The High Performance Journal Written By Dan Go - February 24th, 2025

A friend of mine told me something about longevity that many people have stated on social media:

He doesn't care about living to 100.

And I told him that is the WRONG way to think about it.

Most people picture longevity in terms of quantity. They're asking how many years I can rack up, but that's not actually what's at stake.

What nobody talks about is how the last 10 to 20 years of life can be quietly taken away from you.

I talked about this in my ​last newsletter​, that on vacation I lived in a condo complex where most people were in their 60s and 70s.

They were also overweight, frail, and needed walking canes. One guy almost fell down a flight of stairs, and if he had, I'm pretty sure his life would have been done for.

I talked to one gentleman who couldn't bend down to pick up their grandkids. Another lady who couldn't drive anymore.

Something I wish more people knew is that these simple joys in life can get taken away from you if you don't do the right things.

The real threat is not death but a long, diminished quality of life.

So the question worth asking is not "How do I live longer?" It's "How do I make sure I maintain a high quality of life for the rest of my life?"

That's why I want to share with you The Longevity Olympics.

These are 8 events, but they're not a competition against anyone else. It's a competition against yourself.

Go through each one, be honest, and find the event you'd fail today and start there.

Event 1: Being Metabolically Healthy

Targets:

• Waist to Hip Ratio: Under .5
• Fasting Glucose: Under 100 mg/dL
• HbA1c: At or below 5.6
• FFMI: Men: above 19, Women: above 16

The problem with this one is that no one knows where they stand.

Nearly 88% of American adults have at least one marker of poor ​metabolic health​.

The waist-to-height ratio is one of the most underrated measurements in health, and it's simple: Your waist circumference should be less than half your height. Anything above .5 is the danger zone.

Research consistently shows it outperforms BMI as a predictor of metabolic disease, cardiovascular risk, and visceral fat load.

The ​visceral fat packed around your organs​, your blood sugar trends, and your inflammatory load are red flags ruining your health years before you feel them.

A ​low FFMI​ tells you there's not enough muscle to protect your metabolism and keep you functional as you age. This is the event that determines everything else.

But fear not. Next week, I'm sharing the protocol we're using with clients right now to get their bodies in shape for summer. We're talking 20 pounds or more gone before the season starts. Keep an eye out for that one.

Event 2: Sit-To-Stand Power Test

Target: From a chair, stand up and sit back down 5 times in under 12 seconds. No hands.

This isn't just a fitness test. Researchers use this exact movement to measure lower-body power, fall risk, and functional independence in aging adults.

The speed is what matters here, not just the ability to do it. Power, the ability to generate force quickly, declines faster with age than strength does.

A slow sit-to-stand tells you your legs are losing the explosive capacity they need to keep you upright and independent. Most people in their 40s assume they'll pass this easily. Try it with a timer before you decide.

Event 3: Loaded Ruck Walk

Image courtesy of Goruck.com

Target: Walk 1 mile with 20 to 25% of your bodyweight on your back in under 20 minutes, breathing through your nose the entire time.

Most people ​can walk a mile​. Almost nobody thinks to test what happens when you add load.

Rucking, walking with a weighted pack, is one of the most honest assessments of real-world physical capacity there is.

It trains your cardiovascular system, your hips and legs, your trunk stability, and your bones all at once. The nasal breathing standard is the key piece.

If you have to open your mouth to keep the pace, you've exceeded zone 2, and your aerobic base isn't where it needs to be.

This is the test that most closely mirrors what life actually demands. Carrying a backpack through an airport. Hiking with your kids. Moving through the world under load without falling apart.

Event 4: Push-Up Test

Target: 20 consecutive push-ups for men. 10 for women.

A 2019 Harvard study found that men who could complete 40 or more push-ups had dramatically lower cardiovascular risk than those who could barely manage 10.

The push-up tests upper body endurance over raw strength, which is more relevant to how the body actually ages. No equipment, no excuses. Drop and find out where you are.

Event 5: Grip Strength

Target: 60-second dead hang from a bar.

Grip strength is one of the most consistent predictors of all-cause mortality in the research. It sounds strange until you think about what grip actually represents.

The ability to carry things, catch yourself, hold on, and pull yourself up. When your grip goes, your independence tends to follow.

