Longevity businessman Peter Diamandis said he prioritized his body composition over everything else last year.
The Milken Institute
Businessman Peter Diamandis is what you might call a longevity chaser. He's part of that tribe of immortality-seekers who want to extend the timeframe most human beings exist on Earth well beyond 100 years.
In his quest to stay healthy and youthful for many decades ahead, the 62-year-old is already doing a lot.
He supplements his diet with berberine and quercetin. He's tried out the cheap diabetes pill metformin before, and he is on weekly doses of rapamycin, the darling drug of many longevity biohackers. He's also been known to jet down to Panama City for stem cell injections to ease his joint pain. And, he's founded at least a couple of longevity clinics, plus a new $101 million XPRIZE for human healthspan.
As he's learned more about human longevity over the years, he's been compelled by the mountain of evidence for healthy aging that's tied to going to the gym and getting in enough bodybuilding.
"Muscle is like the most important thing if you're over 60," he told a longevity-curious crowd gathered at the Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday. "Muscular degradation, your hormones, all these things just going downhill, and it's pretty predictable."
Studies back him up here. Sarcopenia, the inevitable loss of muscle as we age, is a serious issue for older adults, and there's a hefty body of research suggesting that people who engage in regular strength training may live longer, happier, healthier lives.
So, last year Diamandis' biggest personal longevity endeavor wasn't any new supplement or unregulated potion. It was more time in the gym, plus enough rest to make it stick.
Westend61/Getty Images
"My mission last year was to add 10 pounds of muscle, which was not easy," Diamandis said. "It was like my number one objective to do that."
And he says he did. His formula involved raising his protein intake dramatically.
"I raised my protein intake 150 grams," he said. "One gram per pound."
Dieticians tend to recommend a little less than what Diamandis did — about 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight for people who are looking to bulk up — but those recommendations can vary based on a person's body recomposition goals.
"I worked out five days a week," Diamandis said. He also quit taking metformin, a diabetes drug that's become a popular off-label supplement for biohackers trying to stave off aging. Some studies suggest the diabetes drug can slightly hamper muscle growth (though scientists hotly debate the idea), and that gave Diamandis pause. He also "added other sets of amino acids" which may help with muscle building.
The last ingredient in his muscle-building recipe was rest. Diamandis tried to get at least eight hours of sleep a night, because adequate recovery is a key component to getting stronger.
"Working out and maintaining muscle is the number one thing to do in your life over everything else," he said.
It's kind of a hot take, but it's also one that most longevity scientists agree with — saying exercise is one of the most important healthy aging factors we can control that has the greatest impact. "So please, go to the gym tomorrow," he said.
