倒转你的体质时钟

Turn Back Your Body Clock

倒转你的体质时钟

SO DO YOU WANT TO LIVE FOREVER?

所以你想长生不老吗？

To calculate your fitness age, visit worldfitnesslevel.org to fill out Wisløff ’s detailed online questionnaire (and be sure to read “How to Calculate Your Fitness Age,” on the next page, for our analysis of the questions). Once you’ve got your fitness age, you can supplement your training program with a scientifically proven fitness-age-reducing intervention.

想要计算自己的体质年龄，请登陆韦斯弗博士的网站worldfitnesslevel.org，填写一份详细的网络问卷（一定要阅读下一页的“如何计算你的体质年龄”，主要为了进行问卷问题分析）。在获得了自己的体质年龄后，你就可以调整自己的训练计划，增加一些有助于降低体质年龄的运动项目。

Even if you don’t calculate your exact fitness age, you can still follow these six tips to boost your body’s cardiorespiratory fitness, bulletproofing your health while leaving plenty of time to do all the activities you love: pick-up hoops, distance running, or improving those max bench and squat numbers inside the power rack. Whatever your goals are, here are the six ways to keep your body young.

就算你没有精确计算自己的体质年龄，你也可以考虑一下下文给出的六个建议，并在这个基础上调整运动计划，不断加强自己的心肺功能，增强体质健康，并给你热爱的运动项目留出时间，比如提圈运动，定距跑，或提高举重项目的各项数值。不管你的目标是什么，下面这六种方法会让你的身体保持年轻。

STAY YOUNG TIP NO. 1: SUPERCHARGE YOUR HEART

永葆年轻的第一步：充分利用你的心脏

When Wisløff began to design a training program that could boost VO2 max and reduce fitness age, he asked himself one fundamental question: What limits the body’s ability to uptake oxygen?

韦斯弗在设计相关运动项目时，他的目的是使该项目可以提升运动者的最大摄氧量（VO2 max）并且降低体质年龄。因此，他问了自己一个问题：是什么因素限制了我们的身体进行氧气摄取。

Wisløff knew skeletal muscles weren’t the principal problem—they can handle more blood than they can possibly get. He also knew that the lungs, while crucial, couldn’t be dramatically altered with training. But the heart is highly trainable, and increasing the heart’s pumping capacity—the amount of blood it can pump in a given amount of time— directly increases the body’s ability to uptake and distribute oxygen.

韦斯弗很清楚骨骼肌不是首要的原因，因为它们能处理的血流量比获取到的血量要多。同时，他也明白肺也不是主要原因，尽管肺在氧气摄取上非常关键，但无论怎样锻炼，肺都不会有所改变。但是，心脏是可以锻炼的，通过增强心脏的摄血能力（即在一定时间内心脏泵出的血量），身体对于氧气的摄取和分配就会有所提高。

In other words, a more efficient, more powerful heart leads directly to a higher VO2 max.

换句话说，一个人若拥有更强大，效率更高的心脏，那么他身体的最大摄氧量就越高。

But how exactly do you train your heart to be more efficient and powerful? Two factors govern pumping capacity: maximal heart rate and stroke volume. Your maximal heart rate is inborn. (What’s the best formula? 211 minus your age multiplied by 0.64.) No matter how hard you train, that number will tick down throughout your life. But

you can do a lot to increase the stroke volume of your heart. “The heart is like any other muscle,” Wisløff says. “It must be loaded to get trained. And the only healthy way to challenge the heart’s pumping capacity is to fill it with maximal amounts of blood for long periods of time.”

然而，要通过什么样的训练，你的心脏才能更加强大，并且效率更高？有两个因素控制了心脏的泵血能力：最大心率和每搏输出量。一个人的最大心率是出生就决定的（最好的计算公式：211减去你的年龄再乘以0.64），无论再怎样锻炼，这个数值只会随着年龄的增长而越来越小。但好消息是，通过锻炼，你可以增加自己心脏的每搏输出量。“心脏和其他肌肉是一样的”韦斯弗表示，“心脏必须进行负压训练，并且为了增强心脏泵血功能，唯一健康的方式就是以尽可能长的时间使心脏保持并充满最大血量。

The heart achieves maximum stroke volume when it’s pumping at 85–95% of its maximum beats per minute. (For most people, the 85–90% range is sufficient.) So if you want to boost your VO2 max, Wisløff says, you’ll want to work out within that range of cardiorespiratory intensity for as long as you possibly can. If you do it right, you’ll end up with an “athlete’s heart,” one that’s bigger, contracts more forcefully, and relaxes quicker. As Wisløff puts it: “You’ll have a better motor.”

