When researchers look at the health and performance markers most strongly associated with a longer lifespan, time and again, they are looking at the ones developed through endurance training. Of these markers, one number shows up again and again: VO₂ max. In multiple studies (links below) an increased VO2 max directly correlates to longer lifespan. 

In simple terms, VO₂ max measures your body’s capacity to take in oxygen, deliver it to working muscles, and use it to produce energy. This capacity depends on several systems working together: your lungs bringing oxygen into the body, your heart and vascular system delivering oxygenated blood, and your muscles converting that oxygen into usable energy.

While the relationship isn’t perfectly causal, high VO₂ max is strongly associated with longer lifespan in two important ways. First, it acts as an indicator of overall health. People who train regularly, eat reasonably well, and maintain good habits tend to have higher VO₂ max values.
Second—and more relevant here—it reflects specific physiological adaptations produced by endurance training. These include increased cardiac stroke volume, lower resting heart rate, improved vascular function, and greater capillary density in muscle tissue.

Those adaptations matter. They improve how efficiently your body moves oxygen and nutrients around the system. And while strength training is incredibly valuable, lifting heavy things alone doesn’t create enough of these adaptations to move the needle. Durability alone isn’t enough if the engine underneath it is underdeveloped.

So you’re saying lifting heavy things isn’t enough?
Correct..
So you’re saying I’ve got to start running?
Not unless you want to..
Fine…so I need to start doing all that Zone 2 stuff everyone talks about?
Not necessarily.

Much of the current conversation around Zone 2 training comes from the world of professional endurance athletes. Those athletes might spend 20–30 hours per week riding, running, or skiing at relatively low intensity to build a massive aerobic base before layering speed and power on top.

Recreational athletes and their coaches understandably copy that model on a smaller scale.
But for people with limited time and normal lives, emerging research suggests the model is often backwards.

Instead of “earning your speed” through extended base work, most people benefit more from earning their Zone 2 by maximizing what interval training can do first.

And just so we’re all talking about the same thing, Zone 2 is the range between 65%-80% of your max heart rate. At the low end, it feels pretty easy, and at the high end, you’re breathing, but not dying. And no 220-minus-your-age is not a good way to determine your max HR, but even more accurate formulas can still be 10-12 bpm off in either direction. There are ways we can test it…none are enjoyable…but I digress…

Short, hard intervals—lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to about 5 minutes, repeated with incomplete recovery—are some of the most efficient ways to improve cardio-respiratory capacity. They stimulate large improvements in VO₂ max and aerobic power in far less time.
In other words, short, sharp work produces big adaptations.

That’s exactly what Axistence Conditioning is designed to do.These sessions look a little different from our typical group classes.

You’ll start with a brief warm-up (about 9 minutes) to wake up the energy systems and practice some movements. Then you’ll move into 35–40 minutes of structured conditioning built around time-tested interval frameworks like:

• 20/40s
• 2 minutes on / 1 minute off
• Sprint and hold
• Shovels
• 4x4’s

We’ll pair those structures with familiar movements from our regular classes—and occasionally introduce a few new ones to keep things interesting.

We’ll wrap up with some mobility and range-of-motion work before sending you back out into the world.

What does this actually do for you?If you like data and potentially living longer, you’ll likely see:

• Higher VO₂ max
• Lower resting heart rate
• Lower blood pressure
• An easier time maintaining a caloric deficit (if that’s a goal)

If you care more about what happens outside the gym and living a high octane life, you may notice:

• Greater time to exhaustion
• More energy at the end of long hikes or ski days
• A little extra punch when the day runs long

And if your primary goal is simply beating the other members in class, you’ll notice:

• Faster recovery between lifts
• More rounds during conditioning pieces
• Maybe even finishing Murph with something left in the tank

Strength will always be a cornerstone of what we do here—and it should be. Strong muscles, joints, and bones make you durable and capable for decades. But durability alone isn’t enough. A truly capable body also needs an engine that can deliver oxygen, move blood, and sustain effort when life—or a workout—demands it. Conditioning builds that engine. Strength and endurance together create a more complete athlete—and a healthier version of yourself.

