What your annual check up is missing
What if the next time you headed to the doc for your annual check up they told you to wear workout clothes and that you’d be performing a physical fitness test?
One of the things CrossFit got really right was this idea that physical capacity is an excellent proxy for health and longevity. While many of us rely on medical tests to tell us how we’re doing in the health category, there seems to be a simpler and more relevant metric.
That metric is what you can do.
Can you pick up something heavy? Can you run a mile? What about five? Do you have good control of your body weight? What about an implement like a kettlebell or barbell? The ability to DO is incredibly important because the ability to do things today is highly predictive of your ability to do them tomorrow.
Not sold? Flip it around. Let's say you wake up tomorrow and your ability to DO is severely limited. You can’t squat (ie. get off the couch).
Now you need someone to help you stand up. You’ve lost your endurance, making climbing the stairs an arduous task, not just coming up from the basement. You’ve lost some balance and agility so you feel at risk of falling with every step you take...
You’ve quickly gone from feeling solidly middle age to straight up elderly. To lose the ability to DO is to lose your independence, your quality of life, and your health with it. It’s hard to think of a scenario where any of us would want to give up our physical capacity for a better cholesterol score or lower blood pressure. Have a better number on paper but be strapped to a walker at the grocery store? Hard pass.
The clinical data is pretty clear here too. Grip strength is a better predictor of mortality than even blood pressure (commonly considered one of the best). The cross legged sitting to rising test is a great predictor of longevity as well. As your physical capacity improves, the length and quality of your life improve. And yes, so do your blood pressure and cholesterol by the way.
I’m not proposing we do away with regular blood work, blood pressure tests, etc. I use these diagnostic tools in my Holistic Transformation program. We would be well served though to add a physical test to our annual check ups.
Clearly these physical tests need to be tuned to the individual, but here are some of my favorites for fit and active middle aged people like you and I:
Three Rounds for Time:
Run 400m
21 Kettlebell swings
12 Burpees
Deadlift 3 Rep Max
Row 5000m for time
Max Pull Ups
Sounds a little too intense? Here are a few alternatives:
Walk for Max Distance in 30 min wearing a heavy backpack
Squat as deep as you can without pain or help getting up
Stationary Bike for Max Calories in 10 minutes
If you can imagine people that do well on these tests, they’re energetic, vibrant, and capable. Not only do they have energy and independence, but the outlook for their health is pretty rosy. They’re going to be able to do tomorrow just like they did today.
Let's say this email resonated with you and you go out and test some of these metrics. You now have a baseline, and what’s most important is not how you stack up versus others, but how your capacity trends over time.
Knowing whether you’re getting better or worse is not only simple to test but gives you great data you can take action on. Not knowing is no excuse. Get your butt on the rower! It matters less where you are than where you're going!
While I’ve got your attention, the most powerful things you do to change your ability to perform, and your longevity and quality of life as a result are to change:
What you eat
How much and how well you sleep
The type, amount, and intensity of your exercise
How much you eat (distinct from #1)
How much non exercise activity you get daily
If you’re looking for a change in these categories, let us show you where to start