当心脏的泵血速度到达每分钟最快心率的85-95%的时候，心脏就达到了最大的每搏输出量，对大多数人而言，85-90%就足够了。韦斯弗表示，如果你想提高自己的最大摄氧量，对你身体的心肺训练强度就要处于这一区间，如果你能够正确训练，你就可以得到一颗运动员的心脏，它更大，收缩更有力，并且能够更快放松。用韦斯弗的话说就是，你将拥有一个更好的发动机。

STAY YOUNG TIP NO. 2: FOUR MINUTES IS YOUR INTERVAL SWEET SPOT

永葆年轻的第二步：4分钟的间隔训练是最佳训练计划

So how exactly do you get your heart rate to the 85% threshold, and how long can you (and should you) keep it there?

所以你怎样锻炼才能让心率达到85%的阈值，以及你需要让这样的心率保持多长时间呢？

It usually takes more than a minute of vigorous exercise before you reach maximum stroke volume. That’s easy enough to do—try running, cycling, or rowing really hard for 60 seconds—but the trickier and more exhausting part is keeping your heart rate and stroke volume locked at that rate. The key to mentally and physically sustaining that kind of workload, Wisløff says, is to use interval training.

在达到最大每搏输出量之前，运动者需要进行一分钟以上的高强度运动。要达到这一点并不难，你可以尝试进行60秒的高强度跑步，骑行，或划船运动。但是最困难的部分在于，运动者需要将自己的心率和每搏输出量保持在这个最大频率。根据韦斯弗的建议，想要在心理上和生理上保持那么高的运动强度，可以尝试进行间隔训练法。

“It is obvious that one cannot exercise for very long periods of time at 85–95% of maximal heart rate,” he says. “But intervals get you up to that needed intensity” and give you enough rest in between “to get rid of lactic acid that builds up during the interval.”

“一个人在保持85-95%最大心率的基础上，当然无法运动很长的时间。”他表示，“但是间隔训练法可以帮助你达到必要的强度，同时你也能获得充足的休息，并且在这期间，你的身体可以避免乳酸的堆积。

But not all interval training is equal. Sprint intervals of one minute or less can get your heart rate past the 85% threshold, but they just don’t give your heart enough sustained work at its maximum stroke volume. Tabata training with 20-second maximum- intensity intervals followed by 10 seconds of rest can work, but be aware that your heart rate drops as soon as you stop moving. (And the more fit you are, the faster your heart rate plummets.) If your goal is to improve VO max, then it’s better to keep your heart pumping consistently at 85% of its maximum rate than for it to be yo-yoing from 75–100% of its max rate throughout your active workout time.

但不是所有的间隔训练法都是等效的。1分钟左右的加速跑也许可以让你的心率达到85%这个阈值, 但你的心脏并不能维持最大的每搏输出量。Tabata运动的可行性可能更高，它包括20秒的高强度运动，紧接着是10秒的休息，但你必须注意的是，一旦你停止活动，你的心率就会掉下来。事实是，你的身体越强壮，你的心率掉得就越快。如果你的目标是提高最大摄氧量，那在整个运动期间，你最好将自己的最大心率控制在85%左右，而不是让最大心率在75-100%这个区间徘徊

How long is the ideal stroke-volume maximizing interval? In theory, make it as long as possible. (If you can push out 30-minute intervals at 90% of your max heart rate, go ahead and do it. Also, congratulations, your VO2 max is almost certainly spectacular.) Wisløff and his colleagues found that four minutes is a length most can manage. It lets your heart pump at its maximum stroke capacity for an extended time, and it’s sustainable for untrained individuals and beneficial to elite athletes looking to boost their already excellent CRF.