Now…should we talk about those tight hips and shoulders?

Links
VO2 max and Longevity
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30139444/
https://thelongevityindex.org/foundations/exercise?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfVBzpnU2BA&t=2s
https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2025/07/02/15/19/the-relationship-between-exercise-and-longevity?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Skeletal muscle and cognitive health
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41277875/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39286235/

If we’re really being honest (which we are), EVERYONE could use more conditioning. Because of this we’ve decided to add not one but TWO conditioning specific classes to the Axistence schedule.
Rooted in science and experience, and optimized for our students and their goals we HIGHLY encourage ALL of our students to incorporate at least one of these sessions into their current program.

If you do follow the program, here’s what you should expect within the next 8 weeks:

• Decreased resting heart rate
• Decrease in resting blood pressure
• Increase in mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell!)
• Increase in feel-good chemicals (endorphins)
• Increase in recovery (between sets and workouts)
• Increase in calories burned (for those of you looking for such things)

Here’s an example of our first conditioning session:

5 Rounds of the following:

:20 Seconds of work
:40 Seconds of rest

Followed by a 3 minute active rest. After the 3 minutes, repeat the 5 rounds 4 more times. Not including the warm-up and cool-down the bulk of the session should last 29 minutes.

The “work” to be done is up to the student. Personally I stayed with the kettlebell swing but you could use the rower, step-ups, or even burpees (If you’re into that sort of thing).

Example -
0:00 - 0:20 Kettlebell swings
0:20 -1:00 Rest
1:00- 1:20 Kettlebell swings
1:20 - 2:00 Rest
2:00 - 2:20 Kettlebell swings
2:20 - 3:00 Rest
4:00 - 4:20 Kettlebell swings
4:20 - 8:00 Active Rest (walking, light rowing, fast & loose, etc.)

Not including the warmup or cool-down, this session will take 29 minutes total.

If you’ve been thinking about bumping up your conditioning, or you’d just curious about what we’re cooking up, we HIGHLY encourage you to check out one of these new sessions!
​

Georges Hebert, a pioneer of functional fitness and the ethic of preparing for "The Unknown and the Unknowable", articulated a powerful mantra "Be strong to be helpful." This principle arose
from his time as an officer in the French Navy.

While stationed near Martinique, a volcanic eruption devastated the town of St. Pierre. During the rescue effort, there was a stark difference
in people's abilities to aid others—some were robust and ready, while others were woefully unprepared. Many were saved, many more died. This experience led Hebert to devote his life to ensuring that, in times of crisis, more people would fall into the capable category.
​
Hebert's aim wasn't about looking good or becoming an elite athlete. It was about being capable—ready to serve, respond, and save lives in a volatile world. Today, we live in an era of unprecedented peace and stability compared to the hardships of Hebert’s time, which included world wars, global depression, and widespread famine. While some modern fitness trends may claim to be preparing for apocalyptic scenarios, the truth is, you don’t want to live in the world Hebert was responding to.

 In our abundant world, strength is often measured by the things we say "yes" to—adventures, challenges, and opportunities. But true strength is equally measured by what we can say "no" to: no to unhealthy food, because we know how to nourish ourselves; no to morally compromised jobs, because we have options; no to unnecessary conflict, not out of fear, but because we could win and still choose not to engage.

Strength is ESSENTIAL for goodness. It gives you the power to choose. And to make meaningful choices, you must be capable. The more power, skill, and knowledge you possess, the more consequential your choices become. But if you're merely hoarding strength to protect yourself from a broken world, what kind of choice is that? This mindset assumes inevitable scarcity and arises from cowardice. It shirks the responsibility we all share as capable human beings to advance truth, beauty, and compassion. To be good, you must be strong. Not just physically, but mentally, and emotionally. A person cannot be virtuous out of fear or lack. Refusing to act from a place of inadequacy isn’t restraint; it’s an excuse. The refusal to bully, to exert dominance, is meaningful only when it comes from an unused capacity for violence. None of this is possible without cultivating an abundance of strength.

