A lot of sound advice her, but be aware that our eye witness is 56 which is just about when something breaks.
unfortunately without visble disease, no one checks arteries. You find out the hard way. He is now at the age of real vulnerability.
I am so not sold. his age, i did a stairmaster workout at level 14 for twenty minutes which had the sweat pouring off me. months later, the widow maker made a call. Progressive training after fifty is dangerous, yet it is all most of us ever knew.
Still good stuff here.
I’m 56 but my body is 30: How I reversed my biological age
·Sep 24, 2025
There was a moment in my life when I realized that everything I thought I knew about aging was completely wrong.
I was 48 years old, weighed 275 pounds at 5'9", couldn’t run for even 30 seconds without feeling destroyed, and struggled to complete 6 or 7 push-ups.
Yet, on my driver’s license, I appeared younger than many people who were in extraordinary shape.
How had I fallen so low?
That was the turning point.
The moment I understood that chronological age — what’s written on our documents — is just one of many ages that define us, and probably the least important of all.
Me at 48 years old in poor shape eating fake food
I figured this out when we started our reboot period (as I shared in this article about Joe Cross’s method).
Today, at 56 chronological years, I can run over 1.4 miles in 12 minutes on the Cooper test, do 60 push-ups, have a resting heart rate between 50–55 bpm that drops to 46 at night, can balance on one leg for several minutes, and have achieved a fitness level I never had even when I was bodybuilding in my youth with a solid 16.3-inch flexed bicep.
I compete in Spartan Races and marathons, and train regularly every day.
How is this possible? The answer lies in understanding that there are at least five different types of age, and chronological age is just one of them.
The first revelation: biological age
My journey began when I had to confront the visceral fat that was literally killing me. During that period, I started studying biohacking and longevity, and discovered the concept of biological age.
Biological age represents the actual health state of your body, regardless of how many years have passed since your birth. It’s determined by factors like cellular health, arterial flexibility, muscle strength, inflammation levels, and many other physiological indicators.
The reboot was phenomenal!
No candles on the cake — chronological age is an illusion
How to measure your biological age at home
You don’t need to be a scientist to get an idea of your biological age. Here are some simple tests you can do:
Resting Heart Rate Test:Measure your pulse for one minute right when you wake up, before getting out of bed
A frequency under 60 bpm generally indicates a well-trained heart
My current frequency of 50–55 bpm during the day (46 at night) is typical of endurance athletes
Flexibility Test:Sit on the ground with your legs straight and try to touch your toes
The ability to do this easily indicates good spinal and muscular flexibility
Balance Test:Stand on one leg with your eyes closed
If you can maintain the position for over 30 seconds, you have excellent balance
I can maintain the position for several minutes
Strength Test:Count how many consecutive push-ups you can do
For a 50+ year old man, 25–30 push-ups are considered a good result. I do 60 and aim to reach 100 within six months
Blood Parameters:Blood pressure (I follow pre-2004 parameters and am still within current parameters too)
Fasting glucose (should be under 100 mg/dl)
Complete blood work to check inflammation and organ function
When I started monitoring these parameters, I brought my biological age down to 30 years today, despite being 56 chronologically.
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Loving every marathon mile — Photo by author
Mental age: the mind that never ages
The second type of age I discovered is mental age — the brain’s capacity to remain agile, curious, and continuously learning.
Mental age has nothing to do with gray hair or wrinkles. It has everything to do with:Intellectual curiosity: Every day, look for something new to learn. If that thing interests you, dive deep into it completely
Cognitive agility: Solving puzzles, logic games, exploring hidden meanings of words, etymology for example
Mental openness: Always be ready to embrace new technologies, new ideas, new ways of thinking
Tests to evaluate your mental age
Continuous learning:How often do you learn something completely new?
Do you dive enthusiastically into subjects you don’t know?
Can you quickly adapt to new technologies?
Problem solving:Do you enjoy logic games, puzzles, riddles?
Can you find creative solutions to complex problems?
Do mental challenges stimulate you?
Cognitive flexibility:Can you change your opinion when presented with new evidence?
Do you easily adapt to changes in routine?
Are you able to see situations from multiple perspectives?
If you answer positively to these questions, your mental age is probably much younger than your chronological age.
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Start to play American Football? Why not? — photo by author
Functional age: what your body can actually do
Functional age measures your body’s real physical capabilities, regardless of chronological age. It’s perhaps the most practical indicator of how physically “young” you are.
The Cooper Test and other functional parameters
The Cooper test is an excellent tool for measuring functional age. It involves running as much as possible in 12 minutes. My 1.4 miles in 12 minutes at 56 chronological years places me in the performance range typical of someone in their 30–35 years.
