Scott Anderson, Ph.D.

Regularly doing cardio is one of the best investments that you can make in your health. Benefitting both mental and physical health, the benefits of regularly doing cardio are legion. Besides rowing, one of my favorite forms of cardio is biking. The just-right challenge is the key to optimizing the time that you spend doing cardio. I often see people working on the two extremes; "Too easy." Many people spend hours per day being physically active, though they’re not optimizing the time that they’re investing. If you're not breathing hard and heating up, you can likely extract a lot more benefit from the time that you are investing. Even increasing your workload a little bit can make a significant difference in wellbeing. "Too hard." For some people, they spend too much time in the “red” zone. Too much high-intensity cardio can lead to depletion, injury and increased levels of stress hormones and inflammation. High-intensity cardio is important for developing cap...

Both cardio and meditation are strongly associated with improving mental and physical wellbeing. Whether measuring the incidence and severity of diseases, indices of psychosocial wellbeing or inflammatory biomarkers, both cardio and meditation are disproportionately effective in cultivating wellbeing. During my recent pilgrimage, I spent many hours meditating while riding my bike. Since many of us are short on time, I strongly encourage you to practice meditation while doing cardio. The scientific evidence is increasingly indicating that active meditation confers the same benefits as formal meditation, and combining cardio and meditation has the potential to allow double-dipping in the time that you allocate to physical fitness. If you haven’t already tried my MDFL CARDIO classes, I encourage you to check them out via my studio's on-demand library . Interestingly, it appears as though cardio and meditation interact with different anti-inflammatory pathways. University of Wisconsi...

Does your workout regimen include muscle building activities? It’s hard to overstate the importance of maintaining and building muscle mass. While strength, power and muscular endurance are all very important for optimal aging, your overall wellbeing is disproportionately related to your muscle mass. There are several factors that are influenced by muscle mass. Among them are: Muscle mass supports your joints . More muscle mass is generally associated with healthier joints. Your sense of balance is highly dependent on sensations that arise from your muscles. As you lose muscle mass, your balance tends to become shakier Bone density is influenced by muscle mass. When muscles pull harder on the bones, the osteoblasts in the bones respond by increasing bone density. More muscle = more force = greater bone density. Muscles are integrally involved in glucose metabolism ; building muscle is a powerful way to both treat and prevent insulin resistance. The academic article, linked below, des...

Aging well is largely about managing inflammation. You will likely feel better and have more energy if your baseline levels of inflammation are lower, and will likely struggle more with aches, pains and low energy when your baseline levels of inflammation are higher. Managing inflammation is essential to aging well, and requires more than anti-inflammatory supplements and down time . Reducing baseline levels of inflammation requires the strategic application of inflammation. Known as hormesis , regular applications of inflammation can lower baseline levels of inflammation. To some small extent, that which doesn’t kill you may well make you stronger. The trick is getting the dose just right, as the dose of inflammation either makes the poison or the medicine. Yes, this is an eBike. I adjust the level of assist to maintain the just-right challenge. Exercise, particularly cardio, is inflammatory. This is among the many reasons why doing cardio is an essential element in aging well. In th...

I have found Pilates to be anxiolytic. While all exercise is great for managing the symptoms of anxiety and anxiety-related disorders, I’ve found that Pilates is particularly effective in doing so. As I built my Pilates teaching career, I did a deep dive into neuroscience and physiology as part of my doctoral work. In this graduate-level coursework, I learned more about the body/brain connection, and had a steady stream of lightbulb moments when I connected what I learned to Pilates. I’ve since come to view the physical benefits as a side-effect, with the main benefits of Pilates being mental. Along the way, I’ve identified five systems that are directly impacted by Pilates, and how these five systems downregulate an overactive nervous system and calm an anxious mind. Yes, Pilates is great for developing long, lean muscles. Many celebrities have embraced the practice, enjoying the aesthetically pleasing physique that arises surprisingly quickly. Joe Pilates is quoted as saying “Ten ses...

I've been a car guy  my entire life. Toy cars were my childhood obsession. As a teenager, I somehow took obsessed  to the next level, and literally memorized tracts of my favorite auto repair manuals. (Yes, I had favorite repair manuals). I slightly downregulated these obsessions in my middle years, though I was still keenly aware of the cars around me, gimbaling to lock in on an unfamiliar model or automotive rarity. This Tesla Model Y has been on many roadtrips. When the Tesla Model S came out in 2012, I was swept off my feet by its aesthetics, performance and the underlying technology. Initially Tesla sightings were infrequent, and I employed the unproven technique of staring/not-staring in an inept attempt to avoid stalking the early adopters. Within a few years, however, the more-affordable Model 3 opened the sales flood gates, and it suddenly seemed like Teslas were everywhere. The "Idiot Book" was my favorite repair manual. By the time the Tesla Model Y (the small ...