{"id":244719,"date":"2025-10-28T02:39:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T02:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/244719\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T02:39:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T02:39:22","slug":"the-over-30-test-claims-to-determine-your-bio-age-in-five-seconds-heres-what-our-longevity-expert-says-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/244719\/","title":{"rendered":"The ‘over 30 test’ claims to determine your bio-age in five seconds: Here’s what our longevity expert says about it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can a five-second squat jump really reveal your biological age?\u00a0<\/p>\n

TikTok<\/a> thinks so, with a new ‘over 30’ challenge currently sweeping the globe.<\/p>\n

It alleges that if you can perform the seemingly simple act of cleanly jumping to a standing squat starting from a kneeling position, your bio-age is under 30 years old.<\/p>\n

The ‘test’ has been demonstrated in multiple clips, including a viral\u00a0video<\/a>\u00a0that showed colleagues of various ages trying to jump to their feet from kneeling. Some managed it successfully while others struggled mightily.<\/p>\n

The latest challenge echoes other quickfire online bio-age fitness tests including one-leg balancing, toe-touching, or for women, performing 11 continuous push-ups.<\/p>\n

But when the Daily Mail spoke with an Australian professor of medicine about the latest bio-age challenge, he swiftly branded it as ‘nonsense’ and ‘social media hype’.<\/p>\n

‘There is absolutely no scientific evidence linking the ability to jump from a kneeling position to biological age,’\u00a0University of Sydney Professor Luigi Fontana said.<\/p>\n

The esteemed medical expert said he’d recently observed a worrying ‘uptick’ in online videos claiming to ‘reveal’ biological age by the ability to perform a certain fitness stunt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Social \"The <\/p>\n

Social media is awash with videos of people attempting the squat jump challenge. It claims that if you can cleanly jump from kneeling to a squat, your bio-age is under 30<\/p>\n

‘They’re catchy, but they do NOT measure biological age,’ Professor Fontana said.<\/p>\n

‘They mostly reflect strength, flexibility, balance, and practice.’<\/p>\n

The Sydney professor, whose area of interest is longevity, explained that tests of this nature ‘give a false sense of diagnostic power and trivialize a complex biological process into a party trick’.<\/p>\n

The kneeling-to-squat-jump bio-age test also caught the attention of an Australian exercise physiotherapist – for all the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n

Laith Cunneen from Peak Physio said rather than revealing any bio-age insight, the challenge simply illustrated ‘specific strength, coordination and power in the hips, thighs and core’.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the physiotherapist said this particular test posed a ‘real risk of injury’ – particularly to the ‘knees, hips or lower back’.<\/p>\n

‘If you don’t already train regularly, it’s probably best not to experiment with this on a whim,’ Laith advised.<\/p>\n

\"Bio-age <\/p>\n

Bio-age is currently measured using complex research tools. Growing interest in the concept means it is a rapidly expanding field, with scientists working on improved methods<\/p>\n

Why is everyone suddenly interested in bio-age?<\/p>\n

Bio-age – short for biological age – has entered the health lexicon in recent years as a new marker for understanding the state of one’s health.<\/p>\n

‘Biological age refers to a set of biological and molecular markers that aim to capture the pace of aging processes in the body: how well your organs, metabolism, and cells are functioning relative to your chronological ag,’ Professor Fontana explained.<\/p>\n

The author of The Path to Longevity<\/a> said the growing interest in knowing one’s bio-age is driven by ‘people who rightly want to extend health span, not just lifespan’.<\/p>\n

The way biological age is currently determined is through a combination of complex research tools like epigenetic clocks, metabolomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics.<\/p>\n

\"University <\/p>\n

University of Sydney Professor Luigi Fontana explained that measuring bio-age requires a combination of complex research tools – not a one-off fitness ‘party trick’<\/p>\n

And it certainly can’t be reduced to a simple one-off physical test.<\/p>\n

The interest in bio-age has also meant the area is rapidly expanding, with Professor Fontana noting that scientists are busily working on new and improved methods to accurately measure biomarkers.<\/p>\n

‘While there are many interesting biomarkers of biological age under development, none are validated for personal or clinical use yet,’ he said.<\/p>\n

What you can do to age healthily<\/p>\n

Rather than risking a pulled muscle attempting a TikTok trend, Professor Fontana suggests putting your energy into proven, science-backed habits that can truly help you age well.<\/p>\n

The four fundamental pillars of this are diet, movement, lifestyle and emotional regulation.<\/p>\n

Food-wise, Professor Fontana suggests a ‘mostly plant-based, minimally processed diet with moderate calorie restriction via intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating’.<\/p>\n

Then there’s his exercise recommendation, which is ‘regular physical activity, combining endurance and resistance work’.<\/p>\n

\"Exercise <\/p>\n

Exercise physiotherapist Laith Cunneen from Peak Physio has an interest in the way physical movement can enhance longevity<\/p>\n

This is an area Laith from Peak Physio<\/a> is particularly passionate about, explaining that he was intrigued by a research\u00a0 study<\/a> that revealed how ‘individuals who complete two to three exercise sessions per week have a biological age around five to seven years lower than those who are inactive’.<\/p>\n

To achieve the cardio element, Laith recommends exercise such as\u00a0walking, jogging, cycling or swimming.<\/p>\n

This should be accompanied by resistance training that focuses on compound exercises targeting larger muscle groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Think, squats, lunges, rows, push ups and bridges,’ he said.<\/p>\n

‘For healthy ageing in general, sprinkle some mobility and balance exercises into the mix.’<\/p>\n

\"Regular <\/p>\n

Regular physical activity is considered a core pillar of healthy ageing, with experts recommending a combination of cardio and strength training several times a week\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other bio-age improving lifestyle recommendations Professor Fontana has are to avoid smoking, consume alcohol only in low to moderate amounts and prioritise sleep.<\/p>\n

He further noted that ‘stress management’ and prioritising ‘social connection’ are also of importance.<\/p>\n

‘All these habits modulate the same pathways reflected in experimental bio-age biomarkers,’ he said.<\/p>\n

‘It’s a rapidly evolving field, but for now, the best evidence for healthy aging still points to these fundamentals – and not whether or not you can do a viral bio-age test.’<\/p>\n