How old are you? Really…

• Tweet
• Pin It

In our ageing populations’ quest for eternal youth, this is a question that many companies claim to be able to answer. Detailed analogies of your lifestyle choices in particular any life shortening activities such as base jumping, are calculated and you are then compared to large cohorts of people who are similar to you.

When did they die? Well, according to these studies that is roughly when you will die too, simple but not very comprehensive and it doesn’t really bare any relevance to our own bodies and what sort of state they are in.

Most people who are physically active have a pretty good idea of what their body is currently capable of and where you stand in terms of your own fitness. To me certainly, looking at true age through analyses of my own body makes a lot more sense to me than comparing me to a load of people who are already dead! I.M. Health have developed a combination of physical and cognitive tests which combined reveal how old your body really is. This is not how long you are likely to live but the relative age at which your body performs all these tasks.

I like to think I’m not too concerned about my age, I keep pretty fit and healthy but I am still keen to find out my ‘true age’ so, full of curiosity I visited The Chiron Clinic in central London to be assessed by I.M Health and find out…

What is it?

In basic terms the I.M Health test is a series of non-intrusive physical tests including blood pressure, skin elasticity, lung function, eyesight, muscle strength, and heart rate variation.

Many of these tests are pretty familiar to anyone who is used to measuring their fitness levels. However there were a few that I had never carried out before and I had certainly never done all these tests at the same time in the same place.

My 2 hour session began with cognitive tests which involved sitting at a computer and clicking a mouse pad. Not too taxing you might think but after 15 minutes my head hurt. The seemingly simple card recognition tests were assessing my attention, memory and executive action. From my brain ache I suspected that this might well be one of the areas that would let me down.

Interestingly these cognitive tests are regularly used on rugby players who frequently knock themselves out! They provide a benchmark from which coaches can track deterioration in cognitive performance. As a cyclist and runner I’m not in the habit of knocking myself unconscious but there is a history of dementia in my family so I was very interested to see how I scored. One of the key benefits to this series of tests is that early signs of potential problems can be detected.

Next was the pretty standard tests of height, weight, waist and hip measurements, flexibility, forced expiratory volume, blood pressure, skin fold thickness, all tests that you would commonly undertake upon application to join a gym.

There were a few tests that were a little different though. Handgrip strength was gauged using a ‘dynamometer’ – apparently grip strength is a key indicator of age and a useful tool in early detection of future disability. (see pic?)

My neurological function was assessed through measuring my Static balance, how long I could stand on one leg with my eyes shut. Balance deteriorates considerably between the ages of 20 and 80. Most young people can stand on one leg comfortably for 30 seconds while those in later life can barely perform this task for longer than a few seconds.

My skin elasticity was tested using callipers and the ‘snuff box’ area on the back of the hand (see pic 2). Post 30 the elasticity of our skin changes quite rapidly. I’ve just turned 31 so this again was something I was curious about.

Heart Rate Variability was something I had never tested before. Taking readings of your heart rate at rest and while standing this assesses your autonomic nervous system (the part of the nervous system that controls all organs and systems of the body). By relating your sympathetic system (fight or flight) against your parasympathetic system (which works to balance the sympathetic system and return the body to a healthy range) the flexibility of the autonomic nervous system is tested. As with skin the elasticity decrease as we age.

My near vision, or the power of my eye to focus, was also analyzed, contributing further to the full body assessment that this testing offers.

All the tests were unobtrusive and your results are available immediately, they are literally handed to you in the form of a ‘body map’ which clearly marks in colourful splendour exactly where your body is stressed, where there is compromised elasticity and ageing hotspots. You can talk through your results and any questions immediately with your health care professional.

What the test shows

It highlights weak points in the body and therefore areas that you might want to work on. It also highlights areas that are particularly good.

It would be interesting to revisit these tests after a period of training and see where marked differences occur. The age thing, I’m afraid I’m not convinced by but as a collection of tests I think it presents some valuable figures. In a ‘one-stop-fits-all’ session a person could ascertain where they were at physically and what areas are in need of attention.

As a fully body assessment this is a good service perhaps best suited to those who are new, or returning to training and if the pull of the magical age assessment encourages more people to carry out these tests and get more in tune with their bodies, then that can only be a good thing.

So how did I do?

Well you are welcome to see my full body assessment (I-M Health - Katie Gormley just click here)! I have the hand grip of a 25 year old, but alarmingly the FVC of a 60 year old. We discussed my results and couldn’t quite come up with a suitable explanation as to why this was so. I would be interested to compare my FVC with other I.M Health clients my age but for now I think I’ll take my overall ‘true age’ of 32.38, minus a few years (as is a woman’s prerogative) and bask in sheer power or my amazingly strong hands!

I.M. Health

I.M. Health testing is growing in its availability. For further details please visit the I.M. Health website http://www.imhealth.com/

Katie Gormley, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

• Tweet
• Pin It

One Comment

1. Pingback: Product review: Ultralieve Pro | Sportsister

You must be logged in to post a comment Login