How old is your body?

It’s a familiar scenario: you can be looking at two people who are exactly the same age, yet in appearance they seem years apart. And in fact, the younger one won’t only appear younger on the surface – they’re likely to have a younger biological age too.

So what exactly is ‘biological age’? Whereas your chronological age is your official age – dictated by the passing of calendar years – your biological age describes the state of your body. It’s directly impacted by your lifestyle choices: how well you look after your body in terms of exercise, healthy eating, alcohol consumption, smoking, hydration, aerobic fitness, weight management, stress and so on.

And the impact of healthy living is significant. A study published in 2015 analysed the biological ages of approximately 1,000 38-year-olds. The differences within this group were eye-opening: biological ages ranged from 28 to 61 years.

Yes, you read that right: it’s perfectly possible to have a biological age younger than your ‘real’ age – and this matters, not only in terms of preserving youthful energy levels, but also because it correlates directly with your risk of disease and premature death.

But how do you measure and monitor your biological age?

Step forward Aspria Pro, Aspria’s state of the art health monitoring system. Aspria Pro first scans your body and measures everything from body fat percentage to cholesterol, blood glucose to antioxidant levels, and spinal mobility to VO2 capacity (aerobic fitness). It’s then able to make a personalised wellness prescription based on its readings – and tell you your current biological age. Finally, you get a programme designed to bring your biological age down.

Aspria Pro isn’t merely a test. It’s a holistic health advice programme, as well as a benefit-risk assessment based on the current state of health of the individual.

Its holistic approach encompasses physiological and sports science as well as individual lifestyle issues. The Aspria Pro team is then able to make personalised recommendations to improve the member’s health – and to ensure everything is done in a safe way, minimising risks to the individual in all areas of club use.

Sports- and medically-validated instruments are used to record body data, clinical parameters, cardiovascular factors, vegetative stress resistance, spinal response data, and the antioxidant status of the cells.

In a specially developed programme, all this data is then drawn into one overall calculation which reveals your biological age.

That said, a person’s genetic predisposition will have an equally significant impact on their life expectancy, which is why Aspria Pro also looks at possible pre-existing diseases or other (genetic) health risk factors.

However, biological age is very valuable as a motivational tool: it can make us even more conscious of the need to be fitter and healthier, especially as we move towards older age, and the importance of a balanced and enjoyable lifestyle.

For Aspria, that doesn’t only mean hard work and diets. A balanced lifestyle needs to be sustainable, so it should also include relaxation, stress management – and the occasional glass of red wine!

1. Reduce stress: Whether it’s through breathing, relaxing baths or music, stress management can be learned – and it will reduce the level of harmful stress hormones in the blood.
2. Exercise: Even moderate exercise helps the body, strengthens the heart and keeps you slim.
3. Eat healthily: Herbal ingredients in particular will support the metabolism.
4. Sleep well: The entire organism – your whole body – regenerates itself while asleep.
5. Control your weight: Those who are lean place the least burden on their body.
6. Stay smoke-free: Smoking ages you and is the cause of many diseases.
7. Look after your skin: Sun protection is an important issue here.
8. Train your brain: Participate actively in life and continually set yourself new challenges to keep the brain young.
9. Maintain social contacts: Friends, family, hobbies – all of these will keep us young.
10. Love and have sex: A fulfilled relationship makes you happy.