There is an old adage that we often utter in certain situations and occasions .. Oh age is just a number! But is it really? And is there a way to prove it or find out if age really is just a number? That's what we are going to try explore in this article, so before we get any older let's get started shall we :)

Age can be determined by a few factors but 3 effective ways to categorise your age or condition of your body is to break it down like this....

Number 1 : Chronological age – This refers to your actual age. The amount of years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes & seconds you have been on the planet since birth. Try and wish all you want but you can't change this number but you can change the quality of those years, which brings us to the most important factor...

Number 2 : Biological age – This factor is hard to define but it is desireable to have a lower biological age than your chronological age. I will further break it down using two examples based on my experience of interacting with hundreds of people and clients of all ages in the gym. So let's say you have a man of 30 years of age that has lead a very unhealthy lifestyle - smoking and drinking excessively, constant lack of sleep, chronic stress levels, no exercise and an unhealthy diet of junk food. This mans body will definitely show signs of ageing and deterioration beyond his actual age, so even though his Chronological age is 30 years, his Biological age could be 45 years which is very bad.

Now adversely, take a woman of 70 years of age that has lead a healthy lifestyle, non smoker, very light drinker, prioritised sleep, managed stress levels, exercised regularly and maintained a healthy diet. This woman's body will appear more physically strong with increased mobility and pep in her step than most 70 year olds. So to clarify, even though this woman's Chronological age is 80 she will more than likely have a lower biological age of say 55 years, which is excellent.

Number 3 : Psychological age – This refers to cognitive or mental health of the Brain. The brain is also “muscle” and requires mental exercises and stimulation like any other muscle such as reading, puzzle solving, social interaction, hobbies, music, singing etc. Lack of mental stimulation can lead to early dementia can affect the mind negatively for example a person of 60 years old with the psychological or mental age of a child. There are certain diseases that affect the brain such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's that can destroy the mind over time which are congenital/genetic and unfortunately are incurable currently.

The Bottom Line

If you want to keep your body on the youthful and healthy side then having a lower biological age than your chronological age is something you should focus on achieving. Although there are certain genetic risk factors you may inherit such as arthritis, high cholesterol, cancer etc but you can reduce these risk factors by adhering to a healthy lifestyle on the long term.

As mentioned earlier, smoking and drinking, high stress, lack of sleep, no exercise and an unhealthy diet is a sure fire way to age your body prematurely and increase the chances of early mortality considerably.

Managing your lifestyle in a healthy way is imperative as you only have one life and you want to make it one a quality one. These days i feel there is a certain abusive live fast die young or “YOLO” (you only live once) mentality of over focusing on the now and not taking heed to issues one could incur late in life from a abusing or pushing the body too much in the younger years.

On the contrary, at retirement the next chapter of your life is just beginning. Don't you want to be around to enjoy your much earned free time? be around to see your family and grandchildren grow up? Live a long and healthy life, being able to feed, wash and dress yourself at 80 years old? Well i certainly do and i'm doing what i can to insure i stick round for as long as I can.

So if you interested in turning your life around, then consulting a personal trainer is a great way to learn how to change your lifestyle for the better.

It's never too late to begin, to kick start the next stage of your life and becoming a healthier, fitter, happier, younger feeling version of you.

-APG