If you can hang from a bar for 60 seconds, you have functional upper body strength worth protecting.

Event 6: Cardiovascular Capacity

Target: VO2max above 40 ml/kg/min or 9:00–9:30 minutes mile or 9–11 minute 3-mile cycle. Resting heart rate below 60 bpm.

​VO2max is your body's ability to use oxygen​, and it's one of the strongest predictors of how long and how well you live.

Above 40 is meaningful. Above 50 is excellent. The practical test: walk up three flights of stairs and hold a conversation at the top.

If you're winded, your cardiovascular system is aging faster than you are. Resting heart rate below 60 signals good vagal tone, strong heart output, and genuine fitness, not just activity.

Both numbers improve with consistent zone 2 cardio done two to three times a week and a HIIT session once a week.

Event 7: Balance

Target: Single-leg stand, eyes closed, 30 seconds.

This one surprises people. A 2023 study found that adults who couldn't hold a 10-second single-leg stand had nearly double the mortality risk over the following 7 years.

Balance is a neurological skill. If you don't train it, you lose it. And the fall risk it protects against isn't just inconvenient.

For people over 65, a serious fall is often the beginning of a very different kind of life. Try it right now. Stand on one leg, close your eyes, and start counting.

Event 8: Mobility

Target: Sit-rise test score of 8 or higher out of 10.

Stand up, lower yourself to the floor cross-legged without using your hands or knees, then stand back up the same way.

Each time you use a hand, a knee, or a brace against something, subtract a point from 10.

A 2025 study in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology tracked 4,282 people over 12 years and found that those who scored between 0 and 4 were roughly 5 to 6 times more likely to die during that period than high scorers.

This tests hip mobility, flexibility, balance, and motor control all at once. Most people in their 40s discover they've been quietly losing this for years.

Be Honest...Can You Do All Of These?

Here's what I want you to sit with:

You don't need a perfect score. Nobody starts there.

But you need to know your score. Because you cannot fix what you refuse to measure.

The people who age poorly don't make one catastrophic decision. They stay busy, stay successful, and quietly lose ground in all the places that matter when they're 75 and trying to stay on their feet.

The Longevity Olympics isn't about being an athlete. It's about staying in the game long enough to enjoy what you've built.

Go through the list. Find the event you'd fail today. Start there.

Onward and upward. 🚀

- Dan

When you're ready, here are 2 ways I can help:

1. The Lean Body 90 System: When you’re ready to get in great shape, Lean Body 90 is the obvious choice. You can get in great shape and reach your fitness goals in just 90 minutes a week. Lose weight and build muscle even without hours in the gym or highly restrictive diets. Join 1000+ students here.

2. Are you an entrepreneur who wants to get lean, boost energy, and get in your best shape? Apply for private one-on-one coaching here.

References

• Araújo CG, et al. "Successful 10-second one-legged stance performance predicts survival in middle-aged and older individuals." British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2022.
• Araújo CG, et al. "Ability to sit and rise from the floor as a predictor of all-cause mortality." European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 2025.
• Blaha MJ, et al. "Association between cardiorespiratory fitness and long-term mortality among adults undergoing exercise treadmill testing." Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2022.
• Lopéz-Bueno R, et al. "Associations of handgrip strength with all-cause and cancer mortality in older adults: a prospective cohort study in 28 countries." Age and Ageing, 2022.
• Lu Y, et al. "Associations of handgrip strength with morbidity and all-cause mortality of cardiometabolic multimorbidity." BMC Medicine, 2022.
• Mendes TB, et al. "Waist-to-height ratio outperforms BMI in predicting heart disease risk." Journal of the American Heart Association, 2024.
• Narasimhan S, et al. "Diagnostic accuracy of waist-to-height ratio, waist circumference, and BMI in identifying metabolic syndrome in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis." American Journal of Medicine, 2023.
• Araújo J, Cai J, Stevens J. "Prevalence of optimal metabolic health in American adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009–2016." Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, 2019.
• Webber L, et al. "Only 6.8% of American adults have optimal cardiometabolic health." Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2022.
• Yang J, et al. "Association between push-up exercise capacity and future cardiovascular events among active adult men." JAMA Network Open, 2019.
  
  

Disclaimer: This email is provided for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. The information provided should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, and those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician.