OPENING NOTE FROM EUGENE

This morning, I was in my basement doing leg curls when a thought caught up with me.

The funny thing about getting older is that you start noticing things you never paid attention to before. A few years ago, I wouldn't have spent two seconds thinking about aging. Like most guys, I just figured it was something that happened to you. You got older, things hurt more, you slowed down, and eventually, you became one of those old guys who grunted every time he got out of a chair.

That’s just how it works, right?

As I was sitting there between sets, I started thinking about the phrase I’ve been putting on everything lately: Choose How You Age.

It’s on the website. It’s in the videos. It’s becoming the central theme of Men’s Longevity Insider. The more I thought about it, the more I realized those four words explain exactly why I’ve been climbing Rib Mountain at four o’clock in the morning, why I’m lifting weights again, and why I refuse to just coast into decline.

God controls the years, but we choose the quality of those years.

MAIN BRIEFING: THE FULL PICTURE

The interesting part is that none of this started because I was trying to live longer. It started because I wanted to feel better.

A few months ago, I wasn’t climbing mountains before sunrise. I wasn’t tracking my recovery or looking at blood markers. Now, I check my Hume Band in the morning to see how I recovered overnight. I do comprehensive blood work through

because I want to know what is actually happening in my body rather than guessing.

And that’s probably one of the biggest changes. I’m done guessing.

For years, I thought I knew what was going on with my health. Then I started measuring.

When all of those data points start pointing in the same direction, patterns emerge. And one pattern became obvious pretty quickly: my joints.

For years, I assumed joint pain was just part of getting older. Bad knees, bad hips, bad backs- it almost becomes a badge of honor among men. Then I switched to a carnivore diet. Within a few weeks, the aches and pains that I had accepted as normal were mostly gone.

Then came my "scientific experiment": an 18-inch pizza and a couple of drinks. If you’re wondering whether that was a good idea, the answer is a hard no. Within a day or two, my joints started talking again. Loudly. Apparently, my body wanted me to know exactly how it felt about pizza.

That was a moment where you stop and think:

Maybe some of the things we blame on aging aren’t aging at all.

Maybe they’re just the compounding results of the choices we’ve been making for years.

Whether we like it or not, we’re all heading toward a future version of ourselves. The question is what that version looks like. Will I still be climbing hills? Will I still be lifting weights? Will I still be able to travel and do the things I enjoy?

I don’t know. Nobody does. But I know that sitting on the couch isn’t improving the odds. I know that building muscle is a better strategy than losing it. And I know that paying attention to what goes into my body makes a massive difference in how I feel.

At 64 years old, I’m actively trying to build muscle. That sounds a little strange to some because most people think muscle loss is an inevitable part of getting older. Maybe it is, if you stop trying. I’m not ready to stop trying.

"Choose How You Age" isn’t a marketing slogan. It’s a reminder.

Not because any single decision changes your life overnight, but because thousands of small decisions eventually do. We don’t get to choose whether we get older. But we absolutely get a say in how we get there.

LONGEVITY NEWS WATCH

The medical term for age-related muscle loss is sarcopenia, and standard conventional wisdom says it’s an unstoppable downward slope. But modern longevity science highlights a critical distinction: much of what we call "aging" is actually sedentary decay. Your body operates on a "use it or lose it" signaling system. When you lift weights and prioritize protein, you force your biology to adapt, retain lean mass, and protect your joints, regardless of the date on your birth certificate.

NUMBER THAT MATTERS

That’s my age. And honestly, I feel better today than I did in my twenties. Not because I found a magic supplement or discovered some hidden secret, but because I started paying attention to the small decisions that add up over time. I actually tell people I have two birth dates: the one on my license and the one I feel. The one I feel is younger than my son!

TOOL OF THE WEEK:

To stop guessing and start measuring, you need objective data. The tools I'm using to track my own patterns right now are the Hume Band (to monitor daily recovery metrics and sleep data that I used to ignore) and SiPhox Health (for comprehensive blood work that revealed my true internal age). If you want to see the real-time impact of your diet and training, you have to move past guesswork and start collecting hard data.

 FINAL THOUGHTS

When I first started climbing Rib Mountain before sunrise, I wasn’t thinking about building a newsletter or recording videos. I was simply trying to become a healthier version of myself.

What I’ve discovered along the way is that health isn’t changed by one monumental decision. It’s changed by hundreds of small ones. A better breakfast. A walk. A workout. A little more sleep. A little less junk. None of them seem important by themselves, but together, they change the trajectory of your life.

We’re all getting older. The question is whether we’re becoming stronger or weaker along the way.

This Week’s Challenge: Pick one thing that your future self will thank you for.

Take a walk after dinner.
Lift weights twice this week.
Get your blood work scheduled.
Go to bed 30 minutes earlier.

Don’t worry about overhauling everything today. Just start with one thing.

Choose how you age.

Stay strong,

Gene

Men's Longevity Insider