Move Right To Longevity
Comparing quality and quantity is relevant to life and can be thought of as health span versus lifespan. While many people think they want to live a long time, health span is more important than lifespan. The goal is not just to add years to your life yet to ensure those years are lived with high functioning and without pain.
Here are four key biomarkers for longevity:
VO2 Max – the gold standard of cardiovascular fitness which declines 10% per decade without training yet only 3-5% with proper zone 2 and interval training.
Strength and Muscle Mass – preventing sarcopenia, age-related muscle loss, is critical and especially relevant for the growing population using GLP-1 weight loss medications.
Grip Strength – a deceptively powerful longevity predictor with research dating back to 1891 and easy to test in any facility.
Movement Health – the “missing” fifth vital sign and the foundational metric that underpins all the others. Movement quality is a critical predictor of biological aging. If you cannot move well, your ability to perform other longevity-boosting activities, like High Intensity Interval Training, strength training and advanced cardiovascular training, is severely compromised. Movement health Is the missing foundation, and technology has solved the measurement problem.
You can have excellent VO2 max and strength numbers, but if your movement is dysfunctional, you are “driving a misaligned car at high speed” which increases risk for injury and leaves performance on the table. Historically, movement health has been difficult to assess consistently because it was time-consuming, subjective and hard to communicate to clients. Now, technology allows for completing a full 3-dimensional movement assessment in about 30 seconds which produces an objective, scored report that clients and trainers can immediately understand. This eliminates subjectivity, standardizes assessments across staff and creates powerful data-driven conversations.
There is a distinction between “working out” and “moving well.” Exercise performed on top of poor movement patterns is a recipe for injury, which is the leading cause of sedentary behavior in older age or dropping out of a structured training program. Also, people need to avoid strength built on dysfunction. A frequent warning is building strength on top of poor movement patterns which accelerates wear and tear. You must “earn the right” to add intensity by first mastering movement quality.
Asymmetries, moving differently on the left versus right, are significant predictors of injury. Maintaining physical symmetry is essential for long-term joint health and fall prevention.
To reap the rewards of cardiovascular and strength training, which are proven to extend life, you must have the foundational mobility to perform those movements safely. Hence, movement health can be viewed as the “price of admission” for longevity. You cannot move with intensity if you cannot move well. The start of any longevity program should include an accurate assessment of movement health.
Longevity is often managed through blood work and heart rate data. Like quantifying VO2 max and strength, movement can be tracked with the same granular, data-backed precision. This allows people and Professionals to see changes and plan programs for a longer health span.
Dr. Marty Miller, DHSc, MS, ATC, CPT, CES, PES is a leader in health, fitness and sports performance, specializing in movement science and musculoskeletal health. As the Chief Movement Officer at Kinotek, he drives innovation in motion-capture technology to enhance movement assessment and rehabilitation. Dr. Miller has served as a Master Instructor for National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), a Director of Performance Enhancement for the New York Yankees and Director of Fitness at three Platinum Country Clubs in Southeast Florida. A published author and adjunct professor, he has contributed to NASM textbooks and lectures internationally on corrective exercise and performance training. You can contact him at 561-385-2704 or marty.miller@kinotek.com.
