Turn Back Your Body Clock

Can you be a 45-year-old but maintain the body of a guy in his 20s? According to one world-renowned exercise scientist, the inventor of a formula that assigns you a“fitness age”, the answer is yes–and it’s going to change the way you train.

- Eric Benson, Michael Rodio

Like most fit guys, you’re probably addicted to numbers. Chances are you know your max bench and squat, and you might have a pretty good fix on your body mass index, too. If you’re hardcore, you might even know your basal metabolic rate (the amount of energy your body churns through when you’re at rest). And if you’re a runner, no doubt you can list your PBs in everything from the 5K to a Spartan Race.

But before you get too confident in the story these numbers tell about your long-term health, Professor Ulrik Wisløff, a physiologist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, has an important question for you: what’s your fitness age? 

If you don’t know, says Wisløff – a 50-year-old former semi-pro footballer who is also one of the world’s top exercise scientists – that’s deeply unfortunate. Because even more than your real age, your fitness age is the key to knowing your true physical prowess or exposing the holes in your training programme.

What’s more, paying special attention to your fitness age, which you can maintain with a targeted HIIT training regimen, just might save your life years down the road.

WHAT IS FITNESS AGE?