Longevity for the Lazy

A Low-Work Campaign Plan to Living to 100 and Beyond

Non-Fiction - Health - Fitness
Kindle Edition
Reviewed on 09/01/2025
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Richard Malish, MD, FACP, FACC, recently retired from the Army with the rank of Colonel. He is board-certified in internal medicine and cardiology.

A 1992 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Malish earned an Army scholarship to attend medical school at the Uniformed Services University. Upon graduating with honors as an Alpha Omega Alpha member, he served as a general practitioner, flight surgeon, and dive medical officer with the Army’s Special Forces. He deployed frequently, learning the crafts of tactical combat casualty care, disease prevention, and public health. After developing the medical plan for Northern Iraq in the 2003 war, he jumped into Iraq with 1,000 other paratrooper-invaders and treated combat wounded for months.

Seeking to know more about the primary cause of death in Americans, he completed a fellowship in cardiology at Walter Reed in 2006. After serving as a cardiologist, Malish began to attract attention when he graduated from both the Army’s graduate school programs as a Distinguished Graduate.

Rising through the ranks, he commanded Army clinics, labs, hospitals, and city-sized medical systems. His leadership as the hospital commander and director of medical services for Fort Hood, Texas, the largest installation in the Army, during the COVID-19 pandemic brought him continued recognition.

Malish has never stopped researching and publishing peer reviewed articles offering unique and realistic understanding into the causes of and solutions to harmful societal behavior.

Dr. Malish lives in Virginia with his wife, Kate, his daughter, Norah, and their cats Sweet and Soybean.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite

In Longevity for the Lazy, Richard Malish identifies heart disease, cancer, and accidents as the leading causes of death in America, with atherosclerosis contributing to cardiovascular diseases. While medical advancements have reduced deaths from infectious diseases, cardiovascular disease and cancer have become dominant causes. Malish discusses the importance of human physiology and energy conservation for longevity, critiquing poor diets and sedentary lifestyles. He speaks on strategies for combating heart disease and cancer, shining a light on medications like statins and early screenings. Malish argues that medications provide more effective risk reduction than lifestyle changes alone and champions a balanced approach that combines both. He introduces "medical realism" as a strategy for improving health outcomes, leaning into strong healthcare relationships, evidence-based treatments, and the role of the FDA and Clinical Practice Guidelines.

Longevity for the Lazy by Richard Malish is a guide that offers the most pragmatic and accessible approach to extending life expectancy with minimal effort, even up to the age of 100. Malish makes an extremely strong case for combining lifestyle changes with medical interventions, which, frankly, is a refreshing opinion over the slew of natural remedies flooding the market right now. Malish's writing is clear and structured, guiding readers through more complicated medical issues with ease. I love how he agrees that lifestyle improvements like diet and exercise are important, but they cannot match the risk reduction offered by medications for conditions like heart disease and cancer. Overall, Malish’s strong combination of practical advice, medical insight, and realistic recommendations makes this a supremely valuable resource for anyone seeking to live longer. Very highly recommended.

Pikasho Deka

Everyone wants to live a long life. But diet plans and daily workouts are not for everyone. However, according to Richard Malish, a lifelong United States Army physician and cardiologist, it's possible for even the laziest among us to live a long and prosperous life. In Longevity for the Lazy, Malish introduces readers to the Longevity Mental Model, a framework that shows what a lazy society must do to maximize our longevity. Malish presents a campaign to help readers prepare for a long and healthy life, which includes aggressively dealing with the two primary killers, identifying our strengths and weaknesses, finding cures for common killers, etc. The book also delves into a 10-step virtuous cycle, the age of transhumanism, a top ten list that acknowledges the power of laziness and offers solutions to offset it, and more.

Longevity for the Lazy is, at its core, a step-by-step lifestyle guide to help you begin your journey toward a long and healthy life. Richard Malish takes a deep dive into identifying emerging killers, combating atherosclerosis alongside high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar, choosing the right longevity advisor, evidence-based medicine, longevity approaches with offensive weapons and defensive measures, and much more. The author draws from his own expertise and experience to provide the necessary tools and keen insights that will enable and empower a person to optimize their longevity. The book is very engaging and informative. Malish presents the content in an organized and accessible style that will appeal to a broad range of readers. I found it both engrossing and motivational. If you're looking to prolong your life and live a healthy lifestyle, definitely grab a copy!

