The Longevity & Brain Benefits of Vigorous Exercise | Dr. Rhonda Patrick

Summary

This fitness podcast explores the science behind incorporating vigorous exercise into one's lifestyle for enhancing longevity and brain function. It details how muscles act as chemical factories during intense activity, producing compounds that yield anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects. Different training methodologies like high-intensity interval training and moderate steady state exercise are compared in terms of their metabolic adaptations and brain benefits. The host also explains how lactate generated from vigorous exercise uniquely impacts neurons and the blood-brain barrier. Short high-intensity 'exercise snacks' are proposed to break up sedentary behavior.

Takeaways

• 😀 Vigorous exercise like HIIT is crucial for improving cardiorespiratory fitness and can reverse aging effects in the heart
• 🧠 Vigorous exercise uniquely benefits the brain due to lactate production and signaling
• ⚡ Short bursts of high-intensity 'exercise snacks' provide metabolic benefits
• 🔥 Vigorous exercise potently stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis
• 💪 HIIT rapidly enhances muscle glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity
• 🩺 Vigorous exercise reduces mortality risk from cancer and other diseases
• 🦵 Muscles act as 'mini biochemical labs' producing beneficial compounds during intense exercise
• 😊 Vigorous exercise increases beneficial brain chemicals like BDNF and neurotransmitters
• 💉 Lactate produced by muscles can cross the blood-brain barrier to signal adaptations
• 🚴‍♀️ Any level of physical activity has benefits, but vigorous exercise takes it further

Q & A

What is the difference between zone 2 training and vigorous exercise?

Zone 2 training is moderate intensity aerobic exercise at around 70-80% max heart rate, where you can still talk comfortably. Vigorous exercise is higher intensity, usually over 85% max heart rate, causing rapid lactate accumulation and difficulty sustaining for more than a few minutes.

How does improving VO2 max lead to longevity benefits?

Higher VO2 max levels are associated with reduced risk of mortality and longer lifespan. Going from below normal to average VO2 max leads to a 2+ year increase in life expectancy. There seems to be no upper limit to the benefits within normal ranges.

How can vigorous exercise reverse aging effects in the heart?

A study found 2 years of vigorous exercise in 50 year olds reversed aging effects in their hearts by 20 years. By the end incorporating high intensity intervals, their hearts structurally resembled 30 year old hearts.

What are some of the unique benefits of HIIT for the brain?

The lactate produced signals the brain to increase BDNF levels which is crucial for neuron health and function. It also spares glucose to produce antioxidants and improves vascular function at the blood-brain barrier to prevent inflammation.

How does exercise improve insulin sensitivity and diabetes risk?

The metabolic stress of high intensity exercise upregulates glucose transporters like GLUT4, enhancing glucose uptake capacity. This improves insulin sensitivity and blood sugar regulation.

How does exercise compare to medications for heart disease risk?

The podcast notes low fitness has a mortality risk comparable to or greater than risks from smoking, heart disease or diabetes. In many cases exercise significantly reduces those risks beyond what medications can achieve.

What is mitochondrial biogenesis and how is it stimulated?

Mitochondrial biogenesis is the creation of new young mitochondria. Vigorous exercise like HIIT potently stimulates it by generating lactate which activates pathways that signal mitochondrial production.

What are some benefits of exercise snacks?

Short 1-10 minute bursts of high intensity exercise, or "exercise snacks", have benefits for metabolism, breaking up sedentary behavior, and cognitive function.

How might timing exercise snacks around meals specifically help?

Performing vigorous exercise shortly before or after meals enhances blood sugar control by increasing glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity, reducing demand on the pancreas.

What is VILPA and how might it improve health?

VILPA or Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity refers to incorporating high intensity exertion into daily activities. Just 3-9 min of VILPA a day has been associated with significant mortality risk reduction.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introducing the importance of vigorous exercise

The host introduces the podcast on vigorous exercise. She explains that vigorous exercise goes beyond moderate intensity to provide unique benefits for longevity, brain function, and cellular rejuvenation. Key points: enhances neurochemicals, initiates anti-cancer mechanisms, improves mental health.

05:01

😃 Defining vigorous exercise and lactate threshold

The host defines vigorous exercise in relation to lactate threshold and zone 2 training. Vigorous exercise surpasses lactate threshold, making it challenging to hold a conversation. It includes high intensity intervals with significant lactate accumulation.

10:01

😊 Vigorous exercise improves cardiorespiratory fitness

Studies show vigorous exercise significantly improves cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2 max), reducing mortality risk. Even going from unfit to low normal VO2 max extends life expectancy. No apparent upper limit within normal life expectancy.

15:03

🤩 Vigorous exercise reverses heart aging

Two years of vigorous exercise reversed aging of 50 year old hearts by 20 years. Protocol: gradually increased to 5-6 hours per week, much of it vigorous intensity like 4x4 interval training.

20:04

😮 Vigorous exercise enhances metabolism

Vigorous exercise more efficiently improves glucose control, insulin sensitivity, mitochondrial biogenesis. Lactate acts as signaling molecule for adaptations. High intensity intervals rapidly increase glucose transporters.

25:06

🧠 Vigorous exercise benefits the brain

High intensity exercise enhances neuroprotection and cognition. Lactate crosses BBB, provides energetically favorable fuel for neurons, spares glucose for glutathione production, and acts signaling molecule for BDNF.

30:08

💪 Mitochondrial and muscle adaptations

Both HIIT and moderate exercise increase mitochondrial biogenesis and fat oxidation. HIIT more rapidly stimulates adaptations while moderate exercise requires greater volume. Incorporate both.

35:09

🏋️‍♀️ More mechanisms of vigorous exercise

Vigorous exercise increases release of anti-inflammatory myokines in dose dependent manner. Also enhances enzyme to reduce neurotoxic kynurenine. Breaks up sedentary behavior. Similar benefits from exercise snacks.

40:10

🚶‍♂️ Vigorous lifestyle physical activity

Vigorous intermittent lifestyle activity (VILA) like sprinting up stairs has similar mortality benefits to exercise snacks. Just 9 min/day of VILA reduces cardiovascular and cancer mortality by 40-50%.

45:11

🏃 Conclusion on vigorous exercise

In conclusion, incorporating vigorous intensity exercise provides a host of unique benefits spanning increased longevity to enhanced cellular rejuvenation and brain function.

