Dr Chalmers Path to Pro - The Best Workout for Longevity
Here’s a practical approach to staying strong and mobile as we age. It covers everyday movements like squats, toe touches, and simple strength work that help keep joints, back, and core functioning well. It also highlights the importance of training through full ranges of motion for long-term health and stability.
Short bursts of intense exercise can boost energy, support fat loss, and build mental resilience. It’s not about extreme workouts, it’s about moving better, feeling better, and staying active for the long run.
Highlights of the Podcast
00:00 - Functional Movements for Life
01:40 - Strengthening the Back Properly
03:00 - Movement Screening Through Yoga and Vinyasa
04:35 - Healing Old Injuries Through Targeted Movements
06:00 - Benefits of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)
08:55 - Personal Growth Through Physical Strain
10:10 - Longevity Workout Essentials
11:30 - Mental Toughness Equals Longevity
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:00:04] All right. So when we're talking about exercising for longevity, one of the things we have to make sure of is that we're doing motions that are going to be needed throughout our life. Uh, one of big ones that you're going to want to do is squat down to the ground. So like deep squats, big range of motion, the entire movement, we've got to get the entire motion of the hip, the knee, the ankle all working together. Um, that's gonna be one of those big ones, because you're always gonna have to stand up, climb stairs, go up and down hills, you're gonna slip, you have to have stability in the ankles all the way up and out. So those big deep squats are gonna be a big part of it. You're gonna wanna have full flexibility, rotationally and downward and up in the low back pelvic function, so core functionality, you're going to have big movements there. When you're doing these, you're going to have to be able to do them, you know, to the point where you're stretching, you kind of push yourself a little bit in all the different directions. Fluid movements are going to be best. And then you're gonna have to do some type of weight. You're gonna to add force to the body or to lift weight, you have to move weight around because your body has to have that resistance in order to create bone density. It's going to help the resistance to create and maintain the ligament and tendon strength, muscular room. And be able to function all those things. So like one of the big exercises I have everybody do is bend over and touch your toes. And as soon as they can get used to doing that, and that's where you have to start because people don't touch their toes anymore.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:01:39] And so you start doing that because you got to lift all the weight from your belt buckle up. So you get used that. Then once you've gotten used to kind of bending over and touching your toes, then you add the weights. And as you go up in weight, you want to be able to hold 20, 25 pound dumbbells. So 40 to 50 pounds total is your bending over, touching the ground and lifting with only your back. Again, everyone who's like you shouldn't lift with your back is no, like they have no concept of biomechanics at all, because there's no way to lift anything without using your back it's not possible because even when you do a bicep curl and you curl with your right arm, your left low back has to tighten so you fall over. So you're always lifting with your back. Your back is a component of all lifting. And so instead of trying to, you know, make your back as weak as possible by never exercising it, you need to actually train your back to lift. I see people like literally like as a Cairo, I see every single day they come in like my back's messed up and I don't know why. And I'm like, well, how often you do anything for maintenance? So what do you mean? Like how often do you exercise? Well, I exercise all the time. I'm How are you bending over touching your toes? How often are you bending over and rotating and touching your left side, rotating and touching the left side? And they're like, oh, I don't do that. I'm like, well, that's how you do it. So what we actually did was, this is one of the big things about VYBE-5.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:03:02] So if you guys aren't familiar, in Frisco, we've got a gem called VYBE5, V-Y-B-E-5, and it's far infrared radiation, but it's direct, so it's not just getting the room hot. You're actually getting the far infrared radiation. Which is so amazingly great for detoxification, for energy, for healing, for all sorts of things. So you're getting the right frequency for infrared. So it is going to be a 97 to 100 degree room, nice and warm. But the other thing is that that'll help loosen your muscles up. But we always start with a vinyasa flow. For those of you who are not yoga people, uh a vinyasa and this isn't a yoga thing like by five since yoga thing we do yoga in it but And it's basically just a complete big movement patterns, gross movements to kind of get everything loosened up, get everything moving, get the lymphatics flowing and get everything going. And the great thing about that is that if you're doing Tai Chi or Vinyasa movement, and you start noticing, oh, my left hip or my right knee or great. We figured out some things that we need to start working on from a balanced functionality and strength standpoint. So wherever we notice that there's a joint that is iffy or twingy or whatever, we need to start exercising that joint and strengthening all the way around it, especially joints you've injured. Because a lot of times people are like, Oh, well, I have bad ankles from XYZ. And they're like, so that's why I don't exercise. The right exercises for those damaged joints can heal them.