最理想的每搏输出量最大化间隔锻炼法需要持续多长时间呢？理论上来看，越长越好。如果你能持续进行30分钟的间隔训练，并保持90%的最大心率，你可以继续这样进行下去。同时，也得恭喜你，你的最大摄氧量已经到了非常惊人的级别了。韦斯弗和他的同事发现，仅4分钟的训练就可以到达这个目标。并且，你心脏以最大每搏输出量进行泵血的时间还会持续下去。对于业余训练者而言，这样的运动是可以持续进行下去的，对那些精英运动员而言，这样的训练也能够进一步提高他们的心肺功能（CRF）

Wisløff ’s recommended program is simple: A 10-minute warmup, followed by four four-minute intervals of large muscle mass exercise (running, cycling, rowing, swimming, cross-country skiing) broken up by three minutes of active rest (a very low-intensity version of whatever you’re doing).

韦斯弗建议的训练模式是这样的，10分钟左右的热身运动，4分钟的大肌群间隔运动，如跑步，骑行，划船，游泳或越野滑雪，在每一个4分钟的间隔进行3分钟左右的充分休息，当然在这期间，你也可以进行一些低强度的运动。

The results can be dramatic. After the seven-week program, Wisløff has seen spikes in VO max and benefits that go beyond CRF into weight-loss and lean-muscle gain. In Norway the response has been ecstatic.

这样运动的效果是十分惊人的。在该项目进行7周之后，韦斯弗本人的最大摄氧量得到了显著的提高，这一运动不仅锻炼了他的心肺功能，他的体重也减轻了，体型也变得更加匀称。在挪威，这一运动模式收到了前所未有的欢迎。

“The biggest newspaper here [Verdens Gang] presented this program on their online version,” Wisløff says. “That story is the most visited story in that newspaper’s history. Now there are even training groups and training centers around Norway that are using this. It’s used a lot.”

“挪威最大的报纸在其官方网站上报到了这样的运动模式。”韦斯弗表示，“这篇文章是这家报纸历史上访问人数最多的一篇文章。在挪威以及周边国家，许多训练组织或训练中心都采用了这样的方法，它受到了广泛关注。”

STAY YOUNG TIP NO. 3: DON’T TRAIN FOR A MARATHON

永葆年轻的第三步：不要把运动当作马拉松

Ask a random sampling of men and women to name the kind of athlete with the best cardiorespiratory fitness, and you’ll almost certainly get answers like marathoners, triathletes, and Tour de France cyclists. While this may be true at the elite level, it’s often not the case for weekend-warrior endurance athletes, and the reason is simple: Running, cycling, and swimming for long distances won’t push your heart to its maximal stroke volume, so they won’t do a lot to improve VO2 max if you are already in good shape and go hard for four minutes.

如果你随便问一下人们，你觉得哪种运动员的心肺功能最好，你得到的答案可能是从事马拉松，铁人三项的运动员，或环法自行车赛车手。对于精英运动员而言，这个答案也许是正确的，但对于业余的耐力训练选手，事实往往不是这样。原因十分简单：长距离的跑步，骑行或游泳并不能使你的心脏达到最大的每搏输出量，因此，如果你已经拥有良好的体型并坚持4分钟间隔训练，你的最大摄氧量就不会得到提升。

“I know a lot of endurance athletes on a really high level,” Wisløff says. “Even in those people we have been able to improve fitness a lot by exchanging two to three hours of running for periodization of 4x4 intervals or even 3x3 intervals”

“我认识很多高水平的耐力运动员，对他们而言，如果他们将自己的训练计划改成两到三小时的4x4或是3x3的间隔训练，他们的健康水平还能够得到进一步的提高。”韦斯弗说。

Wisløff himself is a runner. He likes to go on 45-minute runs through the forest near his home in Trondheim, Norway. When he does, he makes sure that he is giving his heart extended periods of time above the 85% threshold by working in long, steep uphills. “I would like to say that low-intensity long distance is the best, because I like to do that,” he says. “But it’s surely not the best.”

韦斯弗自己就是一个跑步爱好者。他家位于挪威的特隆赫姆市，他喜欢在他家附近的森林里进行45分钟左右的跑步运动。每次运动时，他都要确保自己的心脏能够保持85%的每搏输出阈值，所以他选择进行长距离的上坡运动。“我想说，其实低强度的长距离跑是最理想的运动方案，但我喜欢自己的方式，虽然它不是最好的。”

STAY YOUNG TIP NO. 4: CONSIDER SUPPLEMENTS BUT FORGET HYPOXIC MASKS

永葆青春的第四步：考虑补充方案，并摘掉隔氧面罩

You’ve seen those heart-healthy labels at the supermarket, and you know that “eating clean” is a good thing for your health. So can you eat your way to a lower fitness age? Nope.

