Chapter 14
The TRIAD Exercise Program
Steps 4, 5, and 6 in the 9 Simple Steps to Optimal Health
- (Step 4) DO Aerobic Exercise a minimum of one half-hour
daily. - (Step 5) DO Strength Training three to four days per week
for fifteen to thirty minutes. - (Step 6) DO Flexibility Exercises four to seven days per
week for fifteen to sixty minutes.
Looking at any part of our human evolutionary history, there is
no question that we were “born to move.” All of our ancestors were
moving for hours a day, working very hard, usually with the end
result of feeding themselves and their kin. If we look at the modern-
day “Blue Zone” populations, those enclaves of modern-day aging
wonders who live and are functional into their eighties, nineties,
and one hundreds, we can see that they move daily—and they move
a lot! Usually hours per day doing their daily work, not minutes.
Everyone Agrees on the Importance of Exercise
Virtually no expert says that exercise isn’t important for opti-
mal health. This is one health principle you can take to the bank.
The question is: How important is exercise to human health? I say
critically important. You give me a regular daily exerciser as a pa-
tient, and he/she sees me less and gets well faster (usually; there
are some exceptions), and generally all the therapies you try work