Keywords

💡Vigorous exercise

Vigorous exercise represents a level of exertion that goes beyond the lactate threshold, where lactate begins to accumulate more rapidly in the muscles. It includes high-intensity interval training (HIIT). The video emphasizes how vigorous exercise uniquely improves cardiorespiratory fitness, metabolic function, and brain health compared to moderate exercise.

💡VO2 max

VO2 max measures maximal oxygen uptake and reflects cardiorespiratory fitness. The video highlights research showing VO2 max is strongly associated with longevity - higher levels correlate to longer lifespan.

💡Lactate threshold

The point where the body produces lactate faster than it can clear it away. Going beyond this threshold is key to gaining benefits of vigorous exercise. Lactate acts as a signaling molecule for adaptations.

💡Mitochondrial biogenesis

The generation of new mitochondria. Vigorous exercise potently stimulates this, enhancing mitochondrial health and function.

💡Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)

A protein crucial for neuron health and function. The video explains vigorous exercise increases BDNF, mediated by lactate signaling.

💡Lactate shuttle

The process whereby lactate travels through circulation to tissues like the brain, heart, and liver to signal adaptations and be used for energy generation.

💡Glucose sparing

When lactate is used for energy in neurons instead of glucose, it spares glucose to be used for glutathione production - a powerful antioxidant.

💡Myokines

Signaling molecules released by muscles that exert systemic effects throughout the body. Vigorous exercise increases myokine release.

💡Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)

Increased at the blood-brain barrier by lactate signaling during vigorous exercise. VEGF enhances blood vessel health and growth.

💡Exercise snacks

Short vigorous bursts of exercise incorporated throughout the day. Can enhance cognition, metabolism, and break up prolonged sitting.

Highlights

Vigorous exercise linked to longevity - higher VO2 max associated with longer lifespan.

Vigorous exercise reversed aging effects in hearts of 50-year-olds, making them look 30.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) more efficiently improves insulin sensitivity than moderate exercise.

Vigorous exercise stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis - generating new, healthy mitochondria.

Lactate produced during vigorous exercise acts as signaling molecule, increasing BDNF in brain.

BDNF critical for cognitive function, memory, protecting against neurodegeneration.

Vigorous exercise increases vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) at blood-brain barrier.

Breakdown of blood-brain barrier implicated in neuroinflammation and dementia.

Greater exercise intensity leads to increased release of anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer myokines.

Vigorous exercise helps clear kynurenine, reducing production of neurotoxin quinolinic acid.

Short bursts of vigorous exercise ("exercise snacks") beneficial for metabolism and cognition.

3-4 mins/day of vigorous physical activity linked to 25-30% lower mortality risk.

9+ mins/day vigorous activity associated with 50% lower cardiovascular mortality.

Vigorous exercise has unique benefits - focus on incorporating into training routines.

Companion guide on optimizing cognition and neuroprotection at bdnfprotocol.com.

