How to slow down the clock and win the long game

If you’ve been on Instagram lately, you’d think the fountain of youth is hidden somewhere between a cold plunge and a capsule of the NMN supplement.

Everyone’s chasing vitality right now with hopes of living longer, looking younger and “bio-hacking” their way into immortality with infrared saunas, hormone cocktails, red-light helmets and supplements you can’t pronounce. (NMN, by the way, stands for nicotinamide mononucleotide.)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for stacking the odds in your favour. I’m bullish on the role AI advancements will play in our quality of life going forward.

But let’s be honest. If your foundation is broken, none of this new-age stuff really matters. You can’t out-stimulant chronic poor sleep. You can’t undo a junk-food diet with 10 minutes of red-light therapy. And you definitely can’t fix a sedentary lifestyle through supplements.

Longevity isn’t about gadgets and shortcuts. It’s about what you do most days, consistently, over time. The truth is, the most powerful anti-aging strategies are also the most boring.

Studies on longevity continue to point to a few core markers: grip strength and muscle mass; VO² max and cardiovascular health; metabolic flexibility; low inflammation; strong social connections; and quality sleep.

You won’t hear much about those on TikTok. But they matter more than any supplement in your medicine cabinet.

Here’s what actually works and what I teach every client I coach.

1. Muscle is your anti-aging insurance

Muscle isn’t just for looking better in a T-shirt. It’s your best defence against injury, blood-sugar dysregulation and metabolic slowdown.

After age 30, you naturally start to lose muscle. The only way to stop it is to lift weights. You don’t need to become a bodybuilder. Just get stronger over time. Train two to four times per week. Track what you lift. Push yourself close to failure.

This is one of my non-negotiables. Muscle protects your future quality of life.

2. Cardio isn’t for fat loss. It’s for life insurance.

You don’t need to love running. I don’t.

But if you can’t jog across the street or chase your kids or grandkids without getting winded, that’s a problem.

VO² max, a gold-standard measure of your cardiovascular fitness, is one of the biggest predictors of how long you’ll live. It matters more than most people realize.

My go-to routine looks like this:

● 8,000 -10,000 steps a day

● One or two higher-intensity sessions (hockey is mine) per week, or every other week if recovery is a challenge

● A couple of steady Zone 2 sessions ( about 60 to 70 per cent of your maximum heart rate) per week like walking on an incline or rucking, which could be with a backpack or weighted vest, or biking at a steady clip

Cardio won’t do much for fat loss if your nutrition isn’t in check. But it’s massive for your heart, lungs and brain. It helps you live longer.

3. Nutrition that supports the long game

You don’t need to cut carbs or eliminate all processed foods. But you do need to be intentional about your food choices most of the time.

Here’s what I recommend for most people:

● Around 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (if you’re well over 200 pounds, use your goal body weight for this calculation)

● Mostly whole foods, following the 80/20 rule (I go with two categories: 80 per cent nutritious foods and 20 per cent fun foods)

● Enough fuel to build and maintain muscle even while aiming to lose body fat (crash diets don’t serve you in the long run with as much muscle as fat lost in many cases)

The goal isn’t to shrink yourself. It’s to fuel the version of you who’s strong, sharp and capable.

4. Sleep is a game-changer

Want to fix your hormones, live longer, lower your cravings and feel 25 again?

Fix your sleep. If you’re getting five or six hours, that’s not enough for mere mortals.

Here’s what helps: shoot for seven to eight hours; keep your room cool and dark; avoid screens and caffeine late; try a hot shower or some magnesium before bed.

Need a simple template? Consider the 10-3-2-1 rule (10 hours before bed, no more stimulants such as caffeine; three hours before, no more food; two hours before, no more work, such as responding to emails; one hour before, no more screens and blue-light exposure.

Sleep isn’t just a break from the day. It’s where your body rebuilds and resets. Don’t skip it.

5. Your mindset is the multiplier

If your nervous system is constantly stressed, no amount of clean eating or exercise will fix it. Longevity isn’t just physical. It’s emotional and mental too.

What helps me:

● Brief meditation or breath work (especially on tough days)

● Focusing on what I can control

● Being intentional with how I start and end each day

● Staying off social media until after I’ve moved my body or done something that builds momentum in my day

● Making time for relationships with people who lift me up

It doesn’t need to be perfect. Just consistent. When your mind is clear, everything else becomes easier to follow through on.

So can you reverse aging?

As it stands now — AI may have a word with me eventually — you can’t rewind the clock, but you can slow how fast the clock ticks by paying attention to the five previous steps. You can make the second half of your life feel nearly as good as the first with those habits.

These are the basics. They’re what I teach in my coaching program. They’re what I use myself. And they’re what will give you the best shot at aging strong — no matter where you’re starting from.

Focus less on the hacks. Focus on what works. Then do it consistently. That’s how you win the long game.

If you love cold plunges or red-light therapy, go for it. They may make a difference. But don’t confuse the extras with the essentials.

Aging is part of the deal. But falling apart along the way doesn’t have to be.

Mitch Calvert is a Winnipeg-based fitness coach (mitchcalvert.com).