#108 The Best Type of Exercise for Longevity

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Dec 7, 2025

Brady Holmer, an endurance athlete and exercise physiologist, shares eye-opening insights about exercise and longevity. He reveals that just one minute of vigorous exercise can provide the benefits of up to ten minutes of moderate activity. They discuss the limitations of traditional exercise guidelines and the incredible potency of vigorous workouts in reducing mortality and disease risks. Brady also introduces concepts like VILPA—brief, intense movements that can drastically improve health, making it clear that intensity matters more than we thought!

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INSIGHT

Origins Of The 1:2 Rule

The 1:2 vigorous-to-moderate rule is based on calorie burn (METs), not health outcomes.
Rhonda Patrick and Brady Holmer argue health benefits scale differently than energy expenditure.

INSIGHT

Wearables Capture Real-Life Intensity

The Nature Communications study used wrist accelerometers from 73,000 UK Biobank participants.
Devices captured 10-second epochs of movement, including brief unstructured bursts missed by self-report.

INSIGHT

Vigorous Beats Moderate By Much More

Vigorous activity was far more potent than the 1:2 assumption across outcomes.
Ratios ranged ~4x for all-cause, ~7.8x for cardiovascular mortality, and ~9.4x for type 2 diabetes.

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One minute of vigorous exercise may be worth up to ten minutes of "moderate" cardio for extending lifespan and preventing chronic disease. In this Journal Club episode, Rhonda Patrick, PhD and endurance athlete Brady Holmer dissect a new Nature Communications study of more than 70,000 adults showing that vigorous intensity is roughly 4–10x more potent than moderate activity for reducing all-cause mortality, cardiovascular events, type 2 diabetes, and cancer outcomes—far beyond the long-standing 1:2 rule embedded in global exercise guidelines.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction
(07:01) What exactly is the 1:2 rule for exercise intensity?
(08:18) Calorie burn vs. longevity—origins of the 1:2 rule
(11:15) What counts as 'vigorous' exercise, really?
(13:35) Where the exercise guidelines fall short
(14:19) Can your wearable predict disease risk years in advance?
(20:11) Is vigorous activity easier to achieve than people think?
(22:47) How researchers avoided the 'healthy user bias'
(23:59) Health equivalence ratio—a better way to measure exercise benefits?
(25:45) Is vigorous exercise truly 4–10x more effective?
(29:55) Can one vigorous minute match an hour of gentle walking?
(32:02) Why vigorous activity—not gentle—offers dose-dependent benefits
(33:50) Is vigorous exercise 5x better at preventing heart attacks & strokes?
(34:24) Why vigorous activity stands out for cancer prevention
(34:59) Does zone 2 qualify as vigorous exercise?
(36:11) Dose-response comparison—vigorous vs. moderate vs. light activity
(37:22) Is vigorous exercise the secret to younger arteries?
(43:15) Why aging hearts need intensity
(46:09) Can vigorous exercise halt your VO₂ max decline?
(47:26) Why moderate exercise alone might not improve VO₂ max
(49:21) Is vigorous exercise 10x more powerful at preventing diabetes?
(55:48) Mitochondrial biogenesis—why intensity is essential
(58:40) Can you directly measure mitochondrial health?
(1:00:57) Does vigorous exercise kill circulating tumor cells?
(1:07:15) Why vigorous intensity triggers beneficial hormone changes
(1:08:05) Can vigorous activity protect older adults from falls?
(1:12:36) Does vigorous exercise combat inflammation?
(1:14:29) Is high-intensity training the key to a younger brain?
(1:16:01) Is vigorous exercise more powerful than we realized?
(1:17:50) Can the benefits of vigorous exercise fit into a pill?
(1:19:08) How small doses of intensity might extend your lifespan
(1:23:15) Do short bursts of vigorous movement match full workouts?
(1:27:26) Why your wearable might undervalue short vigorous bouts
(1:30:06) Can planned micro-workouts replace traditional gym sessions?
(1:35:10) Why exercise guidelines urgently need updating
(1:46:35) Does light activity still offer real benefits?
(1:49:04) Is vigorous exercise safe for older adults?
(1:53:28) Are high-intensity workouts detrimental to female hormones?
(1:58:02) Safe vigorous exercise options—even with chronic illness
(1:59:05) The 80/20 rule for balancing intensity and recovery
(2:01:30) Inside Brady's routine—how much vigorous exercise is optimal?
(2:05:17) Can vigorous activity boost kids' brainpower (and grades)?
(2:08:14) Are we significantly underestimating vigorous exercise benefits?
(2:10:03) Why chasing steps isn't the answer

Show notes are available by clicking here

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