Determining One’s Fitness Age

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Clik here to view.Your calendar age might not really be as meaningful as some other more exact methods of determining the condition of your body. At 22 years old, two individuals could have drastically different levels of physical fitness and overall health. In fact, an individual who is 50 years old could actually be in much better condition than an individual of 30 depending on the fitness of each individual.

Your fitness level probably has a much greater effect over the condition of your body than you imagine. Actually, exercise scientist have a method of measuring your age based on your aerobic fitness that really gives a more accurate picture of how aged you are than merely looking at the year of your birth.

A recent study took place at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology that measured the “fitness ages” of a group of 5,000 different Norwegian citizens who ranged from the age of 20 to the age of 90. The study made some enormous advancements in methods of determining the real state of the individual participants depending on characteristics of their bodies rather than on the year in which they were born. This study measured around a dozen different factors and used the resulting data to form a more accurate picture of how aged the subjects’ bodies really were.

Factors Measured

Among the factors measured were body mass index, height, heart rate at rest, and cholesterol levels. When combined, measurements of these factors show the whole picture of the fitness of an individual’s body. Of course, the study used expensive equipment that might require payday lenders in the UK to finance. While the calendar age of a person may have an effect on the potential youth they can achieve in their fitness age, it is not as important in the long run as some other major factors specific to the health and overall wellbeing of the body.

In addition to having these factors measured by researchers, the test subjects also underwent exercise routines on treadmills to find their maximum possible oxygen intake, which is an indicator of how well the body can transport oxygen throughout the body and deliver oxygen to the cells.

Maximum oxygen intake is represented by “VO₂ max”, and this factor is an enormous part of an individual’s fitness age. In addition to using treadmill equipment exercise to determine VO₂ max, researchers also attempted to calculate this factor through other means. The study found that VO₂ max can be calculated to a fairly high level of accuracy by simply putting the following measurements into an algorithm: heart rate at rest, age, amount of regular exercise subject engages in, and sex.

Using the Internet to Find Your Fitness Age

There are now a variety of different sites online that allow on to check his or her “fitness age” based on VO₂ max values. Online calculators are now available that can simply and quickly show how old someone is according to their fitness age, and this age would reflect quite accurately the VO₂ max measurement someone would be likely to show in the event that they participated in a study like the one conducted at Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Using the information acquired from such a test, one can determine what kind of fitness measures one should take to work on the factors that are hindering a good VO₂ max value. Anyone who is young in calendar years but comes up quite aged according to their fitness level.

Another accomplishment of this study was the establishment of estimates of the ideal VO₂ max at every age between 20 and 90. Unfortunately, many of the results of this study revealed an alarming tendency for subjects to have fitness ages that were quite a bit higher than their actual ages. Even study participants who appeared fairly healthy and had relatively wholesome lifestyles seemed to repeatedly measure in with advanced fitness ages.

Working on Your Fitness Age

However, an individual’s fitness age can easily be altered while the calendar age of an individual is unchangeable. If you worry that the health characteristics that this study measured leave something to be desired when examined in your own body, do not worry. You can simply adjust your habits and start living in a way that facilitates optimal health in a more thorough manner. By engaging in regular exercise and improving one’s habits, one’s age in fitness years can drop.

A drop in fitness age generally corresponds with an improvement in one’s VO₂ max measurement and better overall health. Of course, a good VO₂ max measurement means that you will be better able to handle strenuous exercise, and this will work over into making you better able to handle the normal stress and challenges of everyday life. You will feel better on a daily basis if you improve your fitness age, and you will notice the change to your body’s functioning in a very real and tangible way. Try taking a fitness age survey online and check and see if your body’s fitness level is dragging you down and aging you.