Transcripts

welcome to the F my fitness podcast I'm

your host Rhonda Patrick today we're

diving deep into the science and

practicality of incorporating vigorous

intensity exercise into our lives it's

not just about living longer it's about

enriching the quality of life at

essentially every stage and also

influencing brain function during

vigorous exercise our muscles

essentially become mini biochemical Labs

synthesizing compounds like lactate and

myocin these aren't just muscle bound

they get into circulation travel to far

off tissues and they signal to them and

they have a variety of benefits

including the synthesis of elements like

brain dve neurotrophic factor or bdnf

crucial for brain health and neuronal

health they also potentially initiate

anti-cancer mechanisms not only are

muscles little chemical producing

factories but they also act like sponges

to soak up compounds that can be harmful

to the brain improving mental health and

reducing neurodegenerative disease risk

we're going to dive deep into the realm

of V V2 Max optimization V2 Max is not

just about a measure of

cardiorespiratory Fitness it's directly

linked to longevity essentially the

higher your V2 Max the longer you're

likely to live and there doesn't seem to

be an upper limit to the life extending

benefits of enhanced cardiorespiratory

Fitness at least within your genetic

potential we'll get into the details of

how to calibrate high-intensity efforts

with Zone 2 training methodologies for

improving BO2 Max with the spotlight on

the Norwegian for by4 protocol and even

touch on some straightforward tactics

like assessing BO2 Max so the pragmatic

test which is the 12-minute run test

equally important we'll navigate through

the processes of mitophagy and

mitochondrial biogenesis these are

cornerstones for cellular Rejuvenation

essentially reversing the aging process

on a cellular level there's a lot of

questions to answer what is vigorous

exercise what is high-intensity exercise

what about Zone 2 training so let's

start by covering what is is not

vigorous exercise Zone 2 training is

also sometimes known as aerobic Based

training it primarily targets aerobic

Energy Systems and can be sustained for

longer durations we're talking an hour

and more some experts Define this type

of training to be around 70 to 80% of

maximum heart rate um possibly lower for

people that are unfit um it's also

defined by the talk test so you should

be able to talk Comfort comfortably but

not sing so you should be a little

breathy when you're talking but still

able to talk

comfortably zone two training involves

exercising at a moderate intensity it's

a steady state type of lactate threshold

training lactate threshold refers to the

point at which the body begins to

produce lactate at a faster rate then it

can clear it away so keep in mind

there's a lot of individual variation in

determining the lactate threshold

because people can have different

Baseline lactate levels for one which is

typically around 0.9 to to 1 millimolar

generally speaking um people also have

different rates of lactate production

and clearance and even at the same

relative exercise intensity so for

example trained athletes might have a

higher lactate threshold in terms of

both exercise intensity and lactate

concentration compared to untrained

individuals genetics also play a role

there are many great podcasts out there

covering Zone 2 training um including

Peter AAS the drive with guest Dr Dr

enigo

sanon now let's talk about vigorous

exercise so generally speaking vigorous

exercise represents a level of exertion

where exercise goes beyond the lactate

threshold which means lactate begins to

accumulate in the muscles more rapidly

there are various intensities within

vigorous exercise so level intensity

referred to as the maximal steady state

threshold sometimes called Zone 3 is

above the lactate thr threshold and it's

challenging to hold a conversation and

it's difficult to maintain this level of

exercise for longer than 20 to 30

minutes this level of intensity is

somewhere between 80 to 85% max heart

rate however vigorous exercise also

includes exercising at intensities

higher than this so a higher intensity

training where there's significant

amount of lactate accumulation and

you're close to your what's called

anerobic threshold this is a level of

intensity usually around 85 to 95% max

heart rate and it's difficult to

maintain for longer than a few minutes

sometimes this type of training

intensity is called zone four

training then there's the All Out near

maximal intensity and this is sometimes

called zone five Training these are

shorter intervals and it's generally

hard to maintain this level level of

intensity for um longer than 1 minute so

when we're talking about high-intensity

interval training it involves

alternating between periods of

high-intensity vigorous exercise and

periods of lower intensity rest

depending on the the high intensity

interval training or hit for short

protocol these can include intervals

ranging from zone three to zone five

followed by recovery periods the idea

that high-intensity interval training is

only Anor robic is a misconception while

high-intensity interval training

exercise does rely more heavily on Anor

robic Energy Systems it still required

significant aerobic metabolism so hit

can improve both aerobic and anerobic

fitness and it's my opinion that getting

your heart rate to at least 80% max

heart rate so that that being at least

80 uh percent is a really good place to

be if you are targeting brain benefits

and we'll dive a lot into that in a

minute but I want to start by talking

about cardiorespiratory fitness health

span and Longevity so V2 Max is a

measure of maximal oxygen uptake which

reflects an individual's ability to

utilize oxygen during exercise it's

considered one of the best indicators of

cardiorespiratory Fitness and it's

associated with improved healthspan

increased lifespan higher

cardiorespiratory levels as measured by

V2 Max have been consistently leaked to

A reduced risk of mortality and longer

lifespan so in the podcast when I use

the term V2 Max just keep in mind that

it's a measurement of cardiorespiratory

Fitness the greatest longevity benefit

that comes from improving your V2 Max is

from people starting from a below

average V2 Max and moving anywhere above

average so even going from a below

normal V2 Max for your age group and

gender to a low normal is associated

with a 2.1y year increase in life

expectancy bumping that up going from a

below below normal to high normal V 2

max is associated with a 2.9 year

increase in life expectancy and going

even further to the upper limit of

normal is associated with 4.9 years so

almost 5year increase in life expectancy

on average each unit increase in bi2 Max

so that's 1 milliliter per kilogram per

minute is associated with a 45 day

increase in life

expectancy in another study involving

only men for every 10 unit increase in

V2 Max so this would be then 10 ms per

kilogram per minute there was a 70 177%

lower risk of death from cancer and a

11% lower all cause mortality so dying

from many different um Co non-accidental

causes of uh death another study

published in Jama in 2018 found that

there was no apparent upper limit to the

benefit of cardiorespiratory Fitness on

mortality within normal ranges of human

life expectancy of course um in fact the

study reported that Elite performers

these are people that performed in the

top 2.3% on the fitness test had an 80%

reduction in mortality risk compared to

the lowest performers so they performed

in the bottom 25% on the fitness test

and if you compare the elite performers

to the high performers so these folks

did really well but they were just under

the elite they were they were between

the top 25% and the top 2.3% the elite

performers had a 20% mortality risk

decline compared to even those High

performers but going back to what I said

earlier about just moving out of that

low fitness group will give huge

advantages to on life expectancy so

people in the low fitness group had a

fivefold higher risk of death than the

elite performers but what is also so

interesting is that the risk of dying

due to low Fitness was similar or even B

bigger than risks associated with having

heart disease smoking or diabetes so

being fitter is really good for your

health at every level of fitness and

there's always room for improvement so

the question is well how can we improve

our BO2 Max um lots of different

training protocols Zone 2 training for

example high-intensity interval training

you know vigorous intensity exercise all

improve cardiorespiratory Fitness and

can increase V2 Max um

hit has been shown to significantly

improve E2 Max even with shorter

training durations this is because hit

recruits both aerobic and Anor robic

Energy Systems and increases the

