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- Issue No. 12: Longevity Fitness Tests
Issue No. 12: Longevity Fitness Tests
Exercises To Forecast Your Lifespan
New Zapiens
February 08, 2024
Happy Thursday, Zapien 👋
Have you ever wondered how fit you really are? Your fitness today can be a pretty good predictor of your life and health span.
This issue features several functional tests that cost you nothing. You should give them a try - scoring yourself is not only fun, it can be a great motivator!
TODAY’S ISSUE
➤ Longevity Beat:
The low-cost addition to your longevity biomarker tracking: functional fitness testing
➤ Short Hack:
Flexibility for your posterior chain
➤ Recommended:
Measure your grip strength
➤ Health News:
New longevity startup, time-restricted eating and long-lived pets
➤ Numbers:
Become part of the minority who get a perfect score on the Sit-And-Rise test (and live longer than the rest)
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LONGEVITY BEAT
As a Zapien, you’re probably trying to create a daily routine that will help you live longer. But how can you tell if your efforts are actually working?
You've likely already invested in some sort of wearable fitness tracker (>1/3 of people in the U.S. and Europe already wear one). And you may be thinking about getting your blood biomarkers checked or your biological age measured.
There's more - and it won't cost you anything. Different functional tests can tell you where your body is at and how likely it is that you'll live a long and healthy life. And they're actually pretty fun.
Of course, there are many more tests you can take than the ones we talk about today. To get more inspiration and track your results, check out our health dashboard.
Sit-And-Rise
Background: Tests flexibility, balance and muscle strength and is a reasonable indicator of your overall activity and fitness level. A 2012 study showed that it's a good predictor of all-cause mortality in people over 50.
How it works:
Stand barefoot on a non-slick floor with plenty of open space around you. Cross one leg over the other and lower yourself to a sitting position. Then try to stand up again.
The goal is to do this without touching the floor with your hands, knees, elbows, forearms, or the sides of your legs. Here’s a video.
To score yourself, start with 10 points and subtract a point for each time you had to use your hand, knee, or forearm, or touched the floor with the side of your leg while sitting down or getting back up.
Benchmark: You want to score an 8 or higher. In the study mentioned above, people who scored less than 8 were twice as likely to die within the next six years than those who scored higher.
If you're tall or otherwise have limited mobility, this test can feel very frustrating. It's easy to dismiss it as something that's just not for you and focus on other tests that are more within your strengths.
Just remember that mobility becomes more important as you get older, so it's a good idea to focus on this potential weakness now, while you're still active. Instead of aiming for a perfect 10, try to improve by a few points (for every point gained, survival was improved by 21%).
Grip Strength
Background: Grip strength (or basically how much you can hold) is a good proxy for overall muscle strength - higher levels have been associated with better health outcomes.
Keep in mind that "proxy" means that you can't isolate grip strength from the rest of your muscle strength - isolated grip strength training won't make you healthier if you ignore the rest of your muscles.
How it works: You can accurately measure your grip strength using a hand dynamometer (see today's product section). Or you can use one of the following inexpensive alternatives:
➤ Dead Hang: Simply hang from a pull-up bar as long as you can.
➤ Farmer's Walk: Walk while holding weights at your sides (such as kettle bells), that add up to your body weight.
Benchmark: You want to be able to dead hang or farmer's walk your body weight for >90 seconds if you're a woman, >120 seconds if you're a man (the longer, the better).
Plank Hold / 90 Degree Wall Sit / Squat Hold
Background: All 3 exercises are strength proxies that involve more muscle groups than the grip strength test.
How it works: Hold each exercise in perfect form for as long as possible (straight line in elbow plank, 90° in wall sit, active squat hold).
Benchmarks: Again aim for at least 90 seconds if you're a woman, >120 seconds if you're a man (the longer, the better).
Maximum Aerobic Capacity (VO2 max)
Read about VO2max tests and benchmarks in one of our previous issues.
SHORT HACK, LONG LIFE
If you don’t score a full 10 on the Sit-And-Rise test, you probably lack mobility and/or flexibility along your “posterior chain” (the back of your body, including all the muscles from your neck to your ankles).
To get better posterior chain mobility, practice touching your toes:
1. Stand upright with legs straight.
2. Let your arms hang down and try to get as low as possible (ideally placing your hands flat on the ground, touching your toes with your fingers or hugging your knees).
3. Hold at the lowest point possible for 20 seconds and then come back up.
4. Repeat 3-5 times.
Just remember to do this stretch at the end of each workout when your muscles are warm.
If you can touch your toes (or way beyond), but still score low on the Sit-And-Rise-Test, you may need more strength in your legs and core: start practicing air squats and plank holds daily.
RECOMMENDED VS FISHY
Recommended: Grip Strength Meter
If you want to know precisely how hard you could squeeze people’s hands you should get a grip strength meter (or dynamometer).
Price: €/$ 20-400 (on Amazon globally)
Top of the line models (like Jamar's Hand Dynamometer) are usually made of steel, come with a 2+ year warranty and are designed for therapeutic purposes. If you're into regular grip strength testing, and especially if you have very strong hands, you should get one of these more durable meters.
For the vast majority of us, the much more affordable models (e.g., Kuptone) are sufficient, despite shorter warranties and a "plastic feel". Just make sure the model you get has a capacity of 90+ kg and an adjustable handle for different hand sizes.
Since there is really no point in having one flying around every household - why not try to convince your gym to buy a high-end one for shared use?
By the way, the peak average grip strength for men is 52 kg at 38 years of age. For women, it's 32 kg at 39. We’re sure it’s much higher amongst the New Zapiens community!
Fishy: Grip Strength Trainer
We do not recommend the use of Grip Strength Trainers unless you have a very specific training focus (e.g., arm wrestling or bouldering). You want to include as many muscle groups as possible in your resistance training on a regular basis.
There are great compound "pull" exercises such as pull-ups, deadlifts, rows and farmer's walk that work many of your major muscles and increase your grip strength at the same time. Your relatively smaller and weaker forearm and hand muscles are already the limiting factor here. You run the risk of overtraining these muscles if you use Grip Strength Trainers in addition to your regular resistance training.
HEALTH & LONGEVITY NEWS
The longevity space is expanding: US startup Generation Lab is about to launch a new aging test with personalized aging interventions.
New study on intermittent fasting finds that time-restricted eating, with food intake in the first half of the day, positively affects glucose and insulin levels, but has no effect on nutrient absorption.
Daily beef-flavored pills may carry dogs to 100+ dog years in a recently launched animal longevity trial.
BECAUSE WE LOVE NUMBERS
⚡️ Only 8% ⚡️
of men and women over the age of 55 score full points on the Sit-And-Rise test (based on a large study of >6,000 adults of all ages in Brazil, where the test was first established). Let’s be a part of that 8%!
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Lisa has a PhD in Medical Biology. She was a researcher at Harvard Medical before developing D2C laboratory diagnostics.
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Health Disclaimer
New Zapien’s products and services are not intended to substitute for professional medical guidance. Our content and media offerings do not aim to diagnose, cure, or address any medical issues.
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