Other useful functional tests:
Strength tests:Push-ups
Consecutive squats
Lifting capacity
Endurance tests:Cooper test (12 minutes of running)
Ability to walk quickly without getting winded
Heart rate recovery after exertion
Coordination tests:Single-leg balance
Movement agility
Hand-eye coordination
The extraordinary thing is that today I have superior fitness compared to what I had even when I was bodybuilding in my youth, because back then I didn’t focus on aspects like cardiovascular endurance.
Relational age: the secret of the blue zones
Traveling around the world, I discovered a fourth type of age: relational age. Places like Vilcabamba in Ecuador, where people are said to live beyond 110 years, taught me that the quality of social relationships is fundamental for longevity.
Relational age reflects:Intergenerational connections: Do you feel comfortable with people of all ages?
Ability to create new friendships: How easily do you connect with new people?
Quality of existing relationships: Do you cultivate deep and meaningful relationships?
Empathy and social openness: Are you curious about others and open to their experiences?
How to evaluate your relational age
Ask yourself these questions:How often do you make new friends?
Do you feel energized after spending time with other people?
Do you have friends of different ages than yours?
Do people come to you for advice or support?
Do you feel part of a community?
For me, social connections are my lifeblood. I consider relationships with people of all ages as an inexhaustible source of energy and learning.
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Live with the people you love! — Photo by author
Emotional age: the fifth dimension
In my journey I also discovered the importance of emotional age — the ability to manage emotions with maturity, while maintaining the emotional freshness typical of youth.
Emotional age manifests through:Stress management: Ability to stay calm under pressure
Emotional resilience: Speed of recovery from difficulties
Emotional openness: Ability to experience wonder, joy, enthusiasm
Emotional intelligence: Understanding of your own and others’ emotions
The hidden risk: when biological age betrays you
One of the most shocking discoveries of my journey was understanding that many people have a biological age much higher than their chronological age, without knowing it. I’ve seen forty-year-olds who seemed healthy die suddenly, and I understood that often a 25-year-old can already have a mortality risk similar to that of an eighty-year-old.
This happens because:Hidden chronic inflammation ages tissues rapidly
Sedentary lifestyle deteriorates cardiovascular function
Chronic stress accelerates cellular aging
Wrong nutrition creates early metabolic damage
The problem is that these factors are often invisible until it’s too late.
My protocol: how to measure and improve all your ages
After years of experimentation, I’ve developed a protocol to evaluate and improve every type of age:
Initial assessment
For biological age:Resting heart rate test
Blood pressure measurement
Complete blood work (glucose, inflammation, lipids)
Flexibility and balance tests
For functional age:Cooper test (12 minutes of running)
Strength tests (push-ups, squats)
Coordination and balance tests
For mental age:Self-assessment of intellectual curiosity
Problem-solving tests
Learning speed evaluation
For relational age:Analysis of relationship quality
Frequency of new social connections
Level of social integration
Improvement strategies
To rejuvenate biologically:Anti-inflammatory nutrition
Regular and varied physical exercise
Sleep management
Stress reduction
Targeted supplements
To keep the mind young:Continuous learning
Regular cognitive challenges
Meditation and mindfulness
Diverse reading
To improve functionality:Cardiovascular training
Strength exercises
Flexibility work
Balance training
To nurture relationships:Quality time with loved ones
Openness to new friendships
Community participation
Empathy development
The Most Important Lesson: Chronological Age Is Just the beginning
My transformation from a 48-year-old person in poor physical condition to a fifty-six-year-old with the biological, functional, and mental age of a thirty-year-old has taught me a fundamental lesson: chronological age is just the starting point, not the destination.
While society tells us that aging inevitably means deteriorating, I discovered the opposite. With the right strategies, we can not only slow aging but actually reverse it in many aspects.
The key is understanding that we are multidimensional beings. Our “true age” is a complex mosaic made up of physical health, mental agility, functional capabilities, social connections, and emotional maturity.
A call to action
If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably started questioning the traditional concept of aging. My invitation is simple: start exploring your different ages today.
Take the tests I’ve described. Measure your heart rate. Try the Cooper test. Evaluate the quality of your relationships. Ask yourself how curious and open to learning you are.
What you discover might surprise you. You might be much younger than you think in some areas, and “older” in others. But the wonderful thing is that once you know where you stand, you can start working on it.
Don’t let just a number on a document define you. Your true age is something much richer, more complex, and — most importantly — changeable.
The journey to discovering your true ages begins today. And believe me, it will be the most important journey of your life.
Remember: this article is based on my personal experience and does not replace professional medical advice. Before starting any fitness program or lifestyle change, always consult with a qualified physician.
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