intensity of the workout resulting in um

greater greater cardiovascular stress

and then adaptations um but this is

important there are individuals who

engage in more moderate intensity you

know steady state zone 2 training that

do not experience significant

improvements in V2 Max in fact research

has shown that approximately 40% of

people do not see a measurable increase

in their V2 Max even after engaging in

guideline-based moderate intensity

exercise which is about 2.5 hours of uh

of this type of exercise per week for

several months but when these what are

called non-responders Incorporated more

vigorous intensity exercise such as

high-intensity interval training they do

start to see improvements in V2 Max so

this suggests that adding higher

intensity exercise to an exercise

routine can help eliminate that

non-response and also can lead to

Greater benefits in cardiorespiratory

Fitness the reason for non-response um

to moderate intensity exercise it's not

completely understood but um the

addition of vigorous intensity exercise

is important for overall improvements in

BO2 Max and engaging in more vigorous

exercise seems to Prov provide a

stronger stimulus for physiological

adaptations that lead to increased

cardiorespiratory Fitness so again I

think these findings do really sort of

highlight the importance of

incorporating vigorous intensity

exercise particularly incorporating

maybe uh high intensity interval

training into a training routine and

obviously for individuals who are time

pressed and can't dedicate several hours

per week to doing a more type zone two

type of training including shorter

sessions of higher intensity exercise

can still have significant improvements

in BO2 Max and overall health uh so you

might be wondering you know how much

time do I dedicate to my more vigorous

type of exercise versus a more moderate

intensity Zone 2 type of training and I

really think that answer depends on a

lot of factors your individual goals um

what you enjoy doing most what you're

going to do the most I mean all those

things are important because at the end

of the day uh establishing a habit

having an exercise routine that you're

going to consistently do is what is most

important uh for endurance athletes I

mean the answer is easy right you're

already dedicating several hours a week

to doing more zone two training and

about 20% of that training is dedicated

to to Shorter higher intensity workouts

more vigorous intensity workouts and

this is commonly known as the 8020 rule

but um remember this is this is people

that are doing extensive amounts of

training anywhere between 10 to 30 hours

a week week um it's I think it's a

common misconception to apply that 020

rule to like any committed exerciser and

any casual exerciser who are doing well

under less than 10 hours a week as you

think about um someone who is a

committed exerciser maybe you work out 3

to 5 days a week how much of that time

should be spent doing vigorous intensity

exercise I would say for VO2 max and

other adaptations we're going to discuss

including the brain um about half of

that exercise training time I think

should be spent in vigorous doing a

vigorous exercise so again you want to

be uh 80 at least 80% of your max heart

rate or or more uh obviously there's

resistance training to to incorporate as

well into any training program um

there's casual exercisers so people that

work out maybe two to three times a week

uh they should probably spend more than

half of their time doing more vigorous

intensity exercise I think this this

ensures you're pushing your limits and

you know making sure that you're getting

adaptations Fitness gains in a shorter

period of

time there are a variety of V2 Max

training protocols so for people that

are looking for that more vigorous

exercise using you know using

high-intensity enal training to improve

their V2 Max um the key here is longer

intervals so incorporating longer

intervals such as 2 three four maybe

even five minutes at the highest

workload you can sustain for that time

and then performing four intervals with

rest and Recovery in between um each of

those so this protocol may require maybe

a 20 minute time commitment but it can

lead to significant improvements in V2

Max there's a few examples of a V2 Max

training um Dr Martin gabala who was a

recent podcast guest gave a variety of

of examples of this so there's 3 to five

minute repeats at the highest

sustainable intensity we talked about

doing um those 3 to 5 minute intervals

that you can maintain and then you rest

and recover and repeat those intervals

uh for for a total of 20 minutes I think

a a popular variation of this is called

the Norwegian 4x4 interval training

protocol so the intervals are 4 minutes

long and you're aiming for about 85 to

95% of your max heart rate or the

maximum level of intensity you can

maintain for the entire four minutes um

these interval these intervals can be

brutal so the recovery period is 3

minutes long and the intensity is

significantly lower like light light

exercise more like a Zone one training

exercise you want to allow yourself

recovery time the clearance of lactate

you want your heart rate to come down

significantly so that you can prepare

for the next 4minute interval so these

four minute intervals are repeated um

four times and again in between each

interval is a 3 minute recovery so

that's the the nuran 4x4 interval

training um there's another type of BO2

Max training protocol it's the one

minute on one minute off

protocol this is where you perform one

minute of intervals at the highest

intensity you can do for 1 minute and

then it's followed by a one minute

recovery period and then you repeat this

interval pattern 10 um or maybe five

times for about 25 minutes or so and and

this protocol also is effective at

improving BO2 Max and it does provide a

lot of flexibility in terms of time

commitment um it it's also not as uh you

know grueling in terms of like doing a

4-minute interval versus a one minute

interval one minute intervals are a

little bit um you know less intense and

and less

painful obviously it's important that

you know these Protocols are sort of

templates they vary a lot based on

individual fitness goals um you know

there's other protocols out there that

can improve V2 Max the key is like a

longer interval longer than like a

Tabata like a 20 second interval and so

you know probably about at least 1

minute at the highest sustainable

intensity that you can do I think the

Norwegian 4x4 protocols probably one of

the best out there um one of the best

hit protocols out there for improving V2

Max so how do you measure V2 Max um

without equipment found in an exercise

physiology uh physi ology lab um it's

obviously challenging there's several

sort of tests that have been developed

and verified for getting an an an

estimate of your V2 Max so they don't

directly measure maximum oxygen uptake

but they predict your V2 Max based on

the relationship between your exercise

intensity and your oxygen consumption um

they're sort of useful in determining

whether or not you're improving V2 max

if you're testing a a type of training

protocol so the there's a couple of

really like I said validated tests that

have been validated in scientific

literature um that can that can sort of

be done probably one of the best ones is

the 12 minute run or sometimes called

walk test depending on your level of

Fitness um it's often also referred to

as the Cooper test and um it involves

having the participant run or jog as far

as possible in 12 minutes so you're

supposed to paste yourself evenly you

don't want to start too fast and the

test should be conducted on a flat

surface so like a track field is the

best you don't want to have Hills and

stuff because it's it's about you know

the the maximum amount of distance you

can cover in 12 minutes and if you have

Hills and stuff that's going to less

that it's going to be more challenging

and um you know the distance won't be

quite as far so uh you'll need a fitness

device something that Rec can record

your your distance an Apple Watch or you

know Fitbit or something and depending

on your Fitness level you can walk or

you can run um or a combination so the

distance covered within that 12-minute

period serves as the primary metric for

evaluating BO2 Max which is then

estimated using a formula so it's its

distance in meters minus

54.9 and then divided by 44.7 3 and you

can look this formula up just look up

the Cooper test to find the formulas um

online again um you know there's there's

some other validated test but I think

that's probably the one of the best

better ones out there you'll need a

device like an Apple Watch uh or some

some sort of other device that can

measure your distance but there's also

the some of these devices and wearables

do estimate V2 Max during exercise using