也许你在超市中经常见到那些宣称保持心脏健康的商标，同时你也知道清洁饮食对健康的促进作用。那么，依靠饮食，你可以拥有一个更低的体质年龄吗？当然不可能。

“Indirectly, it’s important to have a good diet, because if your diet is better, you adapt better to exercise,” Wisløff says. “Supplements can also help. There have been some reports that if you drink beetroot juice or take a supplement with a lot of nitric oxide in it, it may help your cardiorespiratory fitness.”

“从一方面讲，好的饮食是很关键的，因为如果你的饮食越好，你进行运动的效果就越好，”韦斯弗表示，“必要的饮食补充确实有必要，一些新闻报道表明，如果你经常喝红甜菜汁，或经常补充富含一氧化碳的食物，你的心肺功能就会有所提高。”

But what about training at elevation or working out on the treadmill with one of those Predator–style hypoxic masks? After all, don’t all the top endurance athletes run high up in the mountains? Wouldn’t just living at altitude boost your VO2 max and reduce your fitness age? Nope. The science on hypoxic masks is thin. “Even though there are some believers out there, I know that world-class endurance athletes in, for instance, some cross-country skiing do not use them,” Wisløff says. While some world-class endurance athletes travel to high altitudes to train, the effect on performance is tiny. If you’re the third-best half-miler in the world and you want to become the best half-miler in the world, then by all means move to La Paz, Bolivia (altitude: nearly 12,000 feet). But if you’re something other than an Olympian, you’re going to make the same gains if you do all your interval training in Miami.

那么，人们是否需要在高海拔地区进行运动，或使用那种面目狰狞的隔氧面罩在跑步机上进行运动呢？那些高水平的耐力运动员不都是在高山地带进行训练吗？是不是只需住在高海拔地区就能提高最大摄氧量，并且降低身体的体质年龄？别做梦了，当然不可能。有关隔氧面罩的科学原理基本没有，“但还是有很多人选择相信这个东西，我知道很多世界级的运动员，比如在越野滑雪项目中，他们都不用这样的面罩。”韦斯弗说。尽管有许多世界级运动员在高原地区进行训练，但这样的训练对他们比赛的表现没有特别大的影响。如果你是世界上排名第三的半公里跑步运动员，你又想成为世界第一，那么你完全可以去玻利维亚的拉帕兹高原，这里的海拔约12000英尺。但是，如果你不是一个奥林匹克运动员，不管在哪里运动，你最终得到的效果都是一样的，就算在迈阿密也是如此。

STAY YOUNG TIP NO. 5 SAVE TIME FOR CROSS-TRAINING

永葆年轻的第五步：给交叉训练留出更多时间

You might expect that Wisløff would advise those looking to reduce their fitness age to do nothing but lung- busting sessions of 4x4 interval training. But he knows personally that such a course would be counterproductive.

也许你会期待，韦斯弗会给那些想要降低自己体质年龄的人建议，你需要进行让自己肺部炸裂的4x4间隔训练。但他自己非常清楚，这样的运动方式只能是背道而驰。

“I can’t just do 4x4,” he says. “I think it’s totally boring to do just that.” In his fitness-age-reducing fitness program, Wisløff reserves days for fun runs and 60-minute activities like five-a-side soccer, and he practices what he preaches. He performs 4x4 interval training only a couple of times per week. (One session is always a lab-wide workout in which he leads his 60-person staff in exercises.) The rest of the time, he works out like an outdoorsy and not especially fitness-obsessed man. He plays a weekly game of soccer. He kayaks. In November, he ended one e-mail to me with “good cross-country skiing conditions here now!” Wisløff views the 4x4 training as a key fitness intervention, something everyone should and can integrate into the fitness routine that they’re already doing.

“我不能只做4x4间隔训练，”他说“因为这样做实在是太无聊了。”在他倡导下的降低体质年龄的项目中，韦斯弗仍然保留了一些他喜欢的跑步运动，以及一些持续60分钟的活动，比如五人足球，他践行着他所宣扬的这一项目。每周，他只会进行几次的4x4间隔训练，其中有一次还是在他的实验室中和他领导的60人团队进行训练。其他的时间他都会选择进行户外运动，并且他也不是一个痴迷健身的人。他每周会踢一场足球，他也进行皮划艇运动。今年十一月，他发给我了一封邮件，信中他说“现在这个时间太适合越野滑雪了。”韦斯弗认为4x4间隔训练是一个十分关键的手段，所有人都可以考虑把这样的运动方式纳入现有的训练方案中。

“When I stopped playing soccer, and I got kids, I became more inactive. But when I started to become active again, I would do interval training two times one week, then three times the next, and that’s a really good way to improve fitness quickly,” Wisløff says. “It’s an oxygen cure.”