This strength must be developed across many domains. A robust vocabulary, quick wit, and deep intellectual fluency are vital forms of strength. But the most immediate and fundamental domain is the physical. Our language reflects this—words like "robust," "quick," and "deep"; all have physical roots (there’s another one). We are physical beings enfolded in the world, and at the end of the day, all our choices manifest through the body.

The physical domain is also the one we will ultimately return to. Whatever else happens, this world begins and ends in length, breadth, and depth. It is an active, alive, and often
unpredictable world. We must prepare ourselves for this activity. Not for an apocalypse, but to prevent it. As we grow stronger, more skilled, and more courageous, so does our ability to do good.

This is why we train. We move heavy things, walk up hills, learn to cook and tell jokes. We breathe fresh air, sleep, and read. We learn to argue, and even wrestle—not to dominate others, but to distinguish between pain and discomfort, threat and challenge. If we can’t discern fear from arousal, how can we respond appropriately? How can we be virtuous without the strength to choose otherwise?

Training sharpens these perceptions. Setting out to move something you’re unsure you can lift or covering a distance you’re not certain you can reach teaches you more than just physical strength. It builds the capacity for choice. With every act of strength, every deliberate decision to do good, we turn the world towards the good.

Ultimately, we don’t train just to prepare for disaster; we train to build a world where disaster is less likely to occur. Our strength allows us to say “no” to what harms us and “yes” to what helps.

It enables us to act with courtesy, empathy, and compassion—not from a place of fear, but because we choose to be good. The more we make this choice, the more the world aligns toward the good. And the more the world is characterized by this alignment, the harder we’ll fight to keep it there.

It seems reasonable when you think about it.
Just try not to die for as long as you can.

“Woohoo, I made it to 100!”
There are whole industries built around this one topic.
“20 min of Exercise, 3 times a week helps to reduce the risk of heart disease.”
“Try this anti-aging routine!”
“Try these brain games, so you don’t lose your mental acuity.”

Even biohacking in the quest for “Longevity”, is really just prolonging death in disguise.
“Do this simple trick to add years to your life.”
“Sacrifice now, so you can have more days on this planet!”

So that you can do, what exactly?
Sit in the stress and anxiety of your job, or kids, or how it seems like the world is falling apart?
Wallow in the depression around how hard and unfair life is?

Endlessly scroll through social media while you listen to people way younger than you, tell you how you need to be in order to be successful and happy? All while they’re the ones stressing out that this video didn’t get as many views as their last video?

What if we shifted our focus?
What if instead of focusing on “not dying”, we focused on “living”?
Is there something stopping you from that?
Is it because the concept is a bit too nebulous?
What does it mean to live fully? To live an active existence?
What does that look like for you? 
What if you took 5 minutes out of your already over-scheduled day to think about that?

For me, what I’ve found over the last 41 years of living on this planet, the difference between an active versus a passive existence, is engagement. 
Be actively engaged with life, not the passive receiver of circumstance.
More specifically, engage with these 5 areas:
           - Mind
           - Body
           - Spirit (community & purpose)
           - Skill Acquisition
           - Adventure (growth through living outside of your comfort zone).

Use your mind.
Use your body.
Tap into your spirit.
Learn something new.
Grow.
Get uncomfortable so you can transform.

Engaging regularly with these 5 elements, can bring an immense sense of fulfillment.
I find, when I’m focused on these areas, I spend more time with family.
I travel more, and acquire more memories & experiences that help me to see the world in new ways.
When I do this, I feel my days being injected with life, with vitality, with fulfillment.
This practice has added life to my years, instead of just adding years to my life. 

Live this way for a week. See what happens.
You’ll most likely feel the richness of life start to pour in.

If nothing else, just ask yourself one thing…
Is your goal just to “not die sooner?”
Or is your goal to “live more fully?”