Centenarian Olympics Training: 15 Exercises to Live to 110+ (Minimum Viable Fitness)

You’ve made it well into retirement. You have all the time in the world to do what you please. The only problem? Age is claiming you. Walking now requires conscious effort, and a wheelchair is just down the line.

What use is living to old age without self-sufficiency?

This entire process could have been significantly delayed by improving your healthspan (the quality of your final years).

Instead of accepting the inevitability of physical deterioration, you can take a stand. Enjoy more of your time as a wise sage. It all starts today.

Dr. Peter Attia first described his unusual training goal in a 2019 podcast. He coined his training style the “Centenarian Olympics”. Peter’s reverse-engineered fitness regime prioritizes the long-term. Below I’ll discuss my top simple Centenarian Olympics (CO) workout type and specific exercises that I plan to train for decades.

Minimum Viable Fitness

Hate big, long traditional gym workouts? Daily kettlebell training too much? Not into fitness hacks like BFRT?

Centenarian Olympics Training (COT) is a minimal time investment for a great payoff.

Peter Attia describes the idea in one of his Ask Me Anything podcast episodes here:

https://peterattiamd.com/ama05/

In 2022, he elaborated on the idea:

He wants to excel at everyday movements like:

• Getting off the floor.
• Climbing out of a pool.
• Lifting kids off the ground.
• Carrying groceries up and down flights of stairs.
• Helping fellow passengers lift their carry-ons into the overhead bin.

To keep the body and mind young and supple, my long-term fitness routine includes three types of unique movements:

• Mobility
• Power
• Strength

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Nailing Your Mindset

Hundreds of books have emphasized the role of mindset. These books exist and receive high marks because their wisdom makes a difference. One of which, Becoming Supernatural, I reviewed on this site.

To stick with training when the novelty wears off, you’ll need a rock-solid reason to train for the Centenarian Olympics.

• Maybe it’s to be fully capable throughout your grandkids’ childhoods.
• Or to be the cool grandpa busting out one-arm pushups—Grandpa Urban’s top party trick.
• Or to simply live self-sufficient.

Whatever your reason, strengthen it.

Centenarian Olympics Exercises for Mobility

Mobility isn’t flexibility. Nor is it stretching. Mobility is the ability to apply force throughout a wide range of motion. Virtually all desk workers should spend time working on mobility.

It’s like “functional strength”. Train it with unique range-of-motion exercises:

• Bear crawls
• Crab walks
• Duck walks
• Deep squats
• Ankle slides
• Climbing stairs

Metrics I’ll use to evaluate mobility:

• Ability to sit and stand without using my hands
• Ability to perform a full squat
• Ability to walk on a 2×4

While it goes hand-in-hand with the other core components of fitness, I find it most important. What good is muscle if it’s only used to lift and drop weights?

A few minutes per day works wonders.

Centenarian Olympics Exercises for Power

Explosive movements are exactly as the name implies — quick. They’re traditionally the domain of powerlifters. But power training benefits everyone:

• Improves insulin sensitivity (reducing blood sugar fluctuations so that you store less fat)
• Increases lean muscle mass
• Encourages neural growth

Exercises to train power:

• Skipping
• Jumping from one leg to another
• Jumping on top of ledges (or boxes)
• Clap pushups
• Sled or car pushes

Metrics I’ll use to evaluate power:

• Ability to perform a clap pushup
• Ability to skip
• Ability to push car when broken down (ambitious at age 100+)

Centenarian Olympics Exercises for Strength

In my top longevity biomarkers article, strength ranks high. Few metrics correlate as well with old age. Meaning that the stronger you are, the greater likelihood you’ll live a (long) quality life.

After age 65, lower body strength is estimated to drop 1-2% per year. With some deliberate planning and training, you can continue building strength until your final years.

Exercises to train strength:

• Sprinting (here is a guide on sprinting, its benefits, and how it works)
• Lifting heavy objects (rocks, groceries, couches)
• Bodyweight exercise performed slowly
• Typical weight training lifts

Metrics I’ll use to evaluate strength:

• Sprint max speed and 40-yard-dash time
• Ability to perform 20 pushups slowly
• Ability to perform 5 pull-ups

15 Secrets Tools to Stay Fit Beyond Age 100

Whether you’re looking to pack on some muscle or torch body fat, fitness gets confusing.

Do I need a monthly gym membership?

Will this hot new technique actually work?

Which supplements can accelerate my results?

How do I continue making progress while on the road?

This is all possible. And remember this…

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Eventually, most runners get injured. As do most weightlifters.

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Use the right tools.

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How to Train for the Centenarian Olympics

The idea of the Centenarian Olympics is simple: start training today to set yourself up to live your best life decades later.

More ambitious training is welcome. But CO training is the minimum fitness you can get away with when life gets tough. For a long life, your fitness program should have at least three components:

• Mobility
• Power
• Strength

You can knock out all three types of training in little time.

My top exercises to train for the Centenarian Olympics are:

1. Squats
2. Pushups
3. Tire or car pushes
4. Farmers walks
5. Kettlebell swings
6. Sprints
7. Deadlifts
8. Box jumps
9. Tight rope walk
10. Pullups
11. Military press
12. Stair climbs
13. Bouldering
14. Crawls
15. Hangs

I know what I’m working on. And I’ll update this post as my plan changes. Otherwise, see you in 2094 🙂.