How to Age Well: Strength, Purpose, and Daily Habits for Lifelong Independence

This blog post provides cliff notes from a conversation with Pat VanGalen on the Keiser Human Performance Podcast. She shares her expertise on movement, aging, and longevity.

Listen to the full podcast episode below, watch on Youtube, or get it on your favorite player.

You Can Change How You Age

At 70 years old, Pat VanGalen delivers a message backed by both science and personal experience: "We can change the way we age. It is so malleable."

This isn't wishful thinking. Pat conducted a nine-month study with sedentary postmenopausal women that produced remarkable improvements in both function and biomarkers. Her research confirms what many fitness professionals suspect — with proper training and education, you can significantly alter your aging trajectory.

Whether you're a strength coach working with older clients or someone concerned about maintaining independence as you age, Pat's framework offers actionable strategies to enhance quality of life throughout your extended lifespan.

Build a Base That Lasts: The Case for Consistency

Pat emphasizes that robust aging isn't about quick fixes:

It's not a program with a start and stop date. It's what you do over decades.

Your foundation for healthy aging includes:

• Daily habits that become automatic parts of your routine
• Weekly patterns that provide consistent structure
• Seasonal practices that work with natural yearly rhythms

This foundation supports five interconnected pillars that together create a comprehensive framework for aging well.

The 5 Daily Practices That Support a Longer, Healthier Life

Pillar 1: Purpose — The Most Powerful Motivator for Aging Well

People who live the healthiest for the longest have a reason to get up in the morning.

Your purpose might be connected to:

• Faith and spiritual practices
• Family relationships and responsibilities
• Freedom and personal autonomy

Research shows these elements of emotional and spiritual health can add up to 20 years of healthier living.

As a fitness professional, you don't give clients purpose, but your work often helps them discover it. When clients gain physical capability, they frequently find new meaning in activities they can now enjoy.

Pillar 2: Movement — Your Most Powerful Anti-Aging Tool

Movement is your body's defense against accelerated aging. Pat breaks this pillar into three components you should incorporate into your routine:

1. Motion and Locomotion: Daily movement including steps, household chores, and walking
2. Play, Sport, and Recreation: Activities done for pleasure such as dance, travel, and hobbies
3. Structured Training: Focused exercise to build strength, mobility, and resilience

If your jobs and hobbies are not physically active, training is the only rock.

For most modern adults with sedentary jobs, structured strength training becomes non-negotiable for maintaining function.

Pillar 3: Nutrition — Master the Basics That Actually Matter

Pat's nutrition approach focuses on fundamentals rather than fads:

1. Water: Consume at least half your body weight in ounces daily
2. Real Food: Eat a variety of minimally processed foods
3. Timing and Portions: Consume appropriate amounts at the right times

She warns against what she calls "granule solutions for big rock voids" — looking for supplements or special diets when you haven't mastered the basics.

Pillar 4: Daily Rhythms — Sleep, Screens, and the Recovery You’re Missing

This pillar has "taken a major hit with screens" according to Pat. To optimize your daily rhythms:

1. Prioritize sleep quality each night
2. Build in relaxation time to wind down
3. Allow for appropriate recovery based on your activity level

Pat recommends "slicing and dicing" screen time to restore natural rhythms that support your body's recovery processes.

Pillar 5: Stress Management — Build a Brain That Bounces Back

Your approach to stress should include:

1. Accepting ups and downs as natural parts of life
2. Changing your perception of stressors
3. Building both offense and defense through the other pillars

The perception of the stressor is malleable.

By strengthening the other pillars, you automatically enhance your stress resilience.

Want to Stay Independent? Strength Training Is Non-Negotiable

Throughout her discussion, Pat repeatedly emphasizes strength as the critical factor in maintaining independence:

Strength is what's gonna keep you thriving at home. It's strength that's gonna decide: I'm forced to move or I can thrive in place.

This is especially important for women, who typically live 7-8 years longer than men but often with less physical capacity. Unless your daily work involves significant physical labor, strength training is "a nonnegotiable for everyone."

How to Extend the Years That Actually Matter Most

Pat offers a helpful framework for thinking about different aspects of aging:

1. Lifespan: Total years you live
2. Health span: Years of good physical health
3. Brain span: Years of cognitive function
4. Strength span: Years of physical capability
5. Play span: Years you can continue doing activities you enjoy

Your goal should be to "square off the curve" — pushing these spans closer to your total lifespan to compress the period of disability at life's end.

Assessing and Tracking What Matters

Pat's assessment approach offers valuable lessons for fitness professionals:

1. Meet clients outside the gym first to build rapport and observe natural movement
2. Conduct a comprehensive history, asking about physical activity across the lifespan
3. Observe basic movement patterns with special attention to foot mechanics

For tracking progress, focus on:

• Functional improvements (walking distance/speed, sit-to-stand performance)
• Quality of life indicators (activities clients can now perform)
• Medical markers when available

The 5-Step Plan for Aging Strong

Ready to implement these principles? Here's how to start:

1. Identify your purpose: What activities bring meaning and joy to your life?
2. Prioritize strength training: Focus on fundamental movement patterns (squat, hinge, push, pull, carry)
3. Build consistency: Create sustainable daily and weekly movement patterns
4. Optimize your environment: Arrange your surroundings to encourage regular movement
5. Connect with others: Build a community that supports your active lifestyle

Taking Control of Your Aging Process

As Pat powerfully states:

When people feel that they can control their movement, they feel confident, they have dignity, they have autonomy over their lives.

This isn't just about adding years to life, but adding life to years — creating a trajectory where you can enjoy your capabilities and independence for as long as possible.

By focusing on strength development, purposeful movement, and integrating all five pillars, you can help bend your aging curve and compress the period of disability that so many fear.

Whether you're a fitness professional working with older adults or someone taking charge of your own aging process, Pat's framework provides a roadmap for maintaining function, independence, and joy throughout your lifespan.

This blog post provides cliff notes from a conversation with Pat VanGalen on the Keiser Human Performance Podcast featuring Pat VanGalen. For more information, Pat can be reached through her website at activeandagile.com or via LinkedIn.