What is Longevity?
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Here at Pure Joy Wellness, we’re calling 2025 “The Year of Longevity” – and for good reason!
The majority of conversations about aging revolve around “chasing youth” or “surviving” (not thriving), and we want to shift the focus away from all that. That’s why we chose longevity as our word of the year, because it’s more about creating a life that makes us feel good – in short, living better, for longer.
But what does longevity really mean?
The way I see it, longevity means living a longer and healthier life. It refers to how long we live, and how healthy we are in our third act. Longevity ignores the superficial parts of aging – looking younger, thinner, taller, or smaller – instead, it goes deeper than that.
Embracing longevity is about enriching your later life with vitality, purpose, and joy. It’s about supporting our present and future selves with our choices, and making this chapter of our lives the best one yet.
While genetics can play a role in our life expectancy, there are so many ways that we can add years to our lives – and more than that, add quality to the quantity. For instance, lifestyle habits like regular exercise, a healthy diet, stress management, and social connections can all contribute to a longer lifespan.
Other measures for how healthfully we’re aging include:
Maximal oxygen uptake (or VO2max) – the higher it is, the more effectively your heart and lungs can move oxygen around your body
Grip strength – how much force you can generate when you grip something; the stronger your grip, the lower your disease risk, studies show!
Leg strength – necessary for maintaining mobility, balance, and independence as we age
Balance – also important for mobility and preventing falls
Muscle mass – you can lower your disease risk and improve your metabolism with more muscle mass!
Muscular power – how quickly you can generate force
Many of these factors can be tested at home, at the doctor’s office, or in a gym or health-focused facility. And in terms of how to improve these predictors of longevity, here’s where I would start…
1. Increase your aerobic physical activity
Ideally, you should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week – which can look like 30 minutes, five days a week. If you’re more into high intensity workouts, you can aim for 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise per week.
The best news is that you can fulfill this with a variety of exercises – including walking, running, cycling, swimming, and rowing. That’s why I designed the Walking Challenge as I did – the 30 minutes of walking we do for 30 days puts you in a great spot aerobically!
2. Start strength training!
Strength training is crucial for improving grip strength, leg strength, and muscle mass. You should aim for at least two to three strength training sessions per week – including exercises that target the lower body (such as squats, hip thrusts, and calf raises), the upper body (such as push ups, shoulder presses, and rows), and exercises that challenge your grip (such as deadlifts, chin ups, and farmers carries).
P.S. If you don’t know where to start with this, join the Pure Joy Squad to access Jeanieve’s library of bodyweight pilates strength workouts!
3. Engage in balance training every day
Balance training is vastly underrated – and it’s so, so important! Training our balance can mean taking a yoga, pilates, or tai chi class, but it can also mean turning on your favorite song and balancing on one foot for as long as you can, and then switching. Whenever I’m standing in a line or waiting for something to cook, I like to practice my balance. Hands on your hips, pick up one foot, and see how long you can hold it before switching. Make sure to stand by a table or chair to support you if you need it.
4. Try to add jumping into your routine
Jumping rope, anyone? It’s my favorite activity from childhood! Working in plyometric exercises or forms of exercise that include jumping will help increase your muscular power. These can take some time to work up to, so I recommend trying to jump rope as a starting point.
5. Focus on your diet
Eating a diet that’s high in nutrition is perhaps the most important advice I could give you for longevity. Specifically, eating a diet that is high in protein and high in fiber is absolutely essential. (That means aiming for 90 to 100 grams of protein per day and 25 to 35 grams of fiber.) This will help keep your blood sugar levels stable (increasing satiety) and keep your digestion moving smoothly.
Now that you have some of the info that you need, it’s time to set an intention and make a promise to yourself. How do you want this year to turn out? A year from now, where do you want to be with your health? Do you want to be where you are now, or do you want to move forward – onward and upward? Do you want to reclaim your health and feel at home in your body? You can do it, and I can help!
My Pure Joy Wellness 3-Day Health Reset starts tomorrow, and if you want to make progress on your health goals this year, I invite you to sign up now! In three Zoom meetings with me, you’ll learn exactly what you need to do to improve your longevity and change your life this year. Trust me, this Reset can’t be missed.
Click here to sign up now! Let’s do this!!
Xo,
Renata