My Plan to Live to 100 (8 Fundamentals that Work)

One of the best parts about being a cyclist is that our training lifestyle is really good for living longer. Not only does riding bikes, weightlifting, healthy nutrition, and sleep help us be better cyclists, but these habits contribute directly to longevity and health span. I mean, take a look at yourself compared to your non- cycling friends. Case in point, your recent high school reunion.

And with the rise in books like Outlive and the documentary Blue Zones, it hit me. Why stop at just trying to be a better cyclist, why don't we also try to live to be 100? And so in this video, I'm going to share the eight ways I plan to live to 100 and why. You won't find any hacks, supplements, billionaire protocols here.

Just good, clean, scienceback fundamentals that you may already be practicing. Let me know what you're doing to live longer in the comments. What's up everyone? I'm Coach Frank Overton.

Some call me the big cat and I'm the founder of Fast Cat Coaching, the creator of the Coach Cat app that analyzes some of the health data that I'll be talking about today. I've been practicing and preaching these fundamentals for 25 years as an athlete and a cycling coach. And more recently, I set a goal to live to 100 since I already had a 25 year head start on living this way. Here are the eight ways I'm going to live to 100.

Exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress management, relationships, purpose and mission, riding on dirt more, and blood testing. But let's start with why I want to live to 100. Because if you want to live longer, knowing your why is important. Part of it is simple.

I want more time with my children and if I'm lucky, my grandchildren. I became a dad later in life and I want to be fully present for as many chapters of their lives as I can. But there's another side to my wife. I watched my dad's health decline before he passed away.

The last 10 years were hard for him. And it opened my eyes in a way that has really never left me. And now I see my mom struggling with health issues that honestly could have been prevented with different lifestyle habits. And these two experiences made something crystal clear that small daily choices we make show up decades later.

That reality is one of the reasons I take longevity so seriously. Not out of fear, but out of awareness. And the last piece of my why is my work. Health and longevity are literally what I teach as a cycling coach.

Leading by example is the way I work. It's also part of my responsibility to the athletes I coach and you, the community I serve. So, while 100 is a catchy number, my real why is this. I want to stay healthy for as long as I possibly can for the people who matter most and to walk the same path I ask athletes to follow.

All right, that's a lot to unpack and it's exactly why this video is just the beginning. This is the first in a full series on longevity and health for cyclist and non-cyclists alike. Hit the like and subscribe button so you don't miss what's coming next. But briefly, let me scratch the surface of the ways I plan to live to 100.

Number one is exercise. Consistent four to five days a week. Aerobic cycling on the order of 5 to 10 hours per week. In longevity science, exercise is the number one lever to live longer by a mile.

Nothing else comes close. Aerobic training, strength work, improve nearly every biioarker we care about. cardiovascular fitness, V2 max, muscle mass, metabolic health. Nothing else moves all those systems like exercise does. If you're not exercising, let's get you started.

Nutrition, winning in the kitchen. You hear me talk a lot about real food, lots of protein, plants, hydration, healthy food choices, no added sugar, no hydrogenated fats, and limited, if any, alcohol. Sleep. I prioritize my sleep where I'm in bed eight and a half to nine hours a night much to the annoyance of my wife who is a night owl.

Stress management. This is an ongoing work in progress and opportunity for me as the CEO of a company. Yoga has been phenomenal for my stress management as well as moving meditation which is what I do when I ride my bike. Relationships.

There is an 80-year-old Harvard study that shows how and why relationships are one of the strongest predictors of long-term health. Go watch the TED talk on YouTube from Dr. Robert Waldinger. Purpose and mission.

My mission in life is to help cyclists enjoy their sport by sharing my knowledge and understanding of the science with software, AI, and data. I believe when you enrich the lives of others, you enrich your own. And having a strong sense of purpose combined with meaningful social engagement enhances stress resilience supports cognitive longevity and drives behaviors that linked in health span. Much more on this in future videos.

Safety. More and more these days I'm riding on dirt and less on pavement because of cars and the fear of getting hit and killed. The probability that I get hit by a car on the road is high enough that I'm not taking those chances. And not to be an old fddy duddy, but I have more or less stopped backcountry snowboarding due to avalanches.

And finally, blood testing. I'll use this analogy that blood testing is like FTP testing for your health and your body. You measure, you benchmark, you track trends, and you adjust with nutrition and medicine before problems become problems. Blood testing is very in vogue right now, and there's a lot of ways that you can get your blood tested.

And recently, I've just been going online to quest.com, ordering my own blood tests, and keeping track of my own data. I'll dive deeper into each of these eight with future videos. And while I'm not a doctor, I did get straight A's in graduate school studying physiology, taking the same courses as medical students. But more importantly, I'm a coach who spent 25 years helping cyclists.

And I've seen firsthand how your overall health affects not just your performance, but your life and your happiness. Everything I'm sharing here is what I've practiced myself and it's what I recommend to athletes I coach. Fundamentals rooted in science and habits that I believe give me the best chance to stay here as long as I can. Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one.

Let me know in the comments how you're living better, living healthy, want to live longer, and let's live well, ride long, create the longest street of our lives.

Train Smarter. Ride Faster. Live Longer with the CoachCat App /app

Most cyclists don’t realize it, but our entire training lifestyle is basically built for longevity. Aerobic riding, weight lifting, real food, and good sleep are the same fundamentals that help you live longer and stay healthy as you age.

With books like Outlive and the rise of longevity science, I finally decided to share my personal plan to live to 100 and the 8 fundamentals I'm going to use to get there.

This video is the first in a full series on Longevity & Health for cyclists and non-cyclists alike. No hacks. No supplement stacks. No billionaire biohacks. Just the fundamentals science keeps pointing to again and again.

You'll Learn:

1. Exercise: The #1 lever for healthspan: aerobic base, strength, muscle mass, and durability.

2. Nutrition: Real food, protein, plants, hydration, and sustainable habits.

3. Sleep

4. Stress Management: Daily habits that keep the nervous system calm.

5. Relationships: Backed by the 80-year Harvard Study as a top predictor of long-term health.

6. Purpose & Mission

7. Safety: Smarter riding choices (more gravel/MTB, less traffic), and stepping away from high-risk environments.

8. Blood Testing: FTP testing for your health: measure, benchmark, track trends, adjust early.

This series will go deeper into each pillar: Exercise → Nutrition → Sleep → Stress → Safety → Blood Testing

If you want to live well, ride long, and build the longest streak of your life… you’re in the right place.

Subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode.

Let’s live well. Ride long. And play the long game together. 00:00 Introduction 01:20 8 Ways to Live Longer 01:35 What's the WHY?