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:04:35] So I talk about this all the time. But I treat a lotof, you know, football players and soccer players and baseball players who come in, they're like, oh, I have. Hips, knees, ankles are all messed up from put in your thing. You know, my my issue with my ankles were so messed up from playing football in high school that when I climbed the stairs in my house, my ankles would hurt and I'd have to kind of like rest or sit down so they could hurt it. And I've heard this from lots of other athletes whose ankles or hips or knees are messed up. When I started doing single leg step ups because my my foot, my ankle had to like basically take on all of that. Force and pressure all by itself and deal with all that movement all by itself. It got stronger and the ligaments got tighter, everything got better. My ankles don't hurt at all anymore and I've heard this from a lot of people so who've come in and they're like oh yeah ever since I started doing the exercise that you gave me I don't heart anymore. I'm like sweet awesome uh because that's that's a big part of the reason why we design the of the way we did it. And so for instance, at five, five. That's why we start with vinyasa to get everybody kind of rolled up, warmed up. We also go back to it because as you go through it, you're going to get a little bit looser each time. You're going a little bit deeper in those motions each time you do those three times and then the weights that come in are going to help kind of let your body understand that there is extra resistance we're going to have to deal with. So, you know, getting those weights in is really, really important.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:06:01] Uh, the other thing that we've added in is kind of like a hit deal, it's some cardio for like two minutes and you're just going to go hard. And that's, you know, when we look at the research, HIIT training is really beneficial for functionality, for mitochondrial density. And, you want to look at fat loss, it's great for fat loss and all those other things. But it's also great for mental function because it's supposed to suck. Like, that's the, like, you can do cardio for two different reasons. Like, you can go out and be like, oh, I'm going to go for a nice jog and clear my head and, you, know, feel great. Awesome, fantastic. What cardio is also really, really good at is hurting real, especially if you do it hard. It sucks. And you feel like you're gonna die, your throat gets, you know, all that fun jazz. Like, especially, if you know like, I'm gonna got two minutes and it's gonna count down and we're gonna hit this really, really hard for the last two minutes, minute, 30 seconds, whatever it is, you're just gonna go completely at it. Like, give it everything you've got because you got a short window. Uh, that is phenomenal for you. That is one of those things that, you know, when we do difficult things, interesting that gyros grows like that type of thing, like this is actually going to change who you are and change your brain and change all this functionality, you for going really, really, hard, as hard as you can for a set period of time. Um, it's phenomenal thing to do. You know, we talk about cold plunges, which are great. And you know saunas, which you're great. Farmer purpose is great.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:07:32] But the thing I love more about all this stuff is Pushing yourself to the point where you're like, I can't, this is as hard as I can possibly go, and holding it there for a little bit, a minute, two minutes, something like that. Just really, really, really hard. That's a fantastic way of getting through all of life. And that's the great thing about sports. It's one of those things where you push yourself really, really, really hard, and you were able to do the thing. And that a great hit of dopamine, and that's a great example for. If you can put yourself through a tremendous amount of pain for a short period of time, when you're on the other side of it, you will be a better person. It's one of those things where you're like, okay, because once you do these type of things, like any type of hit, you go really, really, hard and then over the next couple of weeks, you're going a little bit harder and a little harder because you get stronger. Your body responds like, oh, we're going to have to do intensity at this level. We need to get stronger if we can maintain it. And then when it ends up happening, it's because you can maintain here, you can push a little bit harder and a little bit harder, and a bit harder. When it ends happening is that you drag everything else along with you. Everything else in your life gets drug along with it. As soon as you're like, you know, you were at a six and everything else was a four. And then you bring yourself to a six-and-a-half or a seven and everything else is a four and a half or a five.