I had just purchased my first company. I was 28. The owner of the company or I should say the former 50% owner of the company stayed on after the acquisition. The 50% he didn’t own when I bought the firm belonged to his father, the founder of the company.

Not long after I purchased my first real estate company my friend’s father was diagnosed with cancer. He was 86 and reduced to spending most of his days in bed taking all his food through a straw.

One day I asked my friend how his father was fairing. His answer has stuck with me ever since.

“Jason, Dad is alive, but he’s not living.”

How many people have we seen nearing the end of their life’s journey alive but not living? I know I’ve seen several just in my own family. So how can we do better?

Well, here’s a cool little secret. I can’t give you a recipe for a potion to guarantee you live 5X longer. I’ve done the research, and it turns out that swimming pool in the movie Cocoon isn’t real. But I can give you a prescription to reduce your likelihood of mortality by a factor of 5X.

I covered this in an episode of The Jason Wright Show “Best Friday Ever.”

I’m not just talking about reducing your likelihood of dying from cancer or heart disease either. I’m talking about ANY form of mortality.

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor nor do I play one on TV. I am however obsessed with longevity and being able to live longer not just being alive.

So here it comes. This may be the only reason you even read this article. Are you ready? Ok. Here goes.

Exercise. Thank you. Mic drop. You’ve been a wonderful audience. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Vitruvian Letter and listen to The Jason Wright Show.

Ok. So there’s a little more to it than that. It’s not just about exercising but actually reaching a certain level of cardiovascular health that can be achieved from regular physical training.

So let’s say 5X is the maximum. Well, what if we decided to reach the top 2% cardiovascular health might be a bit out of our purview. Wouldn’t it be worth trying for the 2X range? Think about this. I’m telling you there is a way to give yourself a 2 times chance of not dying for any reason.

There is not pill, no supplement, no ancient meditation that can give you this hedge. So what should you be doing? Here is the formula for overall longevity and both long-term physical and mental health.

The 4 components of exercise:

  1 Stability (the foundation)

Perform exercises that cause you to use balance. One of my favorites has become the ancestral squat. I suggest starting to do this at as young of an age as possible because it’s only going to get more difficult.

Don’t overthink it. If balance is something you’ve neglected for years start by looking directly at a wall and lifting one foot off the ground. Hold the pose on one leg for a sixty second count. Now stand on the other leg. The key is to just start forcing yourself to balance.

The older we get the harder balance is to maintain and yet it’s of utmost importance in reducing the likelihood of falls.

  2 Strength

I had all but put away strength training. Before I dived headlong into health and wellness I thought as long as I was maintaining proper cardio health I was golden. I was wrong.

It turns out after many conversations on my podcast, research and personal experience resistance/strength training is key to longevity. As we age our bones become more brittle. The ONLY way to strengthen bone density and health is through resistance training.

This does not mean you need to go to a gym and max out every week. The key is to push yourself just beyond your comfort zone. Then the key is rest. Allow for proper recovery.

Of all the strength exercises you can do, squats, deadlifts, overhead dumbbell presses seem to be the best. Maintaining lower body strength is paramount. Notice how hard it is for elderly people to get up and down out of chairs to prove my case.

  3 Zone 2 aerobic training

Zone 2 training has become more prevalent of late. Essentially Zone 2 training is finding your “sweet spot” and maintaining it for longer periods of time. You want to learn your heart rate maximum. Then you want to find the level of training on a stationary bike or something you can keep at a constant level for a long period. The key is to push longer harder without increasing your heart rate beyond a level 2.

What happens is you increase your heart rate variability. What is zone 3 today will eventually become zone 2. You will be able to push out more watts with less stress on the heart because over time you increase your heart’s capacity to optimize oxygen.

  4 Zone 5 (high intensity, e.g., HIIT)

I personally think this is the money move. All sorts of research has show the efficiency and benefit of HIIT training. It’s simple, it’s efficient and it’s effective. When people tell me they don’t have time to train, internally I’m rolling my eyes.

If you do no more than two minutes of burpees 3-4 times per week you will check this box. Don’t think two minutes will do anything for you? Try it and check in with me around the 40 second mark when you still have a minute twenty to go.

For so long exercise and fitness was considered a luxury or simply for vanity. This mindset must change. Regular training and fitness should be looked at as a prescription drug. If you are on blood pressure medicine, you wouldn’t skip your pill. Well, don’t skip your exercise.

This will not only reduce your chances of dying all together, it will ensure while you’re here you have a happier and more productive life. Don’t let being alive be enough. Choose to live!