Top 3 Things We Can Do to Live Longer, Healthier, and More Beautifully?
Longevity, Lessons from the Blue Zones, and FasciaBlasting
Why I’m so obsessed
The personal quest to be an athletic Centenarian
My new obsession - extending my lifespan and health span. I’m so obsessed, in fact, that I moved to the Blue Zone in Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica. Author and researcher Dan Buettner has identified 8 blue zones around the world, where people healthfully live to be over 100 in his groundbreaking book The Blue Zones. My home is smack dab in the middle of one of them. There are many lessons to be shared, but I want to transmute the latest science around longevity and what it really takes to be healthy and age without disease, maintain stamina and energy, and sprint through the pearly gates well after your hundredth birthday in this blog. I will be pulling information from the scientific study performed on the use of the FasciaBlasters, but also Buettner's work, that of Peter Attia, MD, author of Outlive, and various research papers. My goal is to provide you with the general framework you will need to craft your Centenarian Plan. I know that my partner Jordi and I, who are in our 50s, have completely revamped every aspect of our lives.
The Regenerative Medicine Institute has tested us, and our bodies are in their 30s. So, from personal experience… this stuff works. We can do many other things for our health, but pulling from cutting-edge resources, I believe these are the top 3 categories you can address to help you live longer, better, and more beautifully… guys, too.
What we put in our mouths… and other holes
Nutrition, household products and digestion
Most longevity programs focus on nutrition, but we are going to take it a step further. It’s all about getting all the nutrients we need and not taking in toxins. It’s also about not just what you eat but HOW you eat, with considerations of intentions or prayer before meals, how long you chew, what combinations of food can digest properly and the list goes on and on. Also, we should consider what we breathe in and what we take in through our skin. I will give you some highlights here, but if you want to dive deep, I have a free 30-day program that you can join by clicking here.
So here’s what we know in a nutshell. In blue zones, people take in less toxins in their environment and their food naturally because food is grown locally and organic, a practice we can all apply. People who live the longest eat high-density foods, either a nutrient-rich vegetarian diet or a mixture of lean animal proteins and vegetables. I probably don’t have to say it, but a diet without modern processed food. No dairy, No processed sugar, No trans fats, and No white flour. Carbs are eaten, mainly complex carbs like sweet potatoes and in moderate to less than moderate doses. In addition, Dr. Attia points out that, basically, as part of a modern diet, we just eat too much. With the choice of caloric restriction, dietary restriction, and time restriction, the research indicates that calorie restriction is the hands-down winner: just eating less and making the “less” count. All 8 Blue Zones also fast from time to time and Dr. Attia points to studies that show fasting can reduce the risk of cancer. Drinking alcohol in blue zones is commonplace, with a focus on red wine. However, in general, experts would point out the negative neurodegenerative effects of alcohol. So if you consume, do it occasionally or never, and not regularly.
Other considerations and tips relate to digestion. We cannot consume more than 400 calories in a sitting. Proteins, fruits, veggies, and fats have different digestive enzymes. Raymond Francis, the author of ‘Never Be Sick Again,’ recommends pairing vegetables and carbs or vegetables and proteins in a sitting, but never carbs and proteins. (Jordi and I eat like this, and it’s a night and day difference). Fruits are eaten separately. Food is chewed until it is “liquid,” capitalizing on the digestive enzymes in our mouths. We need to look out for and try to eliminate chemicals found in our food, household cleaners, toothpaste, lotions, etc. Most experts agree we need supplementation, as well, to get nutrients because
of modern food practices. These subjects are detailed in the free program I mentioned earlier and daily meal plans.
Lastly, faith and prayer are characteristics of blue zones, and praying before meals is cultural. New science also shows that “putting intention on our food” can change the molecular structure. “Sense of purpose,” or Ikigi, is a characteristic of Centenarians, so having gratitude practice around food is a great idea. All these things are easy to understand and thoroughly researched, but putting them into practice in totality will take a radical shift for most of us. But you can do it… and yes, it’s worth it. This is how I personally eat and manage my household items. Learn more.
Movement and Exercise
All exercise is not the same
My opening statement… old school is best. Our ancestors had this one right with their daily routines. Hunting and gathering, working the farms, living generationally and playing with children, carrying their packs and moving all day. My other opening statement is what is NOT good for longevity: having a desk job and then powering out the same workout at the gym every day. We need active full days and we need variety in our exercise.
