Happy New Year! The number of blog posts focusing on New Year’s resolutions is mind boggling. I’ve given my two cents worth in the past with posts like , like Quittin’ You and Sticking Points. But instead of blowing up the internet with yet another of the same, I’d like to offer you something different for 2017.

If it were  possible, would you work toward a goal that would allow you to shave 25 years off your age, and improve your quality of life? Ok, it sounds a little far fetched, so let me explain something that caught my attention  and demonstrates how lifestyle affects biological age. It’s a  study of  people over the age of 50  by  Peeke and Wisloff that illustrates the reality, and has me thinking, maybe age doesn’t matter?

The researchers studied  Senior Olympic athletes (NOT professional athletes, but individuals over the age of 50 who train frequently, and are more physically active than other people at the same chronological age.) The subjects completed a fit age test developed by  Norwegian sceintists, that’s an ingenious way  of estimating VO2 max ( a measure of your current cardiovascular endurance). If you don’t know your VO2 max, your not alone. Most people don’t because finding it requires sophisticated equipment and is costly to evaluate.  But several years ago, Norwegian scientists worked around this problem and developed an algorithm that provides a close approximation of someone’s fitness age. It considers parameters including:  waist size, heart rate, exercise frequency and intensity. Try it yourself here.

In the study I am referencing, Wisloff and Peeke anaylazied more than 4000 Senior Olympicans.  The average age of this group was 68. The average fit age was 43. Although the researchers expected their subjects’  fit age to be lower than their chronilogical age, they were amazed that they had shaved a quarter of a century off of their age!

Here is something that surprised me, even more than this study. I too have a fit age 25 years younger than my real age! I am NOT an Senior Olympian.  As a matter of fact, I was NEVER even a high school or college athlete.  I spend 20 to 45 minutes daily on exercise varying between long runs, short interval runs and strength training. I have been doing this for well over 10 years. The other piece, is of course, the nutritional component to support the training and run interferance with fatigue, so I can train and get on with the rest of the day.

If you don’t think you have the time to spend on exercise, I completely understand. It is a time commitment and you will likely have to  sacrifice time spent somewhere else during the day. But shaving years off your age might be worth it? What do you think? Are you  willing to spend 20 to 45 minutes exercising daily and follow simple guidelines to keep you energized and fuel workouts?  If you answered YES,  please follow  me in social media for exercise and nutrition tips aimed at reducing your fit age: 

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  Start by finding out how fit your are  here. In about 3  months, retake the fit age quiz again. I’ll remind you. Your Happy, healthy New Year starts here now!