help support me?If you enjoy and find value in my weekly emails, it would mean a lot to me if you could let others know about the Vitamin. It takes me hours to write these emails but it only takes a few seconds to share. You can share on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, or Email. Or, just copy and paste the link below via email or social media (or however else you want to share): [RH_REFLINK GOES HERE] If someone forwarded you this email, you can learn more about the Vitamin and subscribe here to get all future issues directly to your inbox. My emails are free, and your information is protected. No spam or any funny business (except for my lame jokes). Unsubscribe at any time. ••• –Aa P.S. How did you find this week's instalment of the Vitamin? 👍 Loved it | 👎 Hated it |
I’m a fitness coach who writes hard-hitting, evidence-based fitness content that makes all this training and nutrition stuff simple to understand.
Hey, It's time for another instalment of the Vitamin––the weekly fitness newsletter that helps you be healthier, stronger, and leaner while navigating fitness bullshit. Is full-body training better for fat loss? As far as muscle and strength gain are concerned, the way you set up your training split doesn’t seem to matter all that much as long as you’re doing enough training volume each week. [1] But what about fat loss? Could a certain training split be better for shedding body fat? That’s...
Ayo, Guess what I did this weekend? Don't worry, I'll tell you. Potty training. Yep. Amara started to show signs she was interested in the potty. Like, for example, taking off her nappy, standing next to the potty, and peeing herself while standing next to the potty. Not on it. Next to it. For the uninitated, allow me to explain what potty training consists of. We decided we didn't hate ourselves enough so we opted for the three-day intensive approach that claims your child will be potty...
Hey, It's time for another instalment of the Vitamin––the weekly fitness newsletter that helps you be healthier, stronger, and leaner while navigating fitness bullshit. The optimal number of steps Okay, yes. I know, I know. I've written a lot about step counts. However, this new study [1] was a very thorough review and analysis of the research on the topic so far, and I thought it was worth discussing to help give us a better idea of how many steps we should be taking. So let's get into it....