Built to Last: David Amerland's Blueprint for Lasting Health
“Taking charge of your health and fitness is not as difficult as you may think and it is never too late to do it; and when you do, everything else will change for you in your life.“
—David Amerland
David Amerland is a multifaceted author, speaker, and analyst renowned for his expertise in digital marketing, human behavior, and personal development. Transitioning from a background in chemical engineering with a focus on quantum dynamics, he ventured into the realms of SEO, social media marketing, and branding. Throughout his career, Amerland has authored numerous books, including the best-selling The Sniper Mind and Built to Last, and has contributed articles to esteemed publications such as Forbes and Inc. His work delves into understanding the mechanics of human behavior and how they influence both online and offline interactions.
In his book, Built To Last: How To Get Stronger, Healthier, And Happier At Every Stage Of Life, David Amerland presents a comprehensive, science-backed approach to achieving lifelong fitness, emphasizing the importance of customizing exercise routines to individual needs. He highlights that taking charge of one's health and fitness is not as difficult as it may seem, and that initiating this journey can lead to transformative changes across various aspects of life.
5 Questions with David Amerland
1. You discuss the “paradox of fitness” and why so many people struggle with it despite knowing its benefits. Can you break that down for us?
Every year across the globe, we spend about $828 billion on fitness. Developed world governments, collectively, spend another $200 - $300 or so, billion on fitness awareness programs and public health initiatives. Yet, each year, the figures show that the number of people who are getting heavier and the number of people who are not exercising regularly only increase.
Clearly there is a disconnect here.
When we are awash with information on why and how to exercise and we still fail at it isn’t because we don’t have willpower or don’t understand the benefits of exercise. To solve this we need to look deeper at the individual, examine how our very make-up, the neurobiology we possess and the biomechanics we have developed over tens of thousands of years, trip us up and undermine our best efforts to get fitter and healthier. We need to do this in tandem with our environment and lifestyle, the pressures that society applies to us, and the self-medicating reactions we engage in to manage them better. It is only when we apply this holistic, kinder and less judgmental approach that we begin to understand that our health is what enables us to become better humans and be more successful. This realization is not easy to make and the journey to it is always going to be personal for every individual. But when it is made; everything changes.
2. You talk about what to do when you're having a panic attack. Can you break that down for us?
A panic attack is a physiological response to a perceived threat that goes a little haywire. The body releases chemicals like epinephrine, also known as adrenaline, and norepinephrine, which cause the heart to go into overdrive, pupils to swell and our skin to release sweat. Our brain shuts down the energy-intensive, analytical parts of it and we’re left with what amounts to instinctive reactions. All of this is driven by a part of our wiring called the sympathetic nervous system.
Because the body is designed to return to a neurochemically balanced state there is another part of its wiring called the parasympathetic nervous system whose task is to calm us down. Deep breathing exercises that activate it enable us to seize control of our body’s seemingly uncontrollable response to a perceived threat and calm our body and brain down so we can react in a controlled and emotionally regulated manner. Having that knowledge and developing that simple skill in today’s complex world amplifies our efficiency by orders of magnitude.
3. If you had to design a 10-minute workout for someone who claims they “don’t have time,” what would it include?
The biggest obstacle to the “I don’t have time” is not time but perceived difficulty. Something that we think is going to tire us, make us feel inadequate and insecure in our capabilities or exhaust us is unlikely to be something we reach for, no matter how much time we have. At the same time we know that we need a small challenge in order to trigger the body’s adaptive response and physically change. I would always start with the “do what you can easily do” rule.
If it’s push-ups, squats and running on the spot, for instance, and a person can do all this, then filling up ten minutes worth of them in a rotational basis (so you get the sets in) is an awesome, all-round workout that contains elements for strength, mobility and aerobic fitness. These three exercises recruit virtually all of the body’s systems and activate all the major muscle groups. They could therefore be modified to also fit any level of fitness and any age group. Push-ups can be done on a person’s knees, easing the load on their arms, chest and shoulders if that’s an issue. Squats can be done with a chair where a person sits down and stands up without using their arms to assist them. Running on the spot can be march steps where each knee is raised to waist height (or as close to it as possible) without, however, having the impact of running on the spot.
4. Inflammation is a major contributor to chronic disease. What are the best strategies for reducing chronic inflammation through diet and lifestyle?
We need to keep in mind that the body’s inflammatory response is what leads to physical adaptations which make us stronger and fitter. The body also experiences inflammation as part of its immune response to external threats from pathogens we breathe in or which enter our body through our mouth or perhaps cuts we have. So the point is to reduce unnecessary inflammation like that caused by certain foods (like excessive consumption of red meat or highly refined food products), refined wheat flour, alcohol consumption, smoking, and chronic stress. Exercise is a potent intervention in stress reduction in the body but reducing the amount of stress we are exposed to, or controlling it better, is also key.
Because stress is something we experience to events, we don’t control the key elements to better health. The ones we can attain the easiest: exercise more, sleep better, and eat better foods. Avoid alcohol, smoking, and the excess consumption of sugar. If we put this into effect by improving at first what is easiest for us to improve we will feel a positive difference in how our body reacts to the unexpected events that stress us out.
5. You’ve written extensively about cognitive function and neuroscience. What role does mental training play in becoming more resilient and improving our healthspan?
In the past, we tended to overlook the brain when it came to exercise, health and longevity. We thought that because it has no moving parts it cannot experience ‘wear & tear’ we also thought that it sustains no damage from stress and bad lifestyle choices and, if it did, it recovers quickly.
None of this is correct.
The brain’s complex chemistry is highly susceptible to stress and bad lifestyle factors. Although it is a very resilient organ it is also a vulnerable one. Luckily for us we know, these days, that the intertwining of the brain and body in an indivisible whole means that what is good for the body from a health and fitness point of view is also good for the brain. Also, we know that we can use our brain to visualize what we do when we are engaged in formal exercise and less formal everyday activities that get us moving and that visualization component increases the health efficacy of what we do by, sometimes, as much as 13%!
The ability to recognize stress triggers and mitigate the effect of stress through breathing and, at a later stage, exercise requires cognitive awareness. The ability of the brain to remain positive, optimistic and hopeful even in the face of the most difficult situations allows the body to weather them better. Humor, a positive attitude, kindness and generally pro-social behaviors and a pro-social attitude do not, on the surface, appear to be “mental training” but they’re just that. They allow us to build margin in our body by constantly reducing inflammation and stress and they make us stronger not just mentally but also physically, as a result.
Find more from David on his website, DavidAmerland.com. You can find his book, Built to Last, on Amazon and at most book retailers.
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