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:08:55] And so everything just kind of seems to just be drug along at how hard you're willing to push yourself and how hard, how much pressure you're willing to endure. So. That part of it I really, really love. So that cardio piece is awesome. So those are some of the things that like, if you're looking for, what should I do for longevity? And that's, you know, in five fives, 55 minutes, so it's basically an hour. It's guided through, you now, that type of thing. It's dim, so you get to go at however hard you can go, because the guy next to you doesn't matter. Like, the man and the woman next to, that doesn't matters, this is your body. Like, what can you do with your stuff? You know, this is the other great thing about building a body. No one can give it to you. No one, can do the work for you. Can take the settlements for you? No one could go to the gym for you, no one can wake up and drag your, your ass there for you know, you can hire a coach and the coach can like motivate you to go do it, but you still have to put one foot in front of the other. So, you know, it's one of those things that it's a great, great function for life. So if you're looking for those things, they're going to help you in life and help you give you longevity and function to the body. You want to make sure that you're doing things that are going to go through the entire range of motion. You're going have things that aren't going to strengthen normal functional movements.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:10:09] So big steps, bending over, touching your toes, rotational function, you know those types of things. And you're going want to have some weight in there. So you have some resistance on the bones, muscles, and ligaments. And then I highly recommend that you find something, and maybe you can do this every day. So you do a little bit of hit. A great way to do it around the neighborhood is to jog and then just dead-ass run, just as hard as you can possibly go for three mailboxes or for whatever that is for 30 seconds. Like set your timer, hit it, and just run as hard you can until it starts beeping, and then Hopefully, you're not gonna throw up, but if you do that, we'll walk you through that one. But that's kind of the thing, is push yourself hard. Because when you push yourself physically hard and it sucks, it changes you mentally and you can drag the rest of your life along with it. Because once you start doing hard things in one part of your live, it makes it easier to do hard things in every other aspect of your lives. So, you know. When we talk about longevity, that's where it is, because you're going to have a lot of things, you're like, I don't want to do that. That's hard, but I have to do it anyway. Phenomenal. If you've, you know, this is again, like where I love sports. If you push yourself so hard that you thought you were going to throw up or that you blacked out or that she thought you were gonna die or, you know whatever. And you didn't. Great.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:11:29] Now you've shown yourself that you're willing, that you can physically make yourself, you can decide with your mind that you are going to do these things that are really hard. And as soon as you start kind of learning that and teaching yourself that, like I said, it cascades in every other part of your life. So that's why we that's one of the reasons we designed five five. So if you guys are in Frisco, check out five five, it's fantastic. I love it. If you guys or, you know, out trying to figure out what you're trying to do to get yourself better. Look at doing something that involves those things or do it yourself. Right, like get some weights, go to the gym, you know, a lot of gyms have tracks around them. You know, so go just bust it out on the track as hard as you can for you know. Two laps or a lap or however whatever works for your workout but you know try to incorporate something that really really sucks physically for a couple minutes into your life and as soon as you kind of start doing that you're going to start realizing that everything else in your life doesn't seem like it's as hard or as bad as it used to be but uh so that's kind of where that is if you guys have any other questions hit us up questions at chalmerswellness.com or drop me comment. Thanks for your time. What exercises do you do that suck but you at least love them being done? Like once you've done them, you're like, I'm glad I did XYZ today. So drop those in the comments, I'd like to see. All right, you guys have a great day. Thanks for your time.
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