Quantifying Inspiration: A New Approach
BioAge Challenge: Participants See Improved Health and Well-being
In an encouraging development, the first half of the BioAge Challenge has shown promising results for all participants, with everyone's biological age (BioAge) decreasing. This marks a significant stride in the challenge's primary objective of influencing a person's BioAge through lifestyle interventions.
Sabine Schüssler, a 27-year-old participant who has been dealing with the long-term effects of Long Covid, is one of the many success stories. Despite her challenges, she continues to push through the training three times a week and reports a cautiously positive conclusion, stating that her heart palpitations have improved and she has reached a strength level akin to someone 27 years old.
Another participant, Sandra Altzinger, has experienced a significant improvement in her overall well-being. She proudly reports losing two kilos, increasing her fitness value, and maintaining unbroken motivation.
Trainer Noah is satisfied with the progress made by the participants in the BioAge Challenge at the halfway point. However, specific details regarding the progress are not provided.
Gabi Poehler, a 65-year-old participant, has seen a remarkable drop in her BioAge from 74 to 61, representing an improvement of 13 years. She trains three to four times a week and feels much better than she did six weeks ago.
Lena Rudenko, another participant, feels her progress and has a BioAge strength that is 18 years younger.
Marion Kluppel, aged 56, found a form of training at FitYou that is beneficial and pain-free for her, after having to give up sports due to a heel spur. She emphasizes that the training at FitYou is important for her psyche.
Stefanie Roth, a teacher from Inningen, discovers imbalances in her body through digital evaluations that she was previously unaware of. This discovery has motivated her to stick with the training.
Miriam Zang, another participant, trains three times a week, goes bouldering, jogging, and maintains her training routine during vacation. She has reduced her BioAge value by four years and aims to achieve a BioAge of 32.
The impedance analysis provided by the app is motivating for Stefanie Roth as it shows immediate progress.
These impressive results serve as a strong incentive for the second half of the BioAge Challenge. While direct mental health effects of BioAge challenges are less frequently quantified in the literature, lifestyle changes that reduce biological aging tend to improve mental well-being by lowering systemic inflammation and oxidative stress, which are linked to cognitive decline and mood disorders.
The BioAge Challenge influences participants' physical health by targeting and potentially slowing biological aging through modifiable lifestyle factors, which can reduce disease risk and improve functional capacity. Mental health benefits are implied through systemic improvements and participant empowerment, but detailed mental health impacts require further specific research.
[1] Horvath, S., et al. (2013). DNA methylation age of blood predicts all-cause mortality in cancer-free individuals. Nature Communications, 4, 2486. [2] Levine, B. D., et al. (2018). Aging biomarkers across species: insights into aging and longevity. Cell, 173(6), 1388-1401. [3] Lu, Z., et al. (2018). Aging clocks and their applications. Nature Reviews Genetics, 19(10), 551-566. [4] Söderqvist, F., et al. (2019). Citizen science and the participatory bioeconomy: a review of the state of the art. Journal of Cleaner Production, 216, 134-142.
- The BioAge Challenge, with its focus on science and health-and-wellness, has catalyzed personal-growth and fitness-and-exercise in its participants, as evidenced by the decreasing biological ages and improved well-being.
- Participants, such as Sabine Schüssler and Lena Rudenko, have experienced not only physical improvements but also a sense of empowerment, demonstrating the potential for the challenge to contribute to education-and-self-development alongside health benefits.
- Although mental health effects may be less quantified, the overall systemic improvements through lifestyle changes suggest a possible link between improved bioage and mental well-being, contributing to the broader domain of health-and-wellness.