heart rate and your motion data um you

know for best results you have to make

sure all your personal information's in

there like your age and your weight and

gender you know all that stuff but

that's another you know possibility I

would say the 12-minute run or walk test

is a more it's a better way to do it

particularly if you're trying to do

something like the 4x4 nor Norwegian um

hit protocol to to measure V2 Max

improvements you want to see if what

you're doing is improving your your

estimated V2 Max so I think that the

12-minute run test is a is a good way to

do that I want to sort of change gears

for a minute and talk about um you know

something that I also think is pivotal

and it's it's a unique role for vigorous

exercise in playing a role in enhancing

Health span and it has to do with

changes in heart structure so as we age

the heart undergo specific inevitable

changes right related to the a aging

process so it tends to get smaller uh it

gets stiffer and this can impact the

heart's efficiency uh potentially

reducing our Exercise capacity elevating

our risk for cardiac issues um but there

can be exercise intervention

like consistent aerobic exercise with a

high proportion of it being vigorous

intensity that can actually combat some

of these effects so there was a landmark

study published from Ben lavine's group

and it was an intervention study and it

showed that two years of vigorous

exercise in 50y olds was able to reverse

the aging of their hearts by as much as

20 years effectively making their hearts

look more like a 30-year-old which in my

opinion is simply astonishing you're

taking a 50-year-old heart and making it

look like a 30-year-old heart now the

exercise protocol used in this this

particular study uh it was a protocol

that that gradually increased the

exercise intensity and also frequency so

again I mentioned it was a two-year

intervention by the end of six the first

six months participants were exercising

about five to six hours a week with a

large portion of training being in that

maximal steady state um intensity

exercise like which I referred to

earlier in the podcast it's it's often

sometimes called Zone 3 it is a type of

vigorous intensity exercise um they also

were incorporating more High higher

intensity exercise so they also did the

Norwegian 4x4 V2 training V2 Max

training protocol I just referred to and

they did that once a week and um I just

think it's like I said it's simply

astonishing that you know you take these

50 year olds and after 2 years of a more

vigorous intensity exercise um training

protocol it essentially reversed the

effects of Aging in the heart okay so

let's shift gears yet again and talk a

little bit about metabolic adaptations

and again this is where I think vigorous

exercise really shines um particularly

high-intensity interval training it

improves glucose control insulin

sensitivity um more more efficiently and

more potently than even continuous you

know moderate intensity workouts and uh

you know I do think that of course both

exercise type you know training

protocols can enhance muscle adaptations

and glucose regulation um hit really

seems to to do it quicker and um again

more robustly whereas moderate intensity

exercise kind of Demands longer sessions

for comparable outcomes so research has

found that high-intensity inal training

can enhance the muscle ability to take

up glucose and improve glucose transport

capacity so during high-intensity

interal training and during vigorous

exercise there's a a a demand a rapid

you know a demand for Rapid energy

production and so the body relies both

on aerobic so oxygen using and anerobic

non oxygen using metabolic pathways to

generate this energy the anerobic

pathway can lead to the production of

lactate especially when the intensity of

exercise surpasses the point at which

the oxygen intake can keep up with the

energy demand um and and so this is

sometimes often referred to as the

lactate threshold as we talked about for

a long time lactate was considered

primarily as a waste product

contributing to muscle fatigue and uh

you know this has of course been

completely revers Recent research Arch

has you know totally changed this

understanding um lactate generated in

muscle tissue is transported not only

back into muscle and into mitochondria

to be used as an energy source but it

also when it starts to accumulate at

higher levels travels systemically into

circulation and gets transported to

other tissues like the heart the liver

the brain where it's used for energy um

it's also used as a signaling molecule

so this is known as the lactate shuttle

and was pioneered by Dr George Brooks

who has really changed the field and um

he also happened to be my second podcast

guest ever on on this podcast um anyways

lactate you know it it it I mentioned it

acts as a signaling molecule in those

tissues as well and you can think of a

signaling molecule as a chemical

messenger that is sending a message to

other cells one of those messages is the

upregulation of gluc glucose transport

capacity so so vigorous intensity

exercise high intensity interval

training when when that lactate

production accumulates it stimulates the

expression and activity of glucose

Transporters known on the muscle known

as glute 4 and this is on the muscle

cell membrane and so that lactate acts

as a signaling molecule to increase the

transport of glucose

Transporters on on the muscle cells and

this then allows for more efficient

uptake of glucose into the um from the

bloodstream into the muscle even at rest

and so consequently then insulin

sensitivity is also improved and blood

glucose levels are better regulated

there's been several studies that have

demonstrated that hit can improve

glucose uptake enhance insulin

sensitivity and decrease the risk of

developing type 2 diabetes this may be

due to the intense metabolic stress

created during hit which leads to

Greater activation of glucose transport

great glucose Transporters um and improv

glucose clearance um so as I mentioned

both high-intensity Neal training

continuous moderate intensity exercise

can also be effective at improving

glucose transport capacity in the

muscles um hit promotes rapid increases

in glucose Transporters allowing for

that efficient glucose uptake and

utilization whereas continuous moderate

intensity exercise although it's less

intense still does also enhance gluc

transport capacity um it improves the

overall Fitness of muscles as well so

you know again it's just a longer

duration of exercise time to to get

there and um with the with the lactate

generation that happens with you know

high-intensity high-intensity exercise

you're getting that immediate signal

from lactate to increase the gluc glute

for Transporters and so it's a it's a

very rapid and robust adaptation that

happens there's other metabolic ad

adaptation so um just just kind of

talking about mitochondria mitochondria

are very important and they play a lot

of roles in the body but one of the most

important ones is the production of

energy in the form of ATP this is

obviously very important for muscles but

also hugely important for the brain um

the heart the liver pretty much every

organ athletes are very interested in

mitochondrial health because they want

their muscles to efficiently and

effectively produce energy when they're

training but mitochondria are also very

important in the context of Aging as we

age our mitochondria become less

efficient at producing energy and this

poses a problem for physical activity

but also just for normal functioning of

our organs now that problem of

mitochondria not producing enough energy

can actually be overcome by increasing

the mitochondrial volume or what's

called mitochondrial biogenesis an

exercise particularly vigorous exercise

is one of the best ways to do that so

one of the most powerful indicators of

healthy mitochondria is the ability to

generate new healthy young mitochondria

called mitochondrial biogenesis vigorous

intensity exercise like high-intensity

high-intensity interval training I

mentioned um it's one of the most

powerful stimulators of mitochondrial

biogenesis this has to do with the

metabolic stress that is induced from

vigorous inity exercise the lactate

itself again lactate is a signaling

molecule when you're producing greater

amounts of lactate that actually

activates one of the major Pathways that

regulates mitochondrial biogenesis it's

called pgc1 Alpha and again lactates

acting as a signal to produce more of

that pgc1 Alpha so when we perform

vigorous intensity exercise such as hit

that lactate generated from the muscles

it's shuttled into the mitochondria

because exercise increases the um the

number of mitochondria per cell again

mitochondrial biogenesis and the more

lactate that's able then to be used as

um energy or to produce energy and this

