Healthspan in Objective Numbers

A harsh reality, or a positive wake-up call?

Living to an average age expectancy still sounds enticing. Living beyond, potentially even better. Living to whenever ‘the end’ is without assisted living, disease, or medications sounds even greater. We know many things that help us get there, but what is the expected downturn? When do we start losing our fitness, and at what rate? Is it linear as we age, or does it look like a hockey stick on a chart?

Once we hit our late 30’s/ early 40’s things begin to take a turn. We start losing muscle at an average of 1.3% per year. 2-4% of strength in that same timeframe. Once we reach the age of 50 the amount of muscle lost may increase up to 2% per year. When compounded we are looking at roughly 40% of our muscle mass lost between the ages of 20 and 80. Also our vo2 max which is a direct measurement of our cardiac output starts dropping around 40 years of age at a rate of 1% per year. Regular exercise can cut all of these rates roughly in half. What also ties in is still the reality that studies say the number 1 indicator of longevity is the muscle mass you have at 65.

When speaking in practical terms with clients who are in their 60’s asking if they should lift heavy I tell them they will start to decline one day. It’s true for all of us. If they can only lift a maximum of 40 lbs at the age of 60, then by the age of 80 they would be only be lifting a maximum of 17.5 lbs. At 90 years of age this would be down to 11.5 or even less as this decreases at a more rapid rate. This resembles that full 4% loss in strength if they are not exercising regularly. That is a steep decline and often leads to the necessity of chair lifts, living in a bungalow, a bar to help you pull yourself off the toilet, or typically as far as fully assisted living.

In contrast if I can have that client lifting 100lbs at 60 years old, at 80 they would still lift 67 lbs. At 90 years, 55lbs. This is based off the 2% yearly decline they would experience since they exercise regularly and started off stronger due to that same reality. Being roughly 4 times as strong (400% stronger) than a same age counterpart is undeniably abundant. If we look back here our 90 year old exerciser would still be 38% stronger than my 60 year old non-exerciser. 30 years older, 38% stronger through consistent effort.

A long life is great. Living to the end while going up and down the stairs on your own, carrying your own groceries to the car, playing on the floor with your grandchildren (and getting back up), putting luggage into an overhead compartment, and not having to take medication daily are things within most of our grasps. We essentially have control over this becoming our future reality. It takes 2-3 hours a week of purposeful exercise to go from needing assisted living, to living independently. In my research, locally the retirement homes range around $6000 a month. It’s something I think of often when clients are committing to train with me. Spending $10,000 a year on training might just end up saving you $62,000 a year and a lot of healthy years tacked on towards ‘the end’

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with a friend or family member. I'd love to share knowledge with more people, as it often drives change.

Jacob Saunders