WASHINGTON – So, how old are you? There’s your calendar age and then there’s your fitness age.
Your fitness age is a measurement of how well your body functions, given your age. And researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology say it’s a pretty good predictor of your future health.
They say, for instance, that a 50-year-old man who exercises with little intensity a few times a week and has a 36-inch waist and resting heart rate of 75 has a fitness age of 59.
The researchers use five measurements: your waist circumference, resting heart rate, how often and how hard you exercise and your age and sex. They plug those factors into a calculator and come up with your fitness age. They say it’s a good way to determine your current and future health.
By exercising more often and more intensely, you’ll reduce your waistline, which helps chip years off your fitness age, according to the researchers.
Check out the calculator for yourself at ntnu.edu.