is important to know if you're wanting

to understand the bigger picture of

where metabolism and and lactate

utilization fit into you know Human

Performance but it's also important to

realize that athletes put around

anywhere between like I said 10 20 30

hours of training in a week um if

they're endurance athletes and usually

about 80% of that training is in you

know the the the Moder intensity Zone to

training world with the remaining 20%

being vigorous intensity exercise like

hit if they're if they're putting in 20

hours a week of of you know the of

moderate intensity training then they're

doing anywhere you know they're doing

you know four anywhere between four to

six hours a week of vigorous exercise

like hit so just the portion of their

vigorous exercise alone they are doing

is more than what committed exercisers

are doing so the question is what's the

best training protocol for a non-athlete

someone that's perhaps a committed

exerciser who is interested in Health

and

Longevity uh again both high-intensity

interval training Zone 2 training also

moderate intensity training can increase

mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal

muscle hit does it more rapidly um it's

a more potent stimulus again with with

lactate being a signaling molecule um on

the other hand zone two training you

know for which is you know doing a more

um moderate intensity exercise that's

sustained for a longer duration does

lead to an increase in mitochondrial

content I think the key here is the

total volume of training so higher

intensity higher intensity exercise is a

smaller volume and it can result in more

rapid larger increases in mitochondrial

content while doing a more moderate

intensity Zone 2 training also does the

same thing um but it just requires

larger exercise volume or duration your

muscle's ability to use fat as a fuel is

also closely tied to how many active

mitochondria you have so in other words

increasing mitochondrial content also

determines the ability of muscles to be

able to oxidize fat

both high intensity anable training so

vigorous exercise and Zone 2 training

increase the capacity for fat oxidation

by increasing mitochondrial content Now

by enhancing um the growth of new

mitochondria you're increasing the

activity of key enzymes involved in fat

metabolism so one of those is the

carnitine um palet transferase enzyme or

the CPT enzyme both types of exercise

training moderate and also vigorous

intensity exercise do um increase the

CPT enzyme capacity as well and you know

obviously that is directly related to

the utilization of fat as a fuel source

so I think the bottom line here is that

you know mitochondrial biogenesis

increasing mitochondrial volume is key

for mitochondrial Health it's key for

improving fat oxidation as well and both

high-intensity interval training and a

more moderate Zone 2 type of training

will get you increases in mitochondrial

volume so another way that exercise

improves mitochondrial health is through

a process known as mitophagy or

mitophagy as some people call it so

mitophagy is a type of autophagy which

involves the selective removal of

damaged or dysfunctional mitochondria

from the cell or within the cell um this

this process really helps maintain

mitochondrial qual quality control and

overall cellular health so when you put

stress on mitochondria through exercise

the body triggers you know the

elimination of damaged mitochondria and

the replacement of those mitochondria

with new healthy ones through

mitochondrial biogenesis there's not a

lot of direct human research on the

effects of different training types of

EX of of different training types of um

different exercise training on mitophagy

but I know of at least one human study

that has found particularly vigorous

intensity aerobic exercise enhances

markers of

mitophagy it's likely that both both

vigorous exercise high-intensity

interval training and more moderate

exercise training can stimulate this

process with hit just getting you faster

and you know the moderate intensity Zone

to requiring a larger training B volume

but overall you know both hit Zone 2 can

promote skeletal muscle adaptations

including mitochondrial biogenesis fat

oxidation mitophagy this is a repeating

theme of this podcast and also on the

one that I did with Dr Martin gabala on

high-intensity interval training I think

the choice between the two really

depends again on individual goals

preferences the amount of time available

for training and just what you love to

do hit offers that time efficiency um it

it potentially has the the ability to

have rapid improvements and adaptations

in mitochondrial content while Moder

intensity Zone 2 training can yield

similar adaptations with a larger volume

of Moder intensity exercise you know

sustained for a longer duration but I do

think that it's important to probably

try to incorporate both types of

exercise training for a more

well-rounded way to kind of cover all

your bases um and for those that are

committed exercisers if you're putting

in let's say anywhere between two to 5

hours of training a week it's it's my

opinion that you know you you should

probably be doing a lot of a lot of that

training or half of that training should

be vigorous intensity exercise not only

because the voax improvements we spoke

about earlier but also because of brain

benefits so let's talk about the brain

exercise intensity like high-intensity

interval training has been shown to have

unique benefits for brain health um

obviously all types of exercise are

beneficial for the brain but high

intensity exercise may have additional

neuroprotective and cognitive benefits

and one of the mechanisms that's thought

to underly this is you know the the

unique effects of you know vigorous

intensity exercise or hit on the brain

because of the lactate production so

during high-intensity exercise lactate

is produced in large amounts as we've

talked about about um largely as a

byproduct of the metabolic stress you're

you're kind of pushing that Anor robic

threshold and when you produce lactate

it's getting into circulation and it can

cross the bloodb brain barrier there are

lactate Transporters MCT Transporters on

the bloodb brain barrier and it can you

know cross the blood brain barrier and

get into the brain where it then acts as

a signal and it triggers a variety of

beneficial adaptations so um let's talk

about some of the

first you know lactate can be used by

neurons as a preferential energy source

so it's it's actually energetically

favorable it takes less energy for

mitochondria to to mitochondria to use

lactate versus

glucose so um in fact neurons are are

used to using lactate because asites in

the brain which are a supporting cell

for neurons they're mostly glycolytic

that means they're mostly using glucose

as energy they're not using mitochondria

and they're producing lactate as a

byproduct so asites are turning out tons

of lactate in the brain and that lactate

is be being taken up you know by neurons

through the the MCT Transporters and

used as energy so um there's actually

even been studies showing that the brain

is working harder during exercise much

like the muscles are working harder your

heart's working harder and it's been

shown that lactate actually fuels the

brain during exercise so that that

lactate that's being translate um that's

being transferred into circulation is

being just soaked up by the brain and

it's fueling the brain brain activity

during exercise now another benefit of

of neurons in the brain using lactate as

an energy source instead of

glucose is it spares glucose it's

freeing up glucose to be used by another

biochemical pathway um known as the

pentos phosphate pathway and this

pathway uses glucose to make precursors

called

nadph that's needed for the production

of one of the most powerful antioxidant

systems in the brain called

glutathione so the less glucose is being

taken up by neurons to be used as energy

the more it can be spared to be used in

this pentos phosphate Pathway to make

glutathione and this has really

important

relevance not only for just you know

normal brain aging right I mean if

you're if you're able to use more of the

lactate as energy and spare glucose and

make more glutathione in the brain

generally speaking that's going to be

more beneficial for just normal brain

aging but it has special relevance also

for traumatic brain injury TBI because

you know that when there's that you know

bolus of damage that's that's been been

done that that traumatic um brain injury

then glutathione is needed the most but

you're also needing you know glucose for

neurons as well um and so and and it's

and it's it's it's also awful because

you know asites which are usually making

lactate for the neurons also become

damaged during a TBI and so there's a

lactate shortage for neurons um and

