Biomarker #5: Fitness

Suppose we could easily see how we are aging on the inside. I mean actually see, like look in the mirror and see the state of our heart, lungs, arteries, muscles, bones – instead of seeing how we are aging on the outside, those very visible but ultimately meaningless markers like wrinkles, sags and gray hair.

No one wants to look in the mirror and see an “old” person – I sure don’t. This not-wanting-to-see fuels a $10 billion a year (in the US) cosmetic procedure industry plus a billion or more dollar a year anti-aging cream/ serum/ miracle moisturizer market. If we could look in the mirror and see inside ourselves, see clogged arteries or fat-marbled muscles (sorry) as easily as we see crow’s feet or wattle-neck would we pay more attention to the real and important markers of aging? I say yes.

Well, we can look inside more easily than you might imagine – although not as easily as gazing at our faces in the mirror. I’ve been writing, off and on, about the biomarkers of aging like resting heart rate, blood pressure and BMR. These are easy to determine, and they say quite a bit about our age on the inside, where it counts.

And even better peek at our inside-the-body aging comes from measuring VO2max. VO2 max measures the body’s maximum capacity for transporting and using oxygen during exercise. The more oxygen you are able to use, the better shape your heart, lungs and arteries are in, and the more youthful and lively your mitochondria are (which also means the more youthful your metabolism is). In essence, the higher your VO2 max, the fitter you are, the younger you are. On the inside. Where it counts.

Norwegian researchers who tested almost 5,000 of their countrymen and women between the ages of 20 and 90, found that fitness (measured by VO2 max) was “even more important to cardiac health than previously thought.” And cardiac and cardiovascular health is central to maintaining an active, vital counterclockwise lifestyle.

You can go to a sports clinic or health resort or upscale gym and get a VO2 max test. It will cost you in the neighborhood of $100. It’s a strenuous test that takes place on a treadmill or a stationary bike and involves nose clips, breathing mask, head gear, lengths of tubing, monitors, computers and a significant amount of sweat. As readers of Counterclockwise know, I had my VO2max tested (four times) for free by volunteering to be guinea pig at a sports clinic. Believe me, they got their $100 worth.

If subjecting yourself to the actual test doesn’t appeal to you (or your pocketbook), but you are interested in getting a sense of what your VO2max might be – and I’m telling you that you should be — I found this website.  You enter basic information, click and get your VO2max score that you can then read more about. I like this site because 1) It is operated by the Norwegian university scientists whose study I mentioned above 2) It is noncommercial 3) Your results are calculated using their large and credible database 4) The site told me I have the fitness level of a 25 year old.