New science is emerging relative to longevity that really characterizes that we need different types of exercise, like our ancestors. And that we need to put this plan in motion in our 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s to lay the groundwork for our 80’s, 90’s, and beyond.
Here is my best summary of what I believe is the right approach to longevity fitness training:
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Move regularly. Apple watches have you stand up once every hour, and this is important. Even a little movement makes a difference. Don’t succumb to a modern lifestyle of conveniences. Centenarians dance around the house, do physical chores, garden, hike, walk to the mailbox, and lift things.
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VO2 Max train. VO2 max is our ability to uptake oxygen during exercise is a huge factor in longevity, and it can be trained. These are the types of exercises where you run your heart rate up to “max” and then slow down and recover. Then do it again. I personally surf for this, but you can do anything that gets the heart pumping up to your max for 1-4 minutes. FasciaBlasting is also a great way to impact VO2 Max. *Spoiler alert: FasciaBlasting increased VO2 max in a scientific study.
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Walk. Walk up and down inclines and steps. Walk with weights. This trains you for “real life” and increases bone density. Bone density is a marker for longevity.
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Strength training. We lose muscle as we age. At 65 it’s like we fall off the muscle cliff. I am partial to full-range motion strength training like in my FREE ICE program, but free weights and weight machines have been shown in research to help us “hang on to muscle.” And the sooner the better, to build more muscle than we need for daily function. *Spoiler alert: FasciaBlasting increases irisin, a hormone secreted from muscles as they build. Irisin is linked to telomere length, a main marker for longevity.
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Train your heart rate for endurance. Elevate your heart rate to a fat-burning rate of around 120-140 BPM, doing anything you like and do it for 30-plus minutes. I personally ride a stationary bike and swim because I have a hip replacement. Research shows this alone can add up to 10-15 years to your life. FasciaBlasting is also an endurance exercise so you can kill 2 birds with one stone.
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Train for stability. People decline rapidly from falling later in life. Yoga, slacklines, standing on one leg, balance boards, dancing… all great for stability. Stability is also closely related to our ability to stay stable when we move. FasciaBlasting will help alleviate structural “pulling” of the body into inefficient patterns and Inner Core Exercise will help balance your movement patterns.
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Keep having sex. All of our muscles are important to exercise and people who continue to have sex into later life live longer. In blue zones, a characteristic of longevity is a lifelong monogamous partner.
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Stretch and Blast. We lose flexibility as we age as well. Women post menopause actually lay down Type 1 collagen, the stiff, rigid collagen (fascia). FasciaBlasting remodels collagen, and FasciaYoga provides for fascial glide. Stiffness leads to falling and almost all types of orthopedic injuries.
In all collective research around longevity, exercise is the hands-down winner for increasing longevity. I always say, “If you stop moving, you already have one foot in the grave,” and “Exercise is the medicine,” and you know what- I’m right!
FasciaBlasting in a Sauna
Getting toxins out and restoring the tissue that supports life
I’m going to have to piece the research together here, because FasciaBlasting hasn’t been around long enough to study its effects on lifespan, but there are some markers and indicators that lead me to believe that one of the reasons mine and Jordi’s biological age is 20 years younger then we are, is because we FasciaBlast regularly, and in the sauna. A recent report from *Stanford University stated that the risk of mortality from all causes was reduced by 40% in frequent sauna users compared to infrequent users. And the longer the duration, the better. Raymond Francis recommends 45 minutes in his book Never Be Sick Again.
When the longevity story is eventually told, I believe combining these two practices will be as important, if not more important, than nutrition and exercise.
To keep this short, I’m going to toss you to my other blogs to understand why fascia is so important in general, but I will summarize here. *FasciaBlasitng research showed in blood analysis, DEXA scan, and ultrasound to lower systemic inflammation, increase blood flow, remodel the fascia tissue, increase metabolism, increase REE and VO2Max, increase Irisin and increase collagen production. Collectively, these impact the top 4 causes of premature death: Atherosclerosis (impacted by better blood flow and reduced inflammation), Cancer (impacted by reduced inflammation and increased irisin), and Neurodegenerative disease (impacted by remodeling fascia for plasticity), and foundation metabolic disease (impacted by metabolic increases and Irisin Increase). Each of these could be a blog, but for now, understand that FasciaBlasting alone affects very powerful mechanisms in the body. In addition to the four horsemen, FasciaBlasting generally makes us look and feel better. It helps us move and exercise better. Fascia is also the system of the body that feeds cells and is the source of piezoelectric energy; in essence, fascia is the life force.
