Your heart, bones, brain, and metabolism all age through the same bottleneck.
Robin’s Short Version
One MET, Big Impact: Raising your VO₂ max by just 1 MET is linked to a 10–20% drop in all-cause mortality.
The Common Root: Mitochondrial dysfunction simultaneously drives insulin resistance, visceral fat, hormonal decline, and cardiovascular disease.
The Weekly Formula: Do 3–5 Zone 2 sessions plus 1–2 interval sessions of 4×4 minutes at 90–95% max heart rate.
Happy 2026!
Last year was a big one for me personally and professionally. What came out the other side was a crystal-clear theme for this year:
Embracing health as a practice so I can slow the clock—without slowing down my life.
Here’s what I’m focusing on:
🏋️♀️ Building muscle: Convert 2% fat mass for lean mass with 3x/week strength training and 80+ grams protein daily.
🦴 Reversing the osteopenia in my hips: I just started taking Bondia, a next-gen probiotic that reduced hip bone loss by 74% in clinical trials. (Use code BERZIN for 20% off!)
❤️ Boosting VO₂ max: I’m committed to lowering my Whoop biological age to beat my real age—this means more Zone 2 (and yes, Zone 3 and 4) than I’ve been doing.
🧬 Assessing hormone support: I’m continuing topical estrogen for skin health, and testing my hormones twice a year via Parsley to time HRT properly—this might be the year.
🌟 Regenerative beauty: I’m leaning into skin longevity—liquid microneedling, topical peptides, high-dose vitamin A.
🧪 Preventing disease: I’m turning 45, so it’s colonoscopy time. I’m also exploring more advanced testing like Galleri by Grail, the multi-cancer early detection test (available via Parsley).
🧘♀️ Evolveing spiritually: I really upped my spiritual practice in 2025 with daily meditation, a new coach who has helped me be an “F yes!” to what is, psychedelic work, breathwork, and retreats. I plan to continue this work in 2026 and you can join me—my first Female Longevity Retreat is happening in Topanga, CA in June!
So, what is going to power all this work?
One word: mitochondria.
You might remember from seventh grade biology class mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cells. But these little organelles do more than make ATP. They’re:
Regulators of inflammation
Directors of hormone signaling
Core players in immunity and repair
Early drivers of aging velocity
When they’re thriving, you thrive. When they’re struggling, you get:
Fatigue and brain fog
Insulin resistance and weight gain
Hormonal dysfunction
Faster aging
This is why I’m kicking off 2026 with a deep dive on mitochondria. Fix your mitochondrial dysfunction and you’ll improve every pillar of your healthspan and longevity.
Let’s do it!
Forward this protocol
If you want more energy and higher power mitochondria, invest in this one habit: consistent cardio.
VO₂ max is a direct readout of mitochondrial density and efficiency.
Increasing your VO₂ max by just 1 MET (≈3.5 mL/kg/min) is associated with a 10–20% reduction in all-cause mortality (Circulation, 2013).
How to actually do this:
3–5 sessions/week of Zone 2 cardio (30–60 minutes; 60-70% of your max effort)
1–2 sessions/week of VO₂ max intervals (4 × 4 minutes at 90–95% max HR; 3 minutes easy recovery)
What to know: Mitochondria sit at the center of aging and are the biological foundation of energy.
Mitochondria (99.9% of which we get from our moms—longevity starts in the womb!) = the biological foundation of energy.
Resistance training → protects muscle mitochondria
Step 4: Reduce damage from alcohol and excessive seed oils.
Cut alcohol. Even moderate drinking increases oxidative stress and damages mitochondrial membranes—especially in the brain, heart, and liver.
Target a 2:1 omega-3 to omega-6 ratio. Excess omega-6s(like linoleic acid in seed oils) create oxidized metabolites (OXLAMs) that damage mitochondria and raise disease risk.
🔁 Step 5: Treat hormonal transitions.
Estrogen, thyroid, and testosterone all impact mitochondrial function.
Emerging research suggests estrogen therapy may directly improve mitochondrial efficiency and resilience (Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2018).
Step 6: Support with mitochondria-friendly supplements.
Supplements cannot override poor sleep, no exercise, or chronic stress. But hey can help support the protocols above.
It’s the first full week of the new year, and I’m emerging from the holiday break fog into all systems go. According to the Chinese Lunar calendar, 2025 was the Year of the Snake—a time for shedding old skins, patterns, people, roles, and stories—and WOW, was it ever. I deeply feel that a cycle has closed. At 44, I’m entering a new phase of life, more grounded in who I am than ever. But it took some real work to get here.
Every New Year, a group of friends, my husband, and I do a two-day reflection and goal-setting exercise. It’s honestly one of my favorite things to do. We go deep as a group, pushing each other to dream bigger, questioning when someone’s taking on too much, and even asking: Is that what you really want? Doing this alone is powerful, but doing it in community takes it to another level.
This was our fourth year doing it together, and we could truly reflect back to each other how far we’ve come. We’ve witnessed one another in both hard years and high years. It’s a beautiful mirror.
We use the SY Partners New Year’s Reflection workbook, which starts with a detailed calendar review of the past year. That part is always eye-opening—I’m often surprised by how I actually spend my time. This year, I’m making a big commitment to shifting both where my energy and my hours go, as I transition into this next phase.
One thing I felt really proud of, looking back, was how much I leaned into health as a practice—a mantra that organically emerged by year’s end.
I added weight training and a new trainer to my routine in 2025, alongside yoga and Pilates. I also did in-depth testing, including a full-body DEXA scan that revealed hip osteopenia I hadn’t known about, and a full-body MRI with Prenuvo (via Parsley) that showed a few thyroid nodules had cleared (though one still needs monitoring).
In 2025, I also committed to taking a few days off each month for health and spiritual practice—and when I reviewed the year, I’d followed through 8 out of 12 months. I’m SO proud of that.
For example:
A yoga retreat in Topanga (March)
A breathwork retreat in Tulum (April)
One-on-one psychedelic work with a practitioner I trust (May)
Couples work with an extraordinary therapist trained in encounter-centered therapy (July)
Burning Man (August), which always clears my head
A solo visioning trip to Santa Fe (November)
Some of these lasted a few hours, others a few days. Some were local (NYC), some involved travel. Throughout it all, I continued fine-tuning my supplements, increasing my protein intake, and tracking my wellness data more closely using Whoop.
The outcome? All of this practice wasn’t about navel-gazing or self-perfecting. It gave me the capacity to show up as the mother, partner, friend, and leader I want to be. I got clearer on my needs and better at expressing them calmly and clearly. I got better at setting boundaries. And I didn’t just feel good, I felt beautiful in my own skin. I don’t think I’ve ever looked or felt better.
Health is a practice. It lives in the choices we make every day—in how we connect to ourselves and value how we feel. It’s what enables us to live our story in full.
To me, that’s real longevity.
Stay strong stay curious and breathe, R
One more thing…
This June I’m co-hosting an exclusive retreat in California! Body Lab: A Female Healthspan Immersion, with my co-host acclaimed yoga and breathwork teacher Schuyler Grant, is a highly curated, limited-spot experience for women who want to build strength, optimize hormones, and future-proof their energy from the inside out.
Spots are filling up fast—I want to see you there!
