The Longevity Roadmap overview.
While aesthetically similar, you’ll notice some clear differences between our previous framework and the Longevity Roadmap.
Our new fitness standards are designed to be broad, simple, and effective.
We are now measuring strength as expressed through movement patterns, rather than specific exercises. These movement patterns measure strength and stability across six fundamental movements: squat, hinge, push, pull, lunge, and core. Taken together, these standards will provide an overview of strength balance; letting us understand where we are strong and highlighting areas that could be improved.
Each pattern begins with movement skill, where we break an exercise into smaller chunks to learn optimal positioning.
We then apply these skills to a fundamental movement, where we build motor control; the ability to coordinate movement safely and effectively.
Once we have established excellent movement quality, we can introduce challenge via muscle endurance. Here we introduce a low load exercise to challenge position and create tension, building a foundation of strength.
Having built a strong base of support, we move into the realm of strength endurance. Here the reps are lower, and intensity is higher, allowing for large volumes of work to be accumulated, a potent stimulus for both strength and hypertrophy.
Finally, we reach the final phase of training, maximal contractions. By now we have an excellent base of support to express our absolute strength.
Time and again this method of progression has proven optimal in developing impressive levels of strength in a safe and effective manner.
Additionally, each pattern has a corresponding rehab tier. This section acts as a progression toward completing the motor control exercise of a pattern with full range of motion and no pain or discomfort. For those with no exercise experience, or recovering from injury, this tier offers an alternative path forward without skipping training days or just “going lighter”.
We are also introducing independent segments to measure both balance and flexibility, as we believe these are closely correlated with one of our three pillars: stability.
The strength standards themselves have been calculated relative to the bodyweight of the average UK male and female, which are 85 kg and 72 kg, respectively. The standards for each pattern correspond to a strength balance ideal, in that we should be able to Squat 80% of our Deadlift, and Bench Press around 65% of our Squat, for example. This not only makes for more well-rounded athletes but reduces the risk of imbalances which could prove injurious over time.
Given the challenging nature of tracking and measuring aerobic function, we have opted for a simpler metric; predicted VO2 max.
To gain a truly accurate VO2 max score, the test – which is rather unpleasant – must be conducted in a lab setting with professional guidance. We recognise that this is somewhat prohibitive for most, so have devised an alternative solution.
We have selected six cyclical conditioning assessments - three short (under ten minutes) and three long (over twenty minutes) – with results indicating a predicted VO2 max.
These modalities have been selected because they are relatively low skill and easy to express, and there are lots of available data points with which we can reasonably predict VO2 max.
Given that the new roadmap was designed with longevity in mind, we felt it was crucial that our standards consider the effects of aging.
Age related muscle loss (sarcopenia) is a natural part of aging. While we strive to resist entropy, we recognise that some adults can expect muscle loss of up to 8-15% per decade from around the age of 30.
Similarly, we can expect VO2 Max to decrease at a rate of around 10-15% per decade.
Our mission is to support clients at all stages of the life cycle, and we recognise that the importance of strength training only increases with age. Our aim is to establish a high level of fitness earlier in life, then to focus on reducing the rate of decline as we age.
We want our clients to be as fit as possible, for as long as possible. Therefore, the further to the right we sit on the Longevity Roadmap, the better.
Next, we’ll look at what all of this means for the practical application of the Aristos program moving forward.