“当我不再踢足球，并有了自己的孩子，我变得不爱运动，但当我再次动起来，我每周可以进行2次间隔训练，然后是3次，事实证明，这确实是快速提高身体素质的好方法”韦斯弗表示，“这个方案是由氧气创造的一种解药。”

Stay Young Tip No. 6: Choose Your Devices Wisely

永葆年轻的第六步：慎重选择适合你的器械

By now you’ve probably realized that many popular device-based approaches to improving fitness just don’t pass muster when you’re trying to reduce fitness age. Walk 10,000 steps per day? Why? Your heart rate is never going to get anywhere close to a range where you can lower your fitness age. Exercise for 150 minutes per week? Sure, that sounds good. But what’s your real output going to be? Heart rate is a better measure, but Wisløff realized that on its own, it didn’t mean a whole lot overall. “I’ve been struggling and trying to find how we can translate changes in heart rate into a meaningful index that actually tells me if I’m doing enough exercise per week to be protected against lifestyle-related diseases,” Wisløff says.

也许你现在已经意识到了，很多需要器械参与的运动并不能有效提高你的身体素质，更不能降低你的体质年龄。每天走10000步？为什么要这样？你的心率绝不会达到阈值范围从而降低你的体质年龄。每周锻炼150分钟怎么样？听起来当然不错，但真正的效果如何呢？与这些数值相比，心率也许是一个更好的测量标准，但根据韦斯弗的说法，心率本身并没有太多的意义。“我们投入很多精力寻找如何将心率的变化转换成有指导意义的指标，这样运动者就可以在一周内进行足够的运动，从容提升自己的心脏功能，抵御由生活方式导致的疾病。”韦斯弗说。

What he came up with was a new metric called Personalized Activity Intelligence (PAI), which is basically Wisløff ’s fitness-age calculator in weekly-exercise-plan app form. Your PAI goal is to maintain a weekly score of more than 100. That’s the point at which Wisløff ’s studies show that a man’s risk of cardiovascular disease gets reduced by 17%. (After that point, you’ll get fitter, but your risk of cardiovascular disease won’t significantly decrease.)

他提出的这一套新测量方法叫做“个性化活动信息指南”（PAI），可以说它是韦斯弗在周运动计划基础上设计出的体质年龄计算器，同时它有app版本。你的PAI目标就是使自己的每周运动得分超过100。根据韦斯弗团队的研究，这个得分可以使得运动者在心血管疾病方面减少17%的患病概率。超过这个得分，你的身体素质也会变得更好，但你患心血管疾病的概率并不会显著降低

A couple of exercises per week that in total raise your heart rate so you breathe heavily for about 40 minutes will give you 100 PAI. You can get it also by exercising at moderate intensity for a few hours. The higher the intensity the more PAI you earn. It absolutely can be achieved by low to moderate intensity as well.

每周，在运动过程中，保持40分钟的高强度呼吸，不断提高自己的心率，你的PAI就会到达100分。当然，你也可以通过进行几小时的中等强度运动达到这个分数。运动强度越高，你的PAI就越高，当然中低强度的运动也是可以到达这个标准的。

Daily workouts are not required. “The data is so clear. You don’t need to exercise every day; you just need to have 100 PAI per week,” Wisløff says. So superintense workouts like 4x4 interval training can easily be spaced out with rest days or days of low-intensity workouts, and you’ll still be bulletproofing your body and health. By that point, you might even be able to compete with Wisløff. His fitness age, he told me, is below 20.

每天都进行运动是没有必要的。“数据十分清晰明了，你不需要每天都进行锻炼，你只需要每周拿到100点PAI就可以了。”韦斯弗说。如果运动者选择4x4间隔训练这样的高强度运动，那么他可以很轻松的地到达分数，并且在剩余的时间进行低强度的锻炼，同时，你的身体会越来越强健。过一段时间，也许你就可以和韦斯弗一较高下了。他告诉我，他的体质年龄低于20岁。