Adding the sauna is amazing for the actual act of FasciaBlasting. Fascia responds so well to heat. It melts the tissue like butter, allowing you to blast deep into the muscles. Studies show that aerobic exercise (FasciaBlasting) and frequent sauna use have a synergetic effect in reducing cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Exposure to high temperatures stresses the body. This heat exposure induces protective responses that promote cardiovascular health, such as increased heart rate, decreases in blood pressure, and improved blood flow. These mechanisms contribute to muscle mass maintenance and prevent muscle loss that can occur
with aging. Studies also showed sauna use four to seven times a week lowered risk 66% of developing dementia compared to those who used saunas once per week. Proposed mechanisms for improved brain health in response to sauna include heat exposure and the subsequent cardiovascular response, increasing the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), an important factor supporting the development of new neurons in the brain, and increased blood flow to the brain. Heat shock proteins also protect against brain disease. Regular and sustained sauna use pulls out toxins through the skin, as FasciaBlasiting pulls toxins out of the tissues.
I understand that this idea might be new to you, but research and real life data is certainly suggesting that FasciaBlasitng in the sauna could be one of the most powerful longevity tools we have. And what’s wrong with wanting to look good and have smooth skin as we age? It’s all about living better, longer, and more beautifully for me! I get FasciaBlasted 2x per week by a Fasciologist, and I self FasciaBlast 3-5x per week in my sauna.
In Closing,
As we close the discussion on the pillars of nutrition, exercise, and the powerful benefits of FasciaBlasting in a sauna for longevity, let's remember that these practices aren't just about the number of years we accumulate but the quality of life we experience within those years. Each meal packed with nutrients, every workout session that gets our blood pumping, and the rejuvenating sessions of FasciaBlasting in the comforting heat of a sauna all contribute to our overall well-being. Embrace these habits not as chores but as investments in your health and future. Remind yourself of the incredible gift you're giving yourself with each healthy choice. Your body is an incredible machine, and by fueling it with the right nutrients, keeping it active, and nurturing its tissues with
techniques like FasciaBlasting, you're ensuring it runs smoothly for years to come. So, keep up the dedication, celebrate your progress, and know that each step you take towards better health is a step towards a longer, more vibrant life. Your future self will thank you.
The Best Way To Know If The FasciaBlaster Really Works is to try
our Curated Kit for Longevity
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Savage Blaster - Our biggest, deepest tool yet for full body blasting
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Blaster Base - Our universal small claw Blaster that houses Blaster Boosts, with gentle small "claws" for light blasting and leverage to progress as fascia remodels
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3 OZ Roll on Blaster Oil - Infused with patented ingredients that help burn fat and soften the tissue.
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Kryomat™ Large - For soothing full-body kryotherapy
Ashley Black, Inventor Of The Fasciablaster
Ashley Black is a decorated inventor, thought leader, and entrepreneur. She is best known for her work in the field of Fasciology. Fasciology is the study of the system of the body called fascia. Fascia is publicly known as the connective tissue, or web, that holds our body together, but fascia is also the viscous system that surrounds and feeds every cell in our bodies. Her work is directly related to the regeneration of this system of the body and the astounding effects this process can have on beauty, sports performance, and medical conditions.
She is best known for inventing instrument-assisted fascia techniques and tools, commercially known as FasciaBlasters. The tools entered the marketplace in 2014 and have become a household product. Black was the first person to write a #1 National Best Selling book about fascia, and she was the first person to do a TED Talk on fascia. By 2017-2018, her innovations and perseverance were rewarded with the American Business Association Stevie Award for Entrepreneur of the Year. IAOPT also awarded her with the Inventor of the Year. She also hit Inc's Fastest Growing Companies in America for the first time. This era was wrapped up with Ashley's self-reported highest accomplishment to date: the peer-reviewed Medical Publication of Research proving that FasciaBlasters can regenerate fascia tissue.
Since then, Ashley has received several awards, beginning with a second #1 National Best Selling Book about the struggles of females in business and authenticity in branding. She also received two global Stevie Awards from the International Business Association: Woman of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement Award for Consumer Goods.
In 2022, Ashley founded The Fascia Advancement Academy and the Fascia Advancement Charity to teach bodyworkers Fasciology. She has hit Inc's Fastest Growing Companies list for a second time, with over $150MM in revenue, profitable and growing. She boasts over 9 million social media followers and over 1 trillion unique media impressions for her work. She plans to expand into the beauty, sports, and medical professional markets and create a billion-dollar business in the next two years.