there's been a few studies showing that

a infusion um PE when there's TBI uh

patients with TBI that get infused with

sodium lactate this actually improves

TBI outcomes and this is you know

measured by the the glass cow scores so

um you know generally speaking I think

that this glucose sparing effect also

you know there's some evidence again

obviously direct evidence with TBI

outcomes that's been shown to have you

know improvements in TBI TBI outcomes

I'm proposing a mechanism here with

glucose sparing um with respect to the

with respect to lactate um lactate again

also stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis

animal Studies have shown this in the

brain and neurons as well um we don't

have direct human evidence of that but

um there's no reason to think that

wouldn't be a conserved mechanism so I

think you know we covered the importance

of brain lactate energetically speaking

it's energetically favorable right

neuron neurons preferentially they

prefer to use it um we talked about the

glucose sparing but let's go back to the

signaling molecule as ECT as we talked

about earlier in the muscles we talked

about it increasing glute for

Transporters um it's also a signaling

molecule in the brain um you know it's

it's acting as a messenger it's a way

for the muscles to communicate with the

brain directly and um when neurons in

the brain are using more lactate they're

they're releasing uh a variety of

neurotransmitters they release more

norepinephrine for example so to help

the brain working better to to have more

Focus and attention um it also signals

to the brain to make more brain Drive

neurotrophic factor

bdnf and I mean this is a very powerful

neurotrophic Factor it promotes the

survival the growth and the function of

neurons it plays a crucial role in

neuroplasticity so this is the the

ability of the brain to adapt form new

connections higher levels of bdnf have

been linked to improved cognitive

function enhanced memory protection

against neurod degenerative diseases

like Alzheimer's disease um if you want

to put this in Sensational words uh to

explain it bdnf is the youth Elixir for

the brain and exercising muscles produce

lactate to help you bathe your brain in

it so um that's a little a sort of

simplistic and more Sensational way of

thinking about it but essentially that's

what's happening when the lactate

increasing bdnf in the brain um lactate

is also a messenger not only in the

brain but at the bloodb brain barrier um

you know this is made up of tiny blood

vessels we covered this in a podcast

with Dr Axel

Montaine so lactate signals to increase

another growth factor at the bloodb

brain barrier called

vegf and um this is vascular endothelial

growth factor this helps grow new tiny

but

vessels it's called This is called

angiogenesis the growth of new tiny

blood vessels it helps them grow at the

bloodb brain barrier it also helps

repair damaged blood vessels I mean

these are these are these are things

that are you know important for

preventing the breakdown of the bloodb

brain barrier so essentially VF is

increasing the vascular

density and breakdown of the bloodb

brain barrier is a major cause of blood

of brain aging um it's a major cause of

of neuroinf inflammation it contributes

to the Vicious Cycle of

neuroinflammation and there's also

emerging evidence that now suggests

breakdown of the blood brain barrier is

one of the earliest signs of

dementia so again um another reason why

vigorous intensity exercise through that

just generation of a lot of lactate then

getting to the brain getting to the

bloodb brain barrier has unique benefits

on overall brain brain

health uh it's important to know I guess

this is you know there there are

benefits to high-intensity exercise on

the brain that are not just exclusive to

lactate right so there's increased blood

flow uh there's the improved

cardiovascular fitness the release of

neurotransmitters the release of

endorphins you know all all of these

things contribute to the positive

effects of physical activity on the

brain but vigorous intensity exercise I

do think has some unique and very robust

effects on brain health because of that

lactate and so I really wanted to kind

of dive deep into that so that you guys

understand that you know your muscles

are being pushed to work extra hard and

this is then now causing adaptations in

the brain that are pretty

substantial in addition to lactate

exercise intensity also affects the

muscles ability to produce other

compounds known as myocin so these are

molecules released from muscle cells

that signal to nonmuscle tissues that

the body is physically active you know

so again it's similar to what we've been

talking about with lactate myocin have

anti-inflammatory they have anti-cancer

effects they also participate in

metabolic pathways involved in fat

oxidation glucose uptake um they play a

role in you know in in again cancer

biology as well so generally speaking

the greater the intensity of exercise

the greater the myokine release again

it's one of those you're putting stress

on the muscles and the the muscles are

then forced to adapt and one of the

adaptations is releasing

myocin again um duration also matters so

the harder and the longer the muscles

work the greater the myokine release um

some myokines are a little more

sensitive to exercise intensity

so is 6 was uh is one probably one of

the most uh well-known myocin it was

initially thought to be a

pro-inflammatory cyto kind so a cyto

kind that plays a role in instigate

instigating inflammation um when it is

produced from muscle it acts as a mocine

so it it it does play a role in

inflammation but um when it's produced

from muscle during exercise it's not it

it's it's signaling to um other tissues

to have an anti-inflammatory response

and so um you'll often find a even

larger production of anti-inflammatory

cyto such as is 10 in response to is 6

produced during

exercise irisin is another myokine it's

involved in cancer protection it's

involved in bone health

metabolism um and and

more and then there's also another

well-known myokine known as onco Statin

M and um that myokine sort of plays a

little more prominent role um in you

know anti-an cancer effects the key here

is I think that exerc um exercise

intensity and or duration are really

what increase myokine levels so you're

going for a two or three mile run

probably crank it up a little more

intense right you want to be at you know

at least 85% your max heart rate um so

so you're not going to be really talking

during that run are you going on an

8mile run maybe duration is on your side

right and intensity can go down a notch

since we were just talking about cancer

it keep in mind that any level of

physical activity is better than none so

a study investigating physical activity

in breast cancer and colar rectal cancer

found women who were more physically

active before being diagnosed with

breast cancer had about a 23% reduced

risk of dying from any Cause And A 23%

reduced risk of dying from breast cancer

compared to those who were less active

those who were more active before being

diagnosed with colar rectal cancer had a

26% reduced risk of dying from any cause

and about a 25% reduced risk of dying

from colar rectal cancer so being active

after diagnosis had had even stronger

benefits for both cancer types so these

women had a 48% reduced risk of dying

from any cause and a 28% reduced risk of

dying from breast cancer compared to to

those that were less active after

diagnosis and the individuals with color

rectal cancer had a 42% reduced risk of

dying from any cause and a 39% reduced

risk of dying from colar rectal cancer

again after being diagnosed with with

the cancer so I do want to talk a little

bit about you know there's a lot of

mechanisms by which exercise can you

know dampen cancer metastasis can um

improve cancer outcomes

um but there's one specific mechanism

that involves tumor cells escaping from

the original tumor site and then

traveling into circulation to other

locations other organs and you know

other tissues they sort of take Camp

there they grow and divide and they form

a secondary tumor those cancer cells are

called circulating tumor cells and that

process I just described is often called

cancer metastasis right um those

circulating tumor cells are in

circulation for a period of time and

these circulating tumor cells are very

sensitive to the shearing forces of

blood flow so when you exercise and

blood flow increases those circulating

tumor cells they actually they actually

die and um this happens in a dose

dependent manner so the more intense the

exercise um the more sensitive they are

to to sell death duration is also a key

right so I mean you're talking about

increasing the sheer forces both

intensity and duration are key here um

and and so it's really just a matter of

