Movement, Maintenance, and the Long Game
Growing up, movement was either something you did to lose weight or something reserved for athletes. Some of my earliest memories are from after swim practice, when I felt completely at ease in my body, focused, relaxed, and clear. It’s no wonder I ended up swimming in college and finding some success there.
But even after retiring in 2012, movement was still tied to body composition. You moved to burn off what you ate. You worked out to keep the athlete build. And if you weren’t working out hard, it felt like you weren’t doing enough.
Now, 14 years after retiring as a collegiate athlete, I’m a nurse practitioner, a mom of three, and a woman in my late 30s who’s finally starting to understand the missing piece.
Movement Is Maintenance, Not Punishment
After years of studying and living it myself, I’ve realized: movement isn’t just about weight or aesthetics. It’s about maintenance. It’s about long-term health and how your body ages.
That little 6-year-old girl who felt calmer after swim practice? She was onto something. There’s a direct connection between movement and the brain, between how we move and how we feel.
It’s taken me years to figure out what being active actually means. I’ve done it all — CrossFit (ew, just… ew), trained for a marathon (fun, but also no), Barry’s Bootcamp, OrangeTheory, SoulCycle, Pilates, and Peloton.
All of it chasing that feeling of “Okay, this is what I need to do to maintain.”
But since retiring from swimming six hours a day, I’ve had to completely rethink what being active looks like. I’m not chasing the same performance goals anymore, but I still want to stay strong, age well, and be here for my kids, as a mom of three, and as an adult who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in her mid-thirties.
The question became: how can I move in a way that supports longevity without it feeling impossible or like a full-time job?
What VO₂ Max Actually Means (Explained Like We’re in 7th Grade)
Here’s how I explain it to my patients and honestly, to myself.
VO₂ Max is basically your body’s ability to use oxygen efficiently. The higher your VO₂ Max, the better your heart and lungs can supply oxygen to your muscles during exercise.
Think of it like this:
Your heart is a pump.
Your lungs are the oxygen delivery system.
VO₂ Max measures how well the two work together when you are moving.
So how do you figure out what your VO₂ Max actually is?
There is a formal diagnostic test where you wear a mask and exercise on a treadmill or bike while your oxygen output is measured. I am doing this next week, so stay tuned because I will be sharing what that looks like in real time.
If you want a rough idea of your VO₂ Max at home, most fitness watches estimate it based on your age, heart rate, and workout intensity. It is not perfect, but it can show trends over time and help you see improvements in your cardiovascular fitness.
If you do not have a watch, you can still get a sense of your aerobic fitness by paying attention to how you recover. If you can climb stairs or walk briskly and your heart rate comes down quickly afterward, that is a good sign your VO₂ Max is improving.
If your VO₂ Max is high, your body is really good at turning oxygen into energy, meaning you can do more before feeling tired. If it is low, things like climbing stairs, chasing kids, or even recovering from a cold take more effort.
Doctors like Dr. Peter Attia call VO₂ Max one of the biggest predictors of longevity. It is not just for athletes; it is a measure of how well your body will hold up over time.
Zone 2 Training (also explained like a normal person)
Zone 2 is that sweet spot of exercise intensity where you are moving enough to challenge your body but not so hard that you cannot hold a conversation.
It is the pace where:
You are breathing heavier but not gasping.
You could still talk in full sentences.
You feel like you could keep going for a while.
Dr. Attia calls this the foundation of longevity training. Dr. Andrew Huberman describes it as the zone where your body becomes better at burning fat for energy instead of sugar. Dr. Kay Linker explains that it improves your mitochondria, the energy powerhouses in your cells, which literally means you are making your body younger at the cellular level.
Here is what that looks like in real life:
For most people, Zone 2 falls around 60 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate.
A quick way to estimate that is:
220 minus your age = your maximum heart rate.
Then, multiply that number by 0.6 and 0.7 to find your Zone 2 range.
Example:
If you are 35, your maximum heart rate is roughly 185 beats per minute.
Your Zone 2 range would be between 110 and 130 beats per minute.
What Zone 2 can look like:
A brisk walk where you can still hold a conversation
A steady bike ride or treadmill incline walk
Hiking, swimming laps, or even playing actively with your kids
Anything that keeps you moving and slightly breathy but not breathless counts.
In simple terms, Zone 2 training makes your heart, muscles, and metabolism more efficient. When you build that foundation, everything else like strength, endurance, and recovery get better too.
Okay, So How Do We Actually Do This?
Let’s make it real, because you do not need to spend hours in the gym to get the benefits.
Here’s how you can build longevity and VO₂ Max into your everyday, busy life:
1. Walk like it matters.
A brisk walk where you can still chat but feel your heart rate up? That’s Zone 2. Even 30 minutes, 3–4 times a week, makes a huge difference.
2. Add a few short “huff and puff” moments.
Once or twice a week, push harder for a few minutes, sprinting up stairs, cycling, or running after your kids. That’s your VO₂ Max work.
3. Use your tools.
If you have a smartwatch, check your heart rate zones. Zone 2 is typically around 60–70% of your max heart rate.
4. Think longevity, not calories.
You’re not training to be sore. You’re training to stay alive, sharp, and confident.
5. Remember, maintenance is medicine.
Movement helps regulate blood sugar, hormones, mood, and sleep. It’s not punishment. It’s your prescription for feeling good.
My Takeaway
Movement looks different for me now. It’s not six-hour swim practices, boutique group classes, or chasing a look. It’s walking with my kids, doing a quick strength circuit between patients, or hopping on the bike for 20 minutes when I can.
The shift happened when I stopped seeing movement as something I owe my body, and started seeing it as something I give it.
VO₂ Max and Zone 2 training are just fancy ways to measure something that’s always been true: when you move your body, you extend your life.
And maybe little 6-year-old me already knew that. She just didn’t have the data to back it up yet.
