What is your fitness age?
At Performance Optimal Health, we start by calculating a client’s fitness age before ever hitting the gym floor. The benefits of determining this key metric are not widely discussed, but can make a significant difference for those who want to approach fitness in a new way.
March 4, 2024 | John Lusk, CPT, CSCS
At Performance Optimal Health, we start by calculating a client’s fitness age before ever hitting the gym floor. The benefits of determining this key metric are not widely discussed, but can make a significant difference for those who want to approach fitness in a new way. Everyone is familiar with the concept of age based on the earth’s trips around the sun, the agonizing time spent in our youth counting down the days until we are older, or the days spent growing older whilst wishing we were younger. Much to our displeasure, this is data that cannot be changed or influenced by external factors, regardless of how hard we wish for it to be!
But what about our fitness age? Our fitness age is a scientific estimation of how old our bodies are based on fitness level and other health markers relative to those of the same gender and age group. This is a key metric when looking to live a long, healthy life and is an age that we can change through a myriad of factors, such as proper exercise and nutrition that make it possible to become younger. No, the date on your license won’t change (sorry), but you will be on your way to living and feeling younger!
To determine a client's fitness age, we start with a Performance Optimal Health Assessment. This assessment is an analysis of a client’s health across four pillars: exercise, recovery, nutrition, and stress management. We use this information as our basis to set health goals and to develop a comprehensive strategy to achieve success. We then run a series of additional assessments that test the client’s overall strength, grip strength, flexibility, and mobility as well as their ability to maneuver their own body weight. Next, we test VO2 max, which determines how much oxygen a person consumes and uses during exercise. This gives our providers a measurement of aerobic fitness level and provides valuable insight into current cardiovascular health which must be kept in top shape to ensure longevity.
The data collected from these assessments is then combined to calculate fitness age and allows Performance providers to formulate a tailored health program to reach a client’s personal goals. Additionally, our providers ensure that fitness age is continuously calculated for accuracy, tracked, and tested during each session to reduce the risk of injury and major health complications. The lower your fitness age, the more likely you are to exercise regularly to maintain a healthy body weight and remain in excellent cardiovascular shape. This greatly reduces the chance of life-threatening conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and stroke, resulting in the ability to not only live longer than most, but to maintain a high quality of life!
