Reader, A recent poll found that 25% of Americans don't get enough physical activity to protect their basic health needs.
Now, I'm not a big believer in polls.
It's my belief that everyone who answers the questions – probably with the best of intentions – tells the person asking the questions exactly what they think they want to hear.
I'm convinced the number is much higher…
More like 80% to 90%.
And it's one of the reasons we're the sickest nation on the planet.1
People living this type of sedentary lifestyle have a dramatically higher risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart failure.
In fact, according to a new study, they have a higher risk of 19 life-shortening health conditions.2
At my clinic, I talk to every new patient about the kind of exercise they do. Because I have a regenerative, anti-aging practice, many of the patients I see are committed to some kind of activity.
Many are proud to tell me they do at least a couple of hours of aerobic activity every week…just like the Health Department guidelines suggest.
Each and every one of them are surprised when I tell them to stop – today.
Then I introduce them to my PACE program, which is the fastest, easiest, and most effective way to regain your native fitness.
I define native fitness as being effortlessly energetic with a naturally lean, high-performance body – without doing anything conscious to accomplish this. It's the state of vitality that arises when your body is perfectly matched to your environment.
This can only be accomplished by a short burst of exertion followed by rest and recovery. In other words, the kind of "anti-exercise" our ancient ancestors did.
This type of native fitness produces: - Expanded lung volume
- High-speed fat loss
- Reserve capacity in your heart
- A higher metabolic rate with increased insulin sensitivity
- New muscle growth and stronger bones
- Better sexual performance
A lot of people mix up my PACE program with high-intensity interval exercising.
I've heard from patients as well as readers like you that they don't believe they can work out using my PACE principle. They think you need to be in great shape before you can start.
But anyone can do PACE – no matter what shape you're in.
I like to say if you can move, you can do PACE.
PACE shifts the focus of your workout from "how long" you work out to "how intensely" you exert yourself.
It uses brief but vigorous routines of increasing intensity to help boost the strength and capacity of your heart and lungs.
The health benefits of PACE are almost endless. Here are a few things it can do for you: - Improve heart and lung power. PACE builds up your lung power to get more life-giving oxygen flowing throughout your body, especially your heart. PACE gets 400% more oxygen to your lungs and 331% to your heart.3
- Increase memory. In a study, subjects who did PACE-like exercise increased their supply of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF — a kind of growth hormone for the brain. Other studies have shown that people with the highest levels of BDNF develop dementia 50% less often than those with lower levels.4
- Stimulate stem cells. PACE activates and increases stem cells in your bone marrow and gets them circulating in the blood. Increasing the number of circulating stem cells in your body can potentially repair your heart, repair stroke damage, help bones heal, and improve muscle and tissue damage.5
- Strengthen your immunity. Stem cells are a key part of your immune system. Once in the bloodstream, these cells patrol tissues to halt infections, fight common colds and flu-like complaints, and repair tissue.
Everyone Can Do PACE – Here's How To Start Like I said earlier… If you can move, you can do PACE. You don't have to be an athlete – or even in shape – to start.
The most important thing is to increase your challenge gradually over time.
Here's a simple way to get going. - Start by walking long enough to get your muscles warmed up.
- Then pick a landmark and walk at your maximum capacity until you reach it.
- Resume walking at a leisurely pace until you recover.
- Then, choose another landmark a little further away and repeat.
- Repeat once more for a set of three.
To Your Good Health, 
Al Sears, MD, CNS
References: - Garmany A, Terzic A. "Global healthspan-lifespan gaps among 183 World Health Organization member states." JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(12):e2450241.
- Chapman C, et al. "Identifying patients at risk for cardiometabolic and chronic diseases by using the exercise vital sign to screen for physical inactivity." Prev Chronic Dis. 2025;22:240149.
- Adapted from: von Ardenne, M. Oxygen Multistep Therapy. Thieme. 1990.
- Weinstein G, et al. "Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor and the risk for dementia: The Framingham Heart Study." JAMA Neurol.2014;71(1):55-619.
- Marycz K, et al. "Endurance exercise mobilizes developmentally early stem cells into peripheral blood and increases their number in bone marrow: Implications for tissue regeneration." Stem Cells Int. 2016:5756901.
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