Your chronological age is the number of birthdays you’ve celebrated. You can lie about it, but you can’t change it. Your biological age, your REAL age, is more malleable.  It’s influenced by lifestyle, nutrition, exercise, stress management, sleep hygiene, and other factors all under your control.  If you want to know how old you REALLY are, don’t look in the mirror, look at your heart rate.  Your biological age is determined by how healthy you are on the inside, especially your cardiovascular system (the heart and blood vessels).  One way to measure the health of your heart and to determine your biological age is with Heart Rate Recovery.

Heart Rate Recovery is a measurement of the decrease in heart rate after a two-minute cool down following a bout of vigorous exercise. The more fit you are, the more efficient the cardiovascular system, and the faster the heart rate will decrease.

Test yours:

Spend about ten minutes gradually increasing your heart rate to 80% of your maximum with any activity: running, cycling, rowing, or on the elliptical. Once there, record your heart. Then bring the level of the activity way down to begin the two-minute cool down.  This might even mean getting off the bike or the elliptical and walking around.  Do not sit still, instead keep the activity very light.  In exactly two minutes, check and record your heart rate again. Subtract this number from the first heart rate reading to get your results.

If the difference between the two numbers is:

• Less than 22: Your biological age is slightly older than your chronological age.
• 22–52: Your biological age is about the same as your chronological age.
• 53–58: Your biological age is slightly younger than your chronological age.
• 59–65: Your biological age is moderately younger than your chronological age.
• 66 or more: Your biological age is a lot younger than your chronological age.

A recovery of less than 12 beats per minute is associated with a higher risk of death from heart disease.  If you’re concerned with your results, it’s time to make some changes: start an exercise program that includes strength training and cardiovascular training, clean up your nutrition, sleep 7-9 hours every night, and manage your stress with yoga and meditation.

Take these steps to get healthier on the inside and your good health will radiate outward.  You’ll begin to look and feel younger!

Check out my results.  Share yours in the comments below.

Alicia Cross is a Certified Personal Trainer, Wellness Coach, and Yoga Instructor with more than 15 years’ experience working with clients in classes and one-on-one.  She is a yogi, meditator, vegan, and lifter of heavy things. If you’re ready to discover the strength and peace that comes from within, email Alicia@AliciaCrossTraining.com.

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