The #1 Thing Making You Easier to Kill

According to the CDC, in 2020 the leading causes of death in the U.S. were:

• Heart disease

• Cancer

• COVID-19

• Accidents (unintentional injuries)

• Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases)

• Chronic lower respiratory diseases

• Alzheimer’s disease

• Diabetes

• Influenza and pneumonia

• Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis

But what these stats don't cover is root cause. What if there was one thing you could do that would dramatically reduce your risk of death (from nearly any cause), making you Harder To Kill? We believe there is a root cause and you can take action to address it.

Reduce excessive body fat.

According to the Mayo Clinic, obesity is a medical problem that increases the risk of other diseases and health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure and certain cancers.

In addition, 78% of Covid hospitalizations were patients who were overweight or obese (per the CDC).

Clearly, being overweight or obese is making people easier to kill.

And the normalization of unhealthy levels of body fat and weight is only accelerating this trend.

"Being overweight definitely does not help people live longer" said Jonathan Samet, MD, MS, director of the USC Institute for Global Health. His statement is backed by a four-continent effort involving 239 studies and data from 10.6 million people.

“Physicians should identify being overweight as posing a risk to health,” said Samet, one of the study’s authors and holder of the Flora L. Thornton Chair in Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “Increasing the risk of dying is a powerful indicator of health. The new results on overweight should be strong motivation for people to return to a healthy weight.”

Some Statistics

Over 77% of men are overweight or obese and the rate is expected to surpass 80% before the end of the decade, potentially sooner. That's 4 out of 5 men!

And many states are approaching adult obesity rates of 40%.

Our simple logic:

Being overweight or obese shortens your life expectancy making you easier to kill.

Ergo, dropping body fat until you are no longer overweight or obese makes you Harder To Kill.

Ask yourself this question: Is there any health risk that is reduced by being overweight or obese?

And assuming you aren't an NFL lineman or a sumo wrestler, is your mental and physical performance enhanced by being overweight or obese?

Definitions

A few definitions to get us on the same page.

BMI - Body mass index. A measure of body fat based on height and weight. It does not account specifically for muscle mass, body fat, bone mass or water.

Overweight - BMI of 25.0 to 29.9

Obese - BMI of 30.0 and above

Body Composition - percentages of fat, bone, water, and muscle in human bodies. Measured by various devices including DEXA and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA).

Body fat % is a division of your body fat mass by your total weight and a much better indicator of your risk of obesity than BMI.

There are a number of studies about body fat ranges. They all point to body fat % for men greater than 20% as overweight and 25% as the start of obesity.

Some of the studies segment based on age and have increasing body fat % as you get older. This is likely due to sarcopenia - the loss of muscle tissue as a result of the aging process. And if you lose muscle each year, your body fat % increases. It can be a vicious circle.

Ideal Body Fat % Ranges

Below are "Ideal" % body fat norms for men and women:

Take Action Immediately

I would wager that not one doctor's office in the U.S. measures body fat % (other than physicians operating outside of insurance). So you need to take matters into your own hands. And it is an inexpensive process.

Get your body composition tested asap.

Our preferred method of measuring body fat is the InBody scan. It is widely available, low cost, and very accurate. Most locations charge $25-30. Your health club or gym might provide complimentary InBody scans.

The DEXA scan is considered the gold standard. It is a bit more expensive ($100-150) and might require a some kind of medical referral. There is also a small amount of radiation involved. The DEXA also gives you insights on bone density which is especially important to older adults, specifically women.

Once you get your results, you'll have a starting point to create your plan of losing fat and maintaining (possibly adding) muscle.If you are a Man over 50, apply to our next cohort (details below). Our program and community are designed to make you Harder To Kill and getting below 20% body fat is the first step.

Don't Kid Yourself

If 4 out of 5 men are overweight or obese, there is an 80% chance that you as a reader are in this category. But here's the catch, there are many guys who would self select into the 20% and assume they are okay. They look "normal" and may workout and generally eat a decent diet.

But they are curious (or join our program) and get tested and come in at 20% body fat or higher. And if you are a man over 50 and are at 20% body fat, your % is likely going to continue to increase due to lifestyle and the aforementioned sarcopenia (loss of muscle with age).

Men who are under 20% are likely on a path to have their body fat % increase due to sarcopenia, a lack of protein in their diet, and little to no resistance training. Unless they take action.

Summary

Being overweight or obese increases your odds of dying prematurely. It also has a huge negative impact on your quality of life, mobility and function. There are no upsides to being overweight or obese!

If your goal is to become Harder To Kill, focus on reducing your body fat while maintaining muscle. Get an InBody scan or DEXA scan and review the results with the coach or consultant who administers the scan.

The methods you use to lose fat are important. We will cover this in a future newsletter. Quick preview: If you choose the wrong methods in your fat loss strategy, you might lose weight but your body fat % won't change much. This is because you are also losing muscle if you aren't eating and training properly.. This can end up lowering your metabolism and energy levels and make you weaker. You want to lose fat, keep muscle.

And if you are a man over 50, we cover all of this in our program and community. See below for more info on our next cohort.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please share this with 3 Men over 50 who you think might be interested in becoming Harder To Kill. Thank you!

We oversubscribed our October program called The Argent Alpha Upgrade. We will be launching a new cohort December 5, 2023 with applications closing on November 22, 2023. Seats are limited to 15 and 10 are filled as of the date of this newsletter.

Follow me on LinkedIn to get more information to make you Harder To Kill. Thank you for your support!