The four rules
Years ago I reduced everything in this guide to four rules. Nothing since has displaced them, and everything below is an elaboration.
- Exercise often Build an aerobic base, lift heavy things, and keep your balance. See Exercise.
- Eat real food Mostly plants and whole foods, enough protein, not too much of anything. See Nutrition.
- Get enough sleep Seven to nine hours on a regular schedule. See Sleep.
- Be aggressive with preventive medicine Know your numbers and treat risk factors decades before they become disease. See the prevention checklist.
Training
The strength work is Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 Boring But Big: one main barbell lift on a slow 5/3/1 progression, then five sets of ten of a second lift at 50–60% of the training max, with an upper-body day and a lower-body day each way through the week. The aerobic work follows the polarized model described in Exercise: most cardio time easy, a small slice very hard, almost nothing in between. Stability and mobility are built into the warm-ups and the lifts.
Cardio goes in the early morning and lifting in the late afternoon. The split reinforces a strong daily rhythm, keeps two hard sessions from competing for the same recovery, and spreads glucose-lowering activity across the day.
| Day | Early morning (6–9 am) | Late afternoon (3–6 pm) |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Zone 2: 45+ minutes cycling just below aerobic threshold | Press 5/3/1 · bench press 5×10 · lat work 5×10 |
| Tuesday | Zone 2: 45+ minutes | Deadlift 5/3/1 · squat 5×10 · abs, 5 sets |
| Wednesday | Intervals: 4–6 × 4 minutes at the hardest pace I can hold for 4 minutes, 3–4 minutes easy between | Rest |
| Thursday | Zone 2: 45+ minutes | Bench press 5/3/1 · press 5×10 · lat work 5×10 |
| Friday | Zone 2: 45+ minutes | Squat 5/3/1 · deadlift 5×10 · abs, 5 sets |
| Saturday | Rest, a long walk, mobility | Rest |
| Sunday | Rest, a long walk, mobility | Rest |
A few details that matter:
- Zone 2 runs on a smart trainer at a fixed wattage, so the intensity cannot drift upward. Every session starts and ends with a warm-up, a cool-down, and stretching.
- The interval day gets a full 10–15 minute progressive warm-up. It is the session most likely to cause an injury if rushed.
- Progress is tracked by power at a fixed heart rate for zone 2, by the weights on the bar for strength, and by a yearly lab test for VO2 max.
If you have less time, the sample weeks in the exercise chapter capture most of the benefit in three to five hours a week.
Food
- An eating window Food within eight to ten hours a day, ideally about 10 am to 6 pm. Nothing in the first hour after waking or the two to three hours before bed. Defined meals, no snacking.
- Protein and plants first Protein at every meal, about 1.6–2.2 g/kg a day, a large share of the plate from vegetables, and starches last.
- Desserts are for occasions Birthdays, weddings, travel. When I want something sweet in between, a moderate amount of very dark chocolate.
- Black coffee, paper filter, before noon The paper filter removes the compound that raises LDL, and the cutoff protects sleep. I wait 90 minutes or so after waking for the first cup, which is a preference, not an evidence-based rule.
The reasoning for each of these, including why the eating window works mostly by reducing how much you eat, is in Nutrition. The point of a system like the dessert rule is that it is easier to follow a clear rule than to negotiate with yourself at every meal. Find the version that works for you.
Water is filtered, and it goes into glass or steel rather than plastic.
Sleep
- The same bedtime and wake time every day, with a sleep opportunity of eight to nine hours.
- Bright outdoor light within the first hour of waking, dim and warm light after sunset.
- A cool, dark bedroom.
- Hard training no later than the late afternoon, and the last meal two to three hours before bed.
Testing and monitoring
This is my schedule. It follows the optimal plan in the prevention checklist, where the reasoning and sources for each item live, and in a few places tests more often than that, because I am actively tuning training and diet and want to see the effect.
| What | How often | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bloodwork: lipids with ApoB, HbA1c, fasting glucose and insulin, a metabolic panel with cystatin C, liver enzymes, hs-CRP, CBC, ferritin, uric acid, and urine albumin | Every 6 months | Twice a year shows whether a change in diet or training actually moved the numbers, and catches drift in cardiovascular, metabolic, and kidney risk long before symptoms. Once a year is the minimum I'd accept. See Blood tests. |
| Lipoprotein(a) | Once | It is mostly genetic, so one good measurement is enough. |
| Home blood pressure, on a validated upper-arm cuff | A week of morning and evening readings every 3 months | Clinic readings miss both masked and white-coat hypertension, and a quarterly week catches a rise within months. See Heart. |
| Weight, on a connected scale | Every morning, watching the weekly average | The trend is the signal; the daily number is noise. |
| DEXA scan | Every year | Tracks lean mass, visceral fat, and bone density. My targets: at or above the 97th percentile for lean mass (FFMI and ALMI) and bone density, with visceral fat in the low range. See Muscle, bone, and mobility. |
| VO2 max test | Every year | The single best predictor of longevity that can be trained. |
| Coronary calcium scan | A baseline around 40, repeated in about 5 years if the score is zero | The only test that shows whether plaque has already started, which changes how hard to push ApoB. See Heart. |
| Cancer screening, dental cleanings every 6 months, eye exams, a dermatologist skin check, vaccines | On the optimal schedule | The checklist has the full list by age, with the guideline minimum alongside. |
I wear an Apple Watch for heart rate, sleep timing, activity, and its safety features. Full-body MRI and multi-cancer blood tests are decisions I revisit with a physician rather than routines; the cancer chapter explains why the evidence makes them judgment calls.
Home and environment
- A HEPA air purifier and an air-quality monitor, and the range hood on whenever the stove is.
- A standing desk used for alternating, not for standing all day, plus movement breaks every half hour or so.
- Minimalist shoes for everyday walking.
- Mineral sunscreen when the UV index is high.
- Simple, low-fragrance hair, skin, dish, and laundry products. My running list of picks, chosen by weighing safety ratings against how well each product works and how easy it is to find, is here.
The reasoning for each is in Avoiding harm, Exercise, Muscle, bone, and mobility, and Eyes, ears, teeth, and skin.