z27)Figuring Out Your Fitness Age: A Step-by-Step Guide

Figuring Out Your Fitness Age: A Step-by-Step Guide

Your fitness age can reveal how old your body really is

There are several important systems we need to keep in check to stay healthy and make sure we move through life stabilizing - if not lowering - our risk of diseases. One of them is the cardiovascular system, which is made up of the heart, veins, and capillaries. If we keep this healthy, the risk goes right down. 

But what actually is fitness age and how do you calculate it? You may have heard of the biological age calculator, and this one works in a similar way. Here, we speak to two leading personal trainers and experts to reveal why and how fitness age matters. 

What Is Fitness Age? 

Fitness age is a prediction of how old your body is compared to your real age. It's mainly measured by VO2 max, which is essentially how much oxygen a person can consume and use during exercise, explains personal trainer and fitness specialist Karina Blackwood. "This is a great indicator of aerobic fitness level," she explains, and in turn, cardiovascular health. As the cardiovascular system carries oxygen and nutrients around the body, we need it to be in good working order to stay healthy and live longer. 

The concept of fitness age and the calculation to work it out was created by Ulrik Wisløff, Ph.D., and others, at The K. G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology as a simple way to test cardiovascular fitness. The traditional lab-based options, which were previously the only ones available, were "time-consuming and involve[ed] costly test produces," the study says. 

While there's no denying that our bodies naturally decline over time, starting with our muscle tissue at just age 30 according to further research by the University of Southern California, age in years doesn't need to be the biggest indicator of how healthy we are. Fitness age, and other internal age calculators like the fitness, biological, and metabolic age calculator can offer a more rounded view. 

Fitness Age Calculator 

To discover your fitness age, work through the researchers' very own official fitness age calculator, which can be found at World Fitness Level. 

1: Details About You

The first question on the calculator asks questions about where you're from, your ethnicity, and your highest level of education. This is nothing to do with the calculations, the small print reads, it just allows scientists to compare results across countries and different ethnicities for research purposes. 

2: Gender, Age, Height and Weight

The next section asks questions about your gender, age, height, and weight, and this is to establish your body mass index (BMI). David Wiener, an elite personal trainer and fitness specialist, says the BMI measurement is still used by many health institutions to establish whether you're a healthy weight. "If your BMI determines you are overweight, you may find yourself having lower fitness levels which will affect your fitness age. By participating in a healthy workout regime and a nutritious diet, you can lower your BMI and improve your fitness age," he says.

It's also important for the fitness age calculator to determine your actual age, per the birthday cake, as our levels of cardiovascular fitness tend to natural decline as we get older. "During the ageing process, our maximum heart rate declines, maximum oxygen uptake declines and we naturally start to lose muscle mass," says Wiener, who is also the training and nutrition specialist at AI-based fitness and lifestyle coaching app Freeletics. "Even the most elite athletes will experience decreases in their fitness levels the more they age, and it’s completely natural."

Outside of discussions around fitness age, BMI is "tricky subject", the trainer warns, "It can be highly inaccurate as the basic BMI formula doesn't measure your muscle mass, bone density, or overall body composition."

This matters as muscle mass plays a key role in body composition, which will also affect how healthy you are. "Men tend to have more lean muscle mass than women and women tend to naturally accumulate more fatty tissue, which impacts how efficiently and effectively your muscles use oxygen. Obviously, this isn’t a hard and fast rule, but typically gender will impact your fitness age in accordance to body composition," he explains. 

3: Maximum Heart Rate

Your maximum heart rate is the number of beats per minute your heart can do during intensive exercise. It's used in the fitness age test to determine how intensely you exercise, working towards your V02 max, the importance of which is explained in the next question. 

Unless you have one of the best Fitbits or another similar health tracker, you may not know you maximum heart rate. In this case, take a look at the researchers' HRmax Calculator before you proceed.

4: Exercise

Step four of six asks how frequently you exercise, how long your workouts are, and to what intensity you normally do them. When establishing your fitness age, it's important to know this, much like your maximum heart rate, your exercise intensity is one of the best indicators of V02 max and how fit you are. 

"When improving your fitness levels, it’s important to be incorporating high-intensity training into your fitness regime," explains Wiener. "High-intensity workouts can help improve your heart health, lower blood pressure, and burn body fat. However, a well-balanced exercise routine is a combination of strength training, cardio, and on a more basic level, stretching and balance training. All elements are involved in enhancing your fitness levels."

Why Does Fitness Age Matter?

Knowing your fitness age is important, the researchers found, because it may be a better prediction of your overall health and risk of early mortality. As the fitness age calculator considers other factors such as how much you should weight, your exercise levels, and resting heart rate, it can offer a better prediction of overall health than your actual age. 

The lower your fitness age, the more likely you are to work out regularly, be a healthy weight, and have good breathing capacity, all of which reduce the risk of life-threatening conditions like heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and more. 

Once you know your fitness age and how this might lead to a higher risk of disease, you can take steps to change it if it's much higher than your actual age. Experts say this can help slow down the biological clock or even turn it back, giving you a new lease on life in the years to come. 

But reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease isn't the only reason why fitness age matters. If you're interested in working out and progressing in a sport, no matter what it is, having a lower fitness age will help you reach your goals. "Tracking VO2 max regularly helps you monitor your fitness progress over time and identify areas that have improved and those that might need additional attention," explains Blackwood. "This can be helpful for setting realistic goals and staying motivated." 

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