Dr. Vonda Wright

Number two, if you have been so busy with your career and stepped away from any semblance of mobility and resistance training, now is the time. Because had I known then what I know now, when I was 40, I was training for triathlons. I was an aerobic athlete, right? I ran, I biked.

Number two, if you have been so busy with your career and stepped away from any semblance of mobility and resistance training, now is the time. Because had I known then what I know now, when I was 40, I was training for triathlons. I was an aerobic athlete, right? I ran, I biked.

But what I would have done then with what I know now is I would have been lifting a lot of weight to build maximum muscle while I still had the most hormones to start at a better place. Because you can build muscle, but it's better to start from a higher average. So get some labs, make a relationship with a doctor, get all your preventive screening. Do not blow that off.

But what I would have done then with what I know now is I would have been lifting a lot of weight to build maximum muscle while I still had the most hormones to start at a better place. Because you can build muscle, but it's better to start from a higher average. So get some labs, make a relationship with a doctor, get all your preventive screening. Do not blow that off.

Develop the habits that are going to carry you through a lifetime, whether it's smart anti-inflammatory nutrition, whether it's getting into a resistance training program, building up your cardiac machine. I saw that you were running a lot now and we want the highest possible VO2 max that we can as we enter into midlife because we never want as we age to cross something called the fragility line.

Develop the habits that are going to carry you through a lifetime, whether it's smart anti-inflammatory nutrition, whether it's getting into a resistance training program, building up your cardiac machine. I saw that you were running a lot now and we want the highest possible VO2 max that we can as we enter into midlife because we never want as we age to cross something called the fragility line.

So VO2 max is the measure of, it's the ultimate measure of fitness. How much oxygen you are capable of pulling out of the air and diffusing across your lungs into your blood. World-class athletes. I was just at the U.S. Olympic Center in Park City, Utah. Those athletes have a VO2 max of 75, 80, sometimes 90, right?

So VO2 max is the measure of, it's the ultimate measure of fitness. How much oxygen you are capable of pulling out of the air and diffusing across your lungs into your blood. World-class athletes. I was just at the U.S. Olympic Center in Park City, Utah. Those athletes have a VO2 max of 75, 80, sometimes 90, right?

Mere mortals are considered excellent when they have a VO2 max of around 50 for women, around 50. So... You can build VO2 max and should in the critical decade because once we hit midlife, we will decline 10% a decade if we don't consistently build it up. So what does that look like? So if I started at 50, 50 years old, my last VO2 max was when I was 50. And it was 50.

Mere mortals are considered excellent when they have a VO2 max of around 50 for women, around 50. So... You can build VO2 max and should in the critical decade because once we hit midlife, we will decline 10% a decade if we don't consistently build it up. So what does that look like? So if I started at 50, 50 years old, my last VO2 max was when I was 50. And it was 50.

It was pretty good because I was an endurance person, right? Just in whole numbers, by the time I turn 60, it's going to be 45, 70, 40. 80, 35. I never, ever, ever want to hit 18 if I'm a man or 16 if I'm a woman, because that is the level of VO2 max when we can't get up from a chair by ourselves, when we can't walk across the room, because that takes cardiac function.

It was pretty good because I was an endurance person, right? Just in whole numbers, by the time I turn 60, it's going to be 45, 70, 40. 80, 35. I never, ever, ever want to hit 18 if I'm a man or 16 if I'm a woman, because that is the level of VO2 max when we can't get up from a chair by ourselves, when we can't walk across the room, because that takes cardiac function.

And so the higher we get our VO2 max in our youth, the more runway we have, even if we don't continue to build it up.

And so the higher we get our VO2 max in our youth, the more runway we have, even if we don't continue to build it up.

That's right.

That's right.

Yes. Osteoporosis is the word we use to describe low bone density.

Yes. Osteoporosis is the word we use to describe low bone density.

So the way we measure osteoporosis is using an x-ray called a DEXA scan, a dual x-ray. And it just measures, it compares your bone density to that of a 30-year-old healthy person. And it gives us something called a T-score. So it's like when you're in school and you're graded on a bell curve and the center of the curve is average, and that's the average for a 30-year-old.

So the way we measure osteoporosis is using an x-ray called a DEXA scan, a dual x-ray. And it just measures, it compares your bone density to that of a 30-year-old healthy person. And it gives us something called a T-score. So it's like when you're in school and you're graded on a bell curve and the center of the curve is average, and that's the average for a 30-year-old.