Carol Thompson

Longevity for the Lazy by Richard Malish, MD, is an insightful and accessible guide to practical strategies for extending life with minimal lifestyle changes. A seasoned Army physician, Malish breaks down the complexities of longevity into straightforward concepts, making it suitable for readers who seek sustainable health improvements without overhauling their routines. By combining medical expertise with relatable language, Malish introduces readers to the “Longevity Mental Model,” a framework grounded in preventing the common killers of modern society—particularly heart disease and cancer.

Richard Malish’s writing is engaging, blending scientific information with anecdotes from his experiences in military medicine. He covers various topics, from understanding metabolic rates and their link to longevity to practical advice on managing common health risks. The book is organized into structured sections, each offering a step-by-step approach to adopting healthier habits that require minimal effort, a refreshing perspective for those who feel overwhelmed by the demands of conventional wellness advice. One of the book’s strengths is Malish's focus on defensive and offensive strategies for health. He advocates a balance of preventive measures, such as choosing medications wisely, maintaining moderate physical activity, and understanding the body's inherent laziness. This realistic approach encourages readers to view health improvements as a manageable and gradual process—the graphics throughout aid readers in better “seeing” and processing the information. Ideal for individuals looking to improve their health without making drastic lifestyle changes, Longevity for the Lazy is a well-researched and approachable resource. Its structure allows readers to adopt small, impactful changes, making longevity accessible to everyone. I highly recommend it.

Eric Ferrar

Do you want to embrace a healthier lifestyle but don't know where to start? Richard Malish's Longevity For The Lazy assures us that longevity, even at the age of 100, is achievable without excessive workout regimens or highly restrictive diets. Malish's Longevity Mental Model offers readers an uncomplicated approach to healthy living that anticipates our lazy nature. He presents readers with a wealth of health-related guidance guaranteed to help us extend our lifespan with little stress involved. Throughout this intriguing book, Malish simplifies the science of healthy living and makes the information accessible at our fingertips. A healthy and more realistic lifestyle can be achieved--from making minor alterations to our mindset and nutritional intake to incorporating light exercises regularly. It is all possible!

Richard Malish's Longevity For The Lazy is undeniably a game-changing guide and fitness resource within the health industry. I appreciate that Malish provides us with a historical outlook on disease control and implementable lifestyle techniques suited for readers who are not fitness buffs or workout fanatics. I have previously read some of his concepts in other health-related books. Unfortunately, those books seemed to scratch the surface of how to live a healthy life. Malish's book is fluff-free, direct, simple, and convenient. His book gave me a significant attitude change relating to my own health journey. If you want to understand the complete "how" and "why" regarding improving your health, Longevity For The Lazy is the book to read. I strongly recommend it to any healthcare professional or reader interested in adding good years to their life.

Foluso Falaye

In Longevity for the Lazy, Richard Malish shares the secrets to longevity in a book of the strategies he learned from the military. The book employs a campaign plan, which is a connected series of operations that are meant to lead to a particular outcome. Learn the value of using offensive weapons like medicines, vaccines, and screening technology in these pages. Tap into Richard's knowledge of the defensive traits of eating right and exercising adequately. The lessons are divided into six parts, enlightening readers on the main diseases that kill us, what can be learned from human history, how to maximize our healthy time alive as a lazy society, this generation's strengths and weaknesses in terms of increasing longevity, low-work actions that are needed to live as long as possible, and working with science and technology to maximize longevity. 

Like a Swiss Army knife, Longevity for the Lazy is loaded with useful components and can be used to solve many problems. Its smart guidelines, short chapters, helpful graphics, rich summary, resourceful footnotes, and bulleted content make learning feel effortless—something lazy readers will appreciate. With Richard Malish's use of words associated with military strategies, you will feel very motivated to take your health seriously. I loved that words like "defensive measures" and "sneak attack" are used metaphorically throughout the book. The lessons are not only great for the individual reader but also important for improving the fate of humanity as a whole. Longevity for the Lazy merges historical knowledge, deep studies about today's world, and practical solutions for improving our health to create convincing essays about longevity. It's a must-read for those who seek ways to improve humanity's survivability and individuals who are serious about longevity and good health.