Dr. Peter Attia

And the only way you can measure that again is to have this mask with very, very fancy apparatus that measures both of those things I said, and you have to be stressed hard. So we typically do this on a treadmill or on a bike. So your colleagues that came into 10 Squared yesterday, they did it on treadmills. They ran.

And the only way you can measure that again is to have this mask with very, very fancy apparatus that measures both of those things I said, and you have to be stressed hard. So we typically do this on a treadmill or on a bike. So your colleagues that came into 10 Squared yesterday, they did it on treadmills. They ran.

And they ran them and ran them and they ran them until they couldn't go any faster. And then we measured how many liters per minute of oxygen they were consuming. Now, that answers what VO2 max is. So the next question is, Does this matter?

And they ran them and ran them and they ran them until they couldn't go any faster. And then we measured how many liters per minute of oxygen they were consuming. Now, that answers what VO2 max is. So the next question is, Does this matter?

Well, the short answer is we don't have a single metric of humans that we can measure that better predicts how long they will live than how high their VO2 max is. And it's not even close, to be completely clear. So if you compare somebody who is in the top 2% to someone who is in the bottom 25% for their age,

Well, the short answer is we don't have a single metric of humans that we can measure that better predicts how long they will live than how high their VO2 max is. And it's not even close, to be completely clear. So if you compare somebody who is in the top 2% to someone who is in the bottom 25% for their age,

The difference in mortality is 5x 500% Yes, 400% technically because with hazard ratios you you you go To to a 2x hazard ratio is 100% I guess yeah So let's look at you. So yes, see you've pulled this chart out, which is one of my favorite charts. Okay, so you oh By the way, there's one other thing I should state we normalize this by weight

The difference in mortality is 5x 500% Yes, 400% technically because with hazard ratios you you you go To to a 2x hazard ratio is 100% I guess yeah So let's look at you. So yes, see you've pulled this chart out, which is one of my favorite charts. Okay, so you oh By the way, there's one other thing I should state we normalize this by weight

Okay. So we always divide that number of liters per minute by how many kilograms you are. So the number is actually reported as milliliters per kilogram per minute.

Okay. So we always divide that number of liters per minute by how many kilograms you are. So the number is actually reported as milliliters per kilogram per minute.

Okay. All right. So if we look at somebody who is your age, male, 30 to 39... If their VO2 max is below 35 milliliters per kilogram per minute, they are in the bottom 25%. Conversely, if they are at 53 milliliters per kilogram per minute, they are in the top 2.5%.

Okay. All right. So if we look at somebody who is your age, male, 30 to 39... If their VO2 max is below 35 milliliters per kilogram per minute, they are in the bottom 25%. Conversely, if they are at 53 milliliters per kilogram per minute, they are in the top 2.5%.

So to be clear, if you take a 35-year-old man, and one of them has a VO2 max of 53, and the other one has a VO2 max of 35, there is a 400% difference in their all-cause mortality over the coming year.

So to be clear, if you take a 35-year-old man, and one of them has a VO2 max of 53, and the other one has a VO2 max of 35, there is a 400% difference in their all-cause mortality over the coming year.

That's right. Now, this becomes more and more profound as you age, because the all-cause mortality ratio for a 35-year-old is incredibly low. It's like 1%. So that means you're comparing 1% to 4%. It's not that big a deal. But when you get up to my age, so I'm two decades older than you. So now the low bar, the bottom quartile, is less than 29. The high bar is more than 50.

That's right. Now, this becomes more and more profound as you age, because the all-cause mortality ratio for a 35-year-old is incredibly low. It's like 1%. So that means you're comparing 1% to 4%. It's not that big a deal. But when you get up to my age, so I'm two decades older than you. So now the low bar, the bottom quartile, is less than 29. The high bar is more than 50.

Well, my relative mortality in the next decade is probably 2% to 3%. So now multiply that by four. Okay. When I get into my marginal decade, the low bar is 18. The high bar is 36. That's a 2x difference in VO2 max. A 4x difference in mortality is huge when the all-cause mortality for an 85-year-old is going to be the one-year mortality for that person is more than 10%. Yeah.

Well, my relative mortality in the next decade is probably 2% to 3%. So now multiply that by four. Okay. When I get into my marginal decade, the low bar is 18. The high bar is 36. That's a 2x difference in VO2 max. A 4x difference in mortality is huge when the all-cause mortality for an 85-year-old is going to be the one-year mortality for that person is more than 10%. Yeah.

So one of the things that we do is we sort of think through this, not just through the lens of mortality, which is what I just walked you through here, but also healthspan, which is kind of what you were talking about earlier with the graph of strength and disability. So we have another figure that we show people that on the x-axis shows age, and on the y-axis shows VO2.

So one of the things that we do is we sort of think through this, not just through the lens of mortality, which is what I just walked you through here, but also healthspan, which is kind of what you were talking about earlier with the graph of strength and disability. So we have another figure that we show people that on the x-axis shows age, and on the y-axis shows VO2.