Functional tests to assess your Longevity
Functional tests to assess your body's internal age
Many of us spend time and money purchasing supplements and cultivating the ideal life-extending daily routine, but how do we know whether our actions are actually making a difference to our longevity? What does progress look like, and how do we track it over time?
There are a range of biological age tests available that analyse various measures, including DNA methylation or blood biomarkers. However, these can be expensive, invasive, time-consuming, and are not available in many countries.
We believe that how your body feels and how well it performs physically and cognitively is just as important as what’s going on at the cellular level, which is where functional testing comes in.
In this article, we’ll discuss ways you can measure a variety of physical and cognitive attributes to track your internal age. By comparing your results to the average population or established benchmarks, you can gain an appreciation for what condition your mind and body are in and whether the steps you're taking to improve your longevity are effective.
Physical tests
Grip strength
As we noted in our previous blog post, muscle strength naturally declines as we age. You can slow this decline with resistance training and other interventions, and grip strength is a very effective way to measure your progress. A high grip strength is also associated with protection against cognitive decline and dementia. [1] Grip strength can be measured using a hand dynamometer, which can be bought relatively cheaply, but if this isn’t accessible to you then it can be easily approximated through basic weight training exercises.
For those who can access a hand dynamometer, the table below shows average grip strengths across various ages for males and females. [2] You should aim to maintain a grip strength higher than the top of the range for your age.
For those looking for alternate measures, a ‘farmer carry’ - in which you lift weights in both hands from the ground and walk a few steps with arms straight by your sides - or a dead hang from a bar both offer great approximations of grip strength.
According to longevity physician Dr Peter Attia, a 40-year-old man should aim to be able to farmer carry their own bodyweight (total combined weight across both hands) and dead hang for at least 120 seconds, and females of the same age should aim for 75% of their bodyweight and a 90-second dead hang [3]
Balance tests
For most people, balance tends to remain relatively strong until around 50 or 60 years of age, then drops off rapidly. Good balance is an indicator of overall muscle strength, mobility, and coordination, making it a great indicator of longevity. Studies show that the inability to balance on one leg for 10 seconds almost doubles the risk of death by any cause in middle-aged and older individuals. [4]
The 4-stage balance test assesses how long you are able to hold four different poses, shown below: [5]
- Anyone of any age should be able to hold each of these poses for at least 10 seconds.
- Up until the age of 50 you should be able to stand on one foot for 60 seconds with your eyes open and 12 seconds with your eyes closed.
- If you are aged 50 – 60 years old then you should aim for 30 seconds with your eyes open and 6 seconds with your eyes closed.
- For ages 60+ a good aim is 20 seconds and 5 seconds, respectively.
VO2max
As discussed in last week’s blog, VO2max (the maximum amount of oxygen your body is able to utilize) is a key measure of longevity. It is most accurately calculated in a lab environment, but many fitness trackers and smartwatches (including the Apple Watch and Garmin Fenix) can provide you with a measurement. There are also online tools, such as this one, that will estimate your VO2max based on physiological data.
The table below shows the average VO2max across different age groups. Research suggests that maintaining an above average VO2max has hugely significant benefits for your overall health and longevity. [6]
Physical benchmarks
Below are a list of physical benchmarks (derived from recommendations by longevity/fitness experts Peter Attia and Dan John [3, 7]) that we believe anyone aged 18-65 who is looking to lead a long and healthy life should be able to complete:
- Push-ups: Males 10; Females 3
- Pull-ups: Males 5; Females 2
- Bench press your bodyweight
- Barbell deadlift: Males 2 x bodyweight; Females 1.5 x bodyweight
- Wall sit at a 90° angle for at least 2 minutes
- Touch your toes without bending your knees
These are tough targets that you may well need to work towards over time, but being able to achieve them means you are well placed to live a long and healthy life.
Cognitive tests
Simple reaction time
Your simple reaction time is how long it takes you to respond to a visual or auditory stimulus. Although it may seem like a basic measurement, a study that tested participants’ simple reaction time and then followed-up 15 years later found that a slower reaction time increased the risk of cardiovascular disease and death nearly as much as smoking. [8]
Human Benchmark’s online test allows you to easily assess your visual simple reaction time, and you can measure your auditory simple reaction time on playback.fm. To get an accurate measurement, test yourself 5 times in a row on each one then take an average of all your scores.
The average simple reaction times for various different age ranges are shown below. [9] A below average score may bode well for your longevity!
Memory and processing speed tests
Memory and processing speed are two of the cognitive functions that are most affected by age, so testing them is a very effective way of assessing your longevity and tracking the impact of any interventions you are implementing. Below are some quick and easy tools that you can use.
- MindCrowd offers a free 10-minute test that you can use to measure your verbal memory and attention. Once you’ve completed it, you are shown how you compare to other people in your demographic (based on age, biological sex, and education) and the results are being used to study cognitive decline.
- The Cognitive Speed test on TestMyBrain.org measures your processing speed with a Digit Symbol Matching Test and an Adaptive Delay Discounting test. It then tells you how you scored in relation to the overall average and the average of a 20-, 45-, and 65-year-old.
- Human Benchmark also has a range of simple tests that specifically assess visual, sequence, number and verbal memory. You can track your improvement in scores and see how you compare to others who have completed the test.
Conclusion
If you’re actively taking steps to improve your longevity, it’s important to track your progress both to stay motivated and to ensure the interventions you are doing are right for you. While internal biomarkers and sophisticated genetic testing does have a place in longevity science, taking a step back and assessing how your body actually functions is equally important and in some cases much more relevant to individual longevity goals. These functional tests give insight into your body’s strength, fitness, flexibility, and cognitive function, all key parameters when considering longevity science.
If you’re looking for help deciding what interventions are right for you, or want to analyze your longevity goals with an expert, check out our personalized longevity coaching program.
References
- Bohannon, R. W. Grip Strength: An Indispensable Biomarker For Older Adults. Clin Interv Aging 14, 1681–1691 (2019) Link
- Pratt, J., De Vito, G., Narici, M. et al. Grip strength performance from 9431 participants of the GenoFit study: normative data and associated factors. GeroScience 43(5), 2533–2546 (2021) Link
- Huberman Lab Clips. Best Exercises for Overall Health & Longevity | Dr. Peter Attia & Dr. Andrew Huberman. Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN0pRAqiUJU (2022)
- Araujo, C. G., Silva, C., Laukkanen, J., et al. Successful 10-second one-legged stance performance predicts survival in middle-aged and older individuals. Br Jour Sports Med 56(17) (2022) Link
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 4-Stage Balance Test. https://www.cdc.gov/steadi/pdf/4-Stage_Balance_Test-print.pdf (2017)
- Mandsager, K., Harb, S., Cremer, P., et al. Association of Cardiorespiratory Fitness With Long-term Mortality Among Adults Undergoing Exercise Treadmill Testing. JAMA Netw Open 1(6), e183605 (2018) Link
- John, D. STRENGTH STANDARDS. Medium. https://medium.com/@danjohn84123/strength-standards-8f7e58cb69c4 (2018)
- Hagger-Johnson, G., Deary, I. J., Davies, C. A., Weiss, A. & Batty GD Reaction Time and Mortality from the Major Causes of Death: The NHANES-III Study. PLOS ONE 9(1): e82959 (2014) Link
- Woods, D. L., Wyma, J. M., Yund, E. W., Herron, T. J. & Reed, B. Factors influencing the latency of simple reaction time. Front Hum Neurosci 9, 131 (2015) Link
