Performance Cardiologist | VO₂ Max, Metabolic Health & Longevity Strategist | Ironman Triathlete | Father of 3 |
Anchorage, AK
Joined January 2009
- Tweets2K
- Following389
- Followers520
- Likes4.1K
Pinned Tweet
My wife and I are wearing 4 wearables for 30 days.
Garmin. Oura. Whoop. CGM.
Baseline labs. DEXA. VO₂ max.
Same daily journal. Same scorecard I give my patients.
One question: can the data change what you actually do?
First article is live.
Is working out only on weekends enough?
2017: O’Donovan et al., 63,591 adults, 9 years.
Weekend warriors: 30% lower risk of death than the inactive. Spread across the week: 35%.
2 days a week, 50 weeks a year, is 100 workouts.
Our bodies count minutes per week, not days.
16 years yesterday.
15 years ago, one year in.
October is shoulder season and shoulder seasons get a bad rap.
I love them.
Summer was camping, soccer, travel.
Winter is school, skiing and the routine that keeps us mentally strong through the dark.
Set your winter routine now, while the light is still on your side.
Alan sees this in his athletes. I see it in my patients. I’ve seen it in myself.
If you want a window into your metabolic health read this article, follow @Alan_Couzens and consider a metabolic health test.
Put together some more thoughts for my 'stack on how your lactate curve doesn't just measure fitness, it measures your metabolic health...
At 45, I trained an hour a day & had a shitty lactate curve. 📉
At 50, it looked much better! 📈
The difference? More EASY movement. 🚶
What your lactate curve can teach you about your fitness, your mitochondria & your metabolic health! 👇
Think in years. Act in days.
Every patient wants a result by next month. Sustainable results take years.
Next year decides what kind of work you do today. Today decides whether the results will come.
Look at the calendar twice. Then close it and go do today.
Joe hates to sweat and asked how much exercise he really needs.
The new ACC statement gives a better answer:
- 150 to 300 min a week of moderate aerobic exercise
- Strength training 2 days a week
- About 7,000 steps a day
- You don’t need 10,000
The full prescription, including the talk test, six strength movements and who should get tested first: jakekellymd.substack.com/p/y…
A winter walk in Alaska is almost always a hike.
I said that on KTUU yesterday and it is good news.
What I worry about most in my patients this time of year is not the cold.
It’s the couch.
Winter is when people become sedentary.
Get outside 30 minutes a day (at least). Get cleats. Wear wool, not cotton. Bring a headlamp.
If your fingers run cold like mine, buy lobster mitts.
Don’t hibernate. Activate.
Go breathe the air.
Thanks @AKNewsNow for having me on with Dylan Gillespie of Alaska Guided Hikes this morning. Full gear list here: alaskasnewssource.com/2026/1…
2002: 6,213 men. Each extra MET of fitness, 12% better survival. Fitness out-predicted traditional risk factors.
2022: 750,302 veterans. Least fit: 4x the mortality of the most fit.
Last week the ACC told cardiologists to prescribe exercise like a drug.
"Some activity is better than none."
Myers 2002, NEJM (6,213 men; 12% per MET)
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1189…
Kokkinos 2022, JACC (750,302 veterans; 4x least fit vs most fit; lowest risk ~14 METs)
jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.…
2026 ACC Scientific Statement, Exercise Prescriptions for Cardiovascular Health in Adults
jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.…
Yesteryear: an hour a day keeps the doctor away.
Now: 2 hours a day of physical activity keeps the doctor away.
Belief:
"I'm not giving up 2 hours of every day to exercise just to live a few extra years."
Reality:
* Your miserable car commute becomes a fresh-air bike ride that you look forward to every morning. The best 2 hours of your day.
* Your fondest memories become the hikes, bikes, adventures, and active vacations you share with family and friends.
#####
You're not 'giving up' 2 hours of your life.
You're making those 2 hours - and all the others - better!
Rome, 1960. Within an hour, two Auckland club runners won Olympic gold. Same coach: Arthur Lydiard.
100 miles a week, nearly all easy, for months before any speed. You cannot sharpen a short pencil.
Six decades on, steady mileage still builds heart, mind and soul.
Build the base.
Who should get a VO2 max test?
Not everyone and not only athletes.
If you’re over 45, getting back into exercise, or want real training zones, consider it.
If you want to know about your arteries, a coronary CT scan +/- plaque analysis is a better strategy.
One surprise from my recent test:
my “60 to 70% of max heart rate” rule would have put my Zone 2 at 104 to 122 bpm.
My measured Zone 2 is 138 to 150. jakekellymd.substack.com/p/w…