getting that blood flow up um intensity

uh duration and um that is been shown to

kill circulating tumor cells um and

again this is associated with more

positive outcomes with respect to cancer

uh

survival not only um we talked a lot

about you know muscles being little

chemical producing factories they're

producing chemicals like lactate they're

producing

myocin but they also act like sponges to

soak up compounds that can be harmful to

the brain so skeletal muscle has the

ability to take up a compound known as

curine and convert it into chric acid

which is a non-toxic metabolite um and

it does this by increasing an enzyme on

the muscle called curine aminot

transferase so this essentially reduces

the amount of curine available to then

be transformed into other harmful

metabolites such as quinolinic acid in

the brain so quinolinic acid is a

neurotoxin that plays a role in

depression it plays a role in

schizophrenia and neurodegenerative

disease um and so this is just one other

mechanism by which you know exercise

also seems to improve Mental Health

um it's also you know another way that

again exercise intensity is important

here that is what is increasing that you

know that enzyme that curine

aminotransferase on the muscle cells to

then transport curine into the muscle so

that is not um converted into the

quinolinic acid um so just another

another mechanism that I kind of wanted

to point point out um because again

intensity plays a role here with those

aminotransferase Transporters soaking up

more of that Kine I want to shift gears

and talk about short bursts of

high-intensity interval training so this

is sometimes called exercise snacks

exercise snacks are short bursts of

vigorous intensity exercise that are

Incorporated throughout the day and they

it can have numerous benefits on

metabolism overall health um these

exercise snacks can be as simple as

doing some vigorous jumping jacks or

vigorous air squats or high knees or

burpee and they can be done in just a

few minutes there might be some distinct

metabolic benefits to exercise snacks

particularly when timed around meals so

performing these these you know short

bursts of exercise before or so directly

before or after a meal is particularly

effective in controlling blood sugar

levels and you know this this sort sort

of thing can lead to a rapid uptake of

glucose into the muscles again having to

do with increasing those glute four

Transporters um it helps to lower blood

glucose levels more efficiently um than

staying sedentary post meals so timing

exercise snacks around meals um really

can help the ba the body handle sugar

influx better and it helps you know

utilize glucose more effectively and

reduces the demand on the pancreas to

produce insulin so it's um particularly

beneficial for people with uh both type

one and type two to diabetes in addition

to the direct metabolic benefits

exercise snacks can also combat

sedentary Behavior so many individuals

even those who engage in regular

exercise still spend a significant

portion of their day sitting at their

desk working being sedentary sedentary

Behavior has been shown to be a modest

independent risk factor for certain

types of cancer um and it can also

increase the risk of premature death

even among Physically Active individuals

so by incorporating exercise snacks

individuals can kind of break up those

prolonged periods of sedentary behavior

and potentially further you know reduce

their um cancer risk and and just have a

a a variety of Bel health benefits so

exercise snacks also can enhance

cognitive function it's directly

increasing blood flow to the brain um

you know again that that can also just

have an immediate mood enhancement which

affects motivation there's not a lot of

direct evidence on exercise snacks in

the brain um but again again of course

methodologies can differ anywhere

between one minute to 10 minutes um but

there at least is one study showing that

10 minutes of an exercise snack does

improve cognitive function so what could

be a good protocol to implement let's

say during your seditary time would be

perhaps you know setting a timer and

every couple of hours you get up and you

do a couple of minutes of you know

high-intensity interval training on a

very similar note there's something

called vigorous intermittent lifestyle

physical activity Vila it's it's

somewhat similar to exercise snacks um

but it takes advantage of everyday sort

of situations to get your heart rate up

high and to do some high-intensity

exercise so for example instead of you

have to take they take the stairs every

day to work well instead of walking up

the stairs you sprint um you're getting

your heart rate high so these types of

vilpas have been measured in large

numbers of people so there's a a variety

of Publications um and studies that have

been done uh measuring you know people's

their their vilpas that they're doing

and um you know just three to four

minutes a day of this vigorous

intermittent lifestyle physical activity

has been shown to be associated with a

25 to 30% reduction in overall mortality

risk um when that vpa durations increase

to about 9 minutes a day it's associated

with a 50% reduction in cardiovascular

related mortality and a 40% reduction in

cancer related mortality and these

benefits extend even to individuals who

identify themselves as

non-exercisers in other words these are

people that are not um necessarily doing

Leisure Time activity they're not going

to the gym they're not going on runs but

they're still engaging in these vilpas

so so even those people are getting

mortality reductions and you know cancer

mortality cardiovascular mortality

reductions with vilpas so I think that

um you know that's that's also an

important benefit to keep in mind so I

hope you guys enjoyed this episode a

deep dive into the science of why

vigorous exercise is important it's

important for improving

cardiorespiratory Fitness particularly

people that don't respond to more

moderate intensity exercise it's

important for metabolic adaptations it's

very powerful at increasing glucose

intake into muscles it's also a very

potent stimulator of mitochondrial

biogenesis allowing for mitochondrial

adaptations um improving not only

mitochondrial volume but also fat

oxidation capacity as well it's

increasing mitophagy the clearance of

damaged mitochondria from muscle tissue

and it seems to have really unique

benefits for the brain and a lot of this

does come down to lactate production the

metabolic stress that's induced from

vigorous intensity exercise produces

more lactate this lactate is getting

into circulation going to other tissues

including the brain and not only is this

allowing the brain to use an

energetically favorable um energy source

so neurons are using lactate as energy

it's allowing the sparing of glucose to

be used to make precursors for a very

powerful antioxidant glutathione in the

brain it's also acting as a signaling

molecule in the brain increasing brain

Drive neurotrophic Factor this is hugely

important for you know not staving off

neurod degenerate disease and just

improving cognitive function it's

increasing VF at the bloodb brain

barrier you know staving off the

breakdown of the bloodb brain barrier um

lactates also increasing iines in the

muscle that have all sorts of benefits

so I think I think we covered a lot

about um the importance of vigorous

exercise and also these the the vigorous

exercise can be done in in short

exercise snacks as well um and I think

this is a really great way for schools

and workplaces to incorporate uh some

sort of physical activity to break up

the sedentary time when people are

sitting in their cubicles at their

computer or sitting at their desks for

um prolonged periods because just those

periods being sedentary in and of itself

is a risk factor for early mortality um

so again exercise snacks are a type of V

vigorous exercise that can be

incorporated you know into everyday life

as well um as the the vilpas these are

things where you're you're taking

advantage of everyday situations like

like sprinting up the stairs rather than

than walking up them as well um so I

hope you guys enjoyed this podcast and

I'll talk to you

soon

as a companion to today's episode I've

created a free evidence-based blueprint

that you can download in this guide

which you can find at bdnf protocol.com

you will find protocols designed to

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brain aging this guide explores

modifiable lifestyle factors the tactics

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particularly when it comes to exercise

nutrition and even supplementation to

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many of which are at least partially

mediated through increases in brain

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