A fitness influencer has shared five simple at-home tests that can reveal how well you’re aging.
The quick tests check for ‘balance, strength and flexibility’, which PT Caroline Idiens, 52, from Berkshire, England has hailed as vital to aging well.
They include standing on one leg, doing a plank, standing from seated in a chair, squatting and pressing with water bottles for weights, and twisting a towel.
If getting out of a chair makes you go ‘oof’, she warned in an article by The Telegraph, ‘it’s time to start future-proofing your body’.
Standing on one leg tests your ability to balance which requires the eyes, sensory system in the inner ears, and sensory receptors in the limbs to send signals to the brain.
This is important because, the ‘workout queen of middle England’ said: ‘A lack of balance has been linked to an earlier death.’
You don’t need to do it for a long time, either; it can be done for as long as it takes you to tie your shoelace or brush your teeth, she shared.
If you’re below the age of 40 you should be able to stand on one leg for 43 seconds, but as you get older the time lowers to as little as over five seconds.
The first test fitness coach Caroline Idiens revealed was standing on one leg to assess balance
The second test, planking, assesses your core strength and is an ‘effective way to ward off back pain’, said Ms Idiens.
To do it, she said: ‘Place your forearms on the floor directly under your shoulders, lift your body into a straight line so the weight is on your toes and forearms and hold your head in line with your spine.’
And if you’re looking for an extra challenge, ‘try a military plank for 30 seconds’, she added—which involves moving from a high plank to a low plank and back up again.
But initially, she advised, start out by trying to do a plank for a few seconds at a time, then gradually build up to 60 seconds.
‘Even for ten seconds is great for total beginners, and improvements at any age are entirely possible,’ she said.
The third test, standing from a seated position, can be difficult for those with ‘lower levels of body strength’, but this can lead to ‘falls injury and accidental death’, she warned.
However, the test has also been shown to predict back pain which can trouble not office workers of all ages, she said.
She advised to see how many times you can stand from seated in 30 seconds.
The second test the fitness influencer revealed is being able to get up from a seating position
Opt for an armless chair with your feet shoulder-width apart and firmly planted on the floor, she advised.
Meanwhile, the fourth test involves squatting and pressing with water bottles for weight test for ‘functional fitness with compound movements’.
These she explained are exercises that mimic real-life movements, such as bending over to pick something up, which are ‘essential for longevity’.
First stand with your feet hip width apart with your toes pointing out in a sumo squat while holding a water bottle in each hand, she explained.
Next squat while engaging your core, driving the hips back, putting all the weight through the heels, and keeping your chest and shoulders back.
Then as you come back to standing, drive up your arms into a shoulder press, lifting the bottles into the air.
You should aim for three sets of ten to 12 reps of the exercise, adding that it is more dependent on a person’s general fitness than their age.
The final test involves using a medium-sized bathroom towel, firmly holding it between both hands, and doing a twisting action to wring it out as if it were wet.
It can also be done with just one hand, she said, by squeezing a tennis ball as hard as you can for ten seconds before releasing and repeating three times.
It is assessing your grip strength, which in midlife, has previously been linked to a lower risk of death and heart attacks.
‘To check your progress, you can hold a pair of bathroom scales in both hands and grip as hard as you can on the two sides, observing what the reading is,’ she explained.
But, the most accurate way, she added is by using a dynamometer also known as a grip strength test, which are available online for £16.99.
It comes after earlier this month a new study linked daily movement to reduced dementia risk.
The study published in the medical journal Nature, looked at the link between ‘youthful’ organs and longevity.
By measuring certain protein strands in the blood, researchers were able to determine that organs can age at different rates, even when inside the same person.
Older biological aging of organs was linked to increased future risk of diseases and death including heart failure, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.
The study suggested that a routine of vigorous exercise, a diet rich in poultry and oily fish, and keeping your intellect sharp with further education can all help.
