A rapidly growing body of research shows that if your physical age is higher than your chronological age, your chances of dying young from a variety of diseases increase significantly.
Luckily, online tools make it easy to find your fitness age. Also, if you are over your chronological age, you can start lowering your age today by doing proper exercise.
Why you need to calculate your fitness age
To know your fitness age, you need to know your height (cm), weight (kilograms), and resting heart rate. These can be easily determined using a smartwatch or his 15 second pulse test. You also need to accurately estimate the intensity and frequency of your exercise. By entering this information into an online calculator, you can quickly find out whether you are older or younger than your biological age.
The idea that we have a “fitness age” that is distinct from our calendar year was first coined over a decade ago. the study Studies are beginning to show that aerobic fitness, or more specifically VO2max, predicts longevity and healthspan as well or better than more widely used health markers such as blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, and even smoking history. Ta.
Inspired by this study, Norwegian scientists began directly measuring VO2max in thousands of Norwegians between the ages of 20 and 90, while also measuring general information such as body composition, blood pressure, heart rate, and exercise habits. We checked various markers of health status. , similarly ultimate longevity.
When we collated this data, we found that some of these health markers are closely correlated with VO2max and can be used to estimate aerobic capacity. They created an algorithm that does just that, cross-checking VO2max and longevity, and finally developed a simple online fitness age calculator.
“You can live a healthy life for many more years.”
“Today, fitness age still has a significant impact on disease, mortality risk, and well-being,'' said Ulrik Vislov, head of the Cardiac Exercise Research Group and director of the Cardiac Exercise Research Group at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway. It is being studied as a predictor of health status.” The original fitness age researcher. (He owns a 1.2% stake in a European fitness app that uses a fitness age algorithm to provide health and training recommendations, but otherwise has no financial interest in this research.) (He said there was no such thing.)
Since 2019, studies using this calculator's algorithms have shown that a relatively young fitness age significantly reduces the risk of long-term disease. heart attack, depression, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, brain shrinkage and dementia For middle-aged and older men and women.
Equally important, if you develop a chronic disease, the progression of your symptoms is likely to be slower if you are younger. “You'll have more years of good health than if you were fitter than your chronological age,” says Wisloff.
“The Fitness Age Calculator is a simple and accessible way to determine both the internal and external factors that influence an individual's aging process,” said Dr. said Pamela Peek, elected Foundation Director.
In 2015, she was a co-author and participant in an unpublished paper. Research on senior Olympic athletes. The Senior Olympics is his biennial elite competition for athletes over the age of 50. In this study, more than 4,000 athletes used a calculator to assess their fitness age. At the time, their average chronological age was 68 years old.
However, their average fitness age is 43 years old, which is 25 years younger.
“As a competitive triathlete, I realized that my fitness age was certainly 25 years younger than my then-current chronological age,” Peek said. “Even after all these years, I’m still physically fit and I hold on to that quarter-century difference.”
How to calculate and lower your physical age
The current fitness age calculator is free and maintained by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Wisloff said it was first posted in 2013, has been updated and simplified several times, and is used by about 80 million people worldwide.
Do you wish your fitness age was years or even decades lower than your chronological age? Maybe. Make sure you move your body often, and sometimes vigorously, Wisloff says. Up-tempo exercise increases your breathing and heart rate to the point where you can barely talk, which strengthens your aerobic system over time, increases your VO2max, and changes your fitness age.
While this type of exercise is challenging, it doesn't have to be unpleasant, Wisloff says. Instead, you can keep it short, informal, and fun. Here are some easy ways to turn back the clock on fitness.
- If you like walking, find a hill and walk to the top as quickly as possible. Return to base and summit one or two more times.
- If you have access to a treadmill or stationary bike, try it. 4×4 spacing. He rides or runs for four minutes at a relatively demanding pace, breaks by walking or lightly pedaling for three minutes, and repeats this sequence a total of four times.
- Do some jumps, lunges, and bops every once in a while with short bodyweight exercises.
Wisloff says that if you exercise vigorously for just a few minutes a few times a week, you'll quickly improve your fitness age.
Of course, outside of science fiction, none of us can actually turn back time. Just because your physical age is low doesn't mean you can become truly young, nor is there a guarantee that you'll live for decades. In addition to physical fitness, multiple factors influence our longevity and health, including genetics, nutrition, income, and good or bad luck.
Fitness age is just a glimpse into how our bodies seem to be functioning better or worse compared to other people of the same chronological age. But we can use that knowledge to inspire and celebrate ourselves.
Mr Peek said: “The Fitness Age Calculator is a valuable eye-opener for those who need a reality check and a wake-up call about how their fitness may be substandard.” “But it's also a rewarding affirmation for people who maintain a healthy lifestyle and have a fresh, youthful fitness age to prove it.”
Have fitness questions? Email [email protected] I may answer your question in a future column.
