Healthspan versus longevity: Building a strategy to age well
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There’s a data point that’s frequently cited in articles about longevity: most Americans will only celebrate one healthy birthday after they reach the age of 65. That information is based on a tool developed by the World Health Organization called HALE (Healthy Life Expectancy).
According to the HALE data repository, in 2019, the most recent year included in the data set, the healthy life expectancy of American men and women is 66.1 years (65.2 years for males and 67 for females). In contrast, life expectancy in 2023 was 76.4 years for Americans (73. 5 years for males and 79.3 years for females).
We talked with Coach Lee Hadden, Performance Lead at Cuesz, a private members club that enhances physical performance and healthspan by using an integrated platform and an assigned team of world-class experts that work cohesively with each member. This includes 1-on-1 performance trainers/coaches, wellness coaches, nutritionists, sleep medicine specialists, physicians, physical therapists, and physiologists.
Coach Hadden, who has more than 30 years of experience in the field of human performance and exercise and is the first recipient of the UK Trainer of the Year Award, leads a team of world-class consultants, overseeing the coaching, execution, and programming of all sessions conducted with Cuesz members. He has served on numerous scientific advisory boards and worked with top-tier athletes worldwide.
PinnacleCare (PC): Could you define the term healthspan and explain how it differs from longevity?
Lee Hadden (LH): Longevity refers to an individual’s length of life. This measure does not necessarily take into account the health or quality of life during those years. Healthspan, however, refers to the portion of life that is spent in good health without serious illness or physical limitations. We should be striving to live not just longer, but longer and healthier!
PC: What are the key modifiable factors that affect healthspan positively? What behaviors and lifestyle choices negatively affect healthspan?
LH: Clinical research shows that exercise, both resistance training and aerobic capacity-focused activity, can increase healthspan. Resistance training alone may very well be the most potent medicine for improving this.
Other behaviors that support healthspan include eating sufficient amounts of quality protein sources, which is often more than once thought. Additionally, your daily diet should include plenty of nutrient-dense vegetables that are high in fiber, and adequate amounts of quality fats and carbohydrates. The specific amount of each of these nutrients is based on an individual’s needs. Prioritizing an optimal amount of quality sleep, limiting alcohol consumption, and regulating response to stressors are also paramount to supporting healthspan.
PC: Is it ever too late to make changes that could positively affect healthspan?
LH: It is never too late. An interesting research study published in 2022 showed that we lose up to 1% of muscle mass (a condition known as sarcopenia), up to 3% of maximal strength, and up to 5% of power per year after the age of 40. The fascinating part, however, is that these deficits can almost all be reversed depending on one’s health and approach. At the very least, almost everyone can benefit from whole-body resistance training twice a week and supplementing other days with forms of aerobic training based on your fitness level.
The key is to train with consistency, progressive loading (gradually increasing the weight, frequency, and/or number of repetitions), and a well-organized training plan with good technical execution. To achieve optimal results, a sufficient dosage and stimulus must be applied to your training to achieve positive adaptations.
PC: How is healthspan measured? Are there diagnostic tests that can help gauge healthspan?
LH: There are a number of objective measures that give us a good indication. Muscle mass, hand grip strength, body fat percentage, and VO2 max (maximum rate of oxygen your body is able to use during exercise), are just a few. There are several biomarkers and genetic tests available to us and with time and progress in science, these will become more accurate and likely give us greater insight into our physiological age (how well or poorly your body functions relative to your age in years).
PC: How can the goal of optimizing healthspan be integrated with conventional medical care and what type of practitioners can help people build a plan to increase healthspan?
LH: Seek health professionals who have experience evaluating, creating solutions, and getting results. In addition, finding a forward-thinking medical provider who looks at your blood chemistry through the lens of prevention and optimization is the next step. Finally, expanding your own knowledge will empower better decisions and self-care approaches.
Today, we have more autonomy regarding how we age than ever before. One thing we do know is that when executed properly within personalized parameters, resistance training will yield the biggest return on results and time invested when it comes to extending healthspan. We see it all the time with our members. We have 60-year-old individuals, looking and performing better than they did when they were 40. The exciting part is this is very accessible to us all, and something that can be started today.
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A PinnacleCare Health Advisor can help you find the right providers to help you go beyond a focus longevity to increasing your health span.Connect with our Relationship Management team to get started.
