What Actually Matters for Longevity

hollienicholsonfit
Nov 24, 2025
6 min read

Let’s Just Say It: Longevity Has Become… A Lot

Everywhere you look, someone’s plunging themselves into a freezing tub at 5 a.m., doing three minutes of red light therapy, jumping up and down on a mini trampoline for lymphatic drainage, journaling in seven colors, cold-plunging again (just to be safe), and finishing their “morning protocol” sometime around lunch.

Meanwhile, the women I work with are:

eating breakfast while doing their hair
breaking up sibling arguments
cleaning a lunchbox they just washed
looking at a calendar that feels like a Tetris game
trying not to burn the eggs

And people expect them to biohack longevity with 17 steps before sunrise?

Not happening.

I coach busy, midlife women. Women who carry a LOT. Women who don’t need guilt layered on top of hormone changes and already feel stretched too thin.

So no — I’m not going to tell you to start cold plunging. (And for the record: it’s actually not ideal for most midlife women anyway.)

I’m not against grounding either — but I prefer walking to the mailbox barefoot, or watering my flowers in the summer, or laying in my yard like a happy golden retriever. Not a $200 grounding mat.

Longevity should NOT feel like a part-time job, and it definitely shouldn’t require equipment from NASA. I always like to think back to our ancestors- they didn’t have this fancy stuff and they were healthy!

I’m all about big rocks — the habits that actually move the needle.

Let’s talk about those.

What Longevity Actually Means

(Because you deserve clarity more than you need another trend.)

Scientifically, longevity is about:

lifespan: how long you live
healthspan: how long you live well

And listen: I don’t want to live to 98 if the last 30 years feel miserable.

My definition of longevity?

I want to be independent.
I want to have a clear mind.
I want to take care of my home.
I want to ski with my husband when I’m 70.
I want to get on the floor and play with my grandkids.
I want to carry groceries at 80.

I once trained a woman who was widowed. Her biggest longevity goal?

“I want to be strong enough to stand on a step stool and lift my nice dishes back into the cabinet.”

That stuck with me. Because in our 30s, we’re running ourselves ragged with cardio — not realizing the real test of aging is whether we can lift dishes overhead without falling.

1. Strength: The #1 Predictor of Longevity (Not Running. Not Steps. Not Supplements.)

Dr. Peter Attia — one of the leading voices in longevity — says the strongest predictor of your long-term independence is strength and stability.

Grip strength, specifically, is a massive indicator of:

how long you’ll live
how well you’ll live
whether you’ll maintain independence in your later decades

He often highlights the “carry your bodyweight for one minute” test. Women who can do this? They age better. Live longer. Stay independent.

And this is why STRONG doesn’t focus on being cute.Or small. Or “toned.”

We build muscle. On purpose.

Because muscle is your metabolic reserve, your fall prevention, your blood sugar protection, and your balance insurance policy.

2. Muscle: Your 401(k) of Aging

Dr. Gabrielle Lyon calls muscle “the organ of longevity.” Not a luxury, but it is a requirement.

Women lose muscle FAST after 35 — and drastically after 40 — unless they strength train consistently.

More muscle means:

better blood sugar
better bone density
better balance
better metabolism
better hormone regulation
fewer injuries
more independence

This is why your protein matters. This is why your 40g per meal matters. This is why lifting 4x/week matters.

You’re not just sculpting a physique. It’s more important than that, you’re building a future.

3. Walking: The Most Underestimated Longevity Tool on Earth

Blue Zones — the longest-living populations in the world — don’t walk because they’re chasing 10,000 steps on their Apple Watch.

They walk because their life requires it:

they move naturally throughout the day
they’re outside
they gather with neighbors
they garden, clean, cook, visit, carry, climb
they live in community

Their movement isn’t a workout… it’s a lifestyle. AND might I add that it’s not on a treadmill… it is OUTSIDE! (read that again)

Walking improves:

Cortisol
Digestion
blood sugar
sleep
inflammation
moodmental clarity

And here’s the part every midlife woman needs to hear:

You do NOT need 10,000 steps to improve your longevity. You just need consistent movement.

Start with 20 minutes a day — that alone makes a measurable difference in:

stress
metabolic health
cardiovascular health

Walking is free medicine. You don’t need to track it perfectly. You just need to do it consistently.

4. Sleep: The Most Boring, Most Important Longevity Habit

Forget the supplements. Forget the fancy routines. If you’re scrolling Instagram at midnight, nothing else matters.

Sleep is where your hormones heal. Your brain detoxifies. Your metabolism resets. Your stress levels normalize.

Sleep is longevity — period.

5. Stress: The Real Longevity Killer for Midlife Women

We have WAY more stressors than our moms did.

Our moms:

dropped us off at practice
ran errands
picked us up
maybe got a call from school once a year

Moms today:

Life 360 alerts Sports apps Group texts News notifications School emails Social media Constant accessibilityOur nervous system is stretched thin.

No wonder we’re fried.

Realistic longevity stress tools:

2 minutes outside in morning sunlight
walking without your phone
breathwork
grounding in your yard
actual boundaries
prayer
being “unavailable” on purpose
lowering digital noise

Longevity doesn’t require a retreat. It requires recovery. (For more on stress, you can read my blog post here.

6. Faith, Calling, and Why This Matters to Me

This part is personal.

Josh and I lost his mom suddenly at 63. She was so young. She had so much life left. She would have loved to watch her grandkids grow up.

I also lost my grandmother young and so did he. And while I don’t pretend I can prevent tragedy — and I fully believe God numbers our days — I also believe this:

Stewardship is part of my calling.

God gives us:

Bodies
biology
Wisdom
Opportunities
responsibility

We don’t control the outcome. But we ARE responsible for the choices we can make.

When Josh and I watched The Blue Zones documentary, we felt this urge to overhaul our lives.

But listen —I’m not moving to Sardinia. I’m not planting a giant garden (yet).I don’t have to walk three miles to get my water.

But we DID realize there were things we could improve.

We can:

walk more
stress less
Continue to strengthen our bodies
eat protein
show up for our people
pray more
live with purpose, that part is fully in our control.

7. What DOESN’T Improve Longevity (but gets all the attention)

Let’s take a breath before I say this…Cold plunges.

There. I said it.

It’s not the magic people claim it is — especially for midlife women with sensitive cortisol systems.

Also not required:

grounding mats
red light panels
Cryotherapy
Ozone
NAD
expensive supplements
endless biohacks
influencer morning routines
14-step protocols
$500 gadgets

If it requires a binder? I’m out.

If it requires a spreadsheet? No, thank you. (My husband would challenge this one)

If it require 90 minutes a day? Not happening.

You do NOT need to be a wellness influencer to live long.

8. The Big Things that Actually Matter for Longevity "Rocks" — Your Real Longevity Plan

Lift 4x/week: Build muscle. Non-negotiable.
Walk daily: 20 minutes. Every woman can do this.
Eat protein consistently: 40g per meal. Stop being afraid of eating enough.
Sleep: The free hormone therapy no one wants to commit to.
Stress boundaries: Not a spa day — actual nervous system support.
Faith & purpose: Your spirit is a longevity organ.
Community: We thrive longer when we’re not alone.
Longevity Isn’t Complicated — It’s Consistent. You don’t need expensive gadgets. You don’t need a cold plunge. You don’t need a perfect routine.