Ten measurements. A staircase, a doorframe, a chair, a tape measure and a patch of floor. About half an hour that tell you whether you are holding your capacity or quietly handing it back.
Most people optimising their health have more data about their bodies than any generation before them, and are still declining on schedule. These five results are harder to argue with than a blood panel — because you either can do them or you cannot.
Already done them? Jump straight to the calculator.
Eyes open, hands on hips, shoes off, on a hard floor. The raised foot must not rest against the standing leg. Two attempts.
People who cannot hold this had 1.84 times the risk of dying over a median of seven years' follow-up compared with people who can, independent of age, weight and existing illness. It is ten seconds and it costs nothing.
If you cannot pass the gate, your overall band is capped at Slipping no matter how well you do on everything else. Balance is not a bonus. It is a floor.
Ten measurements across the three things that decide how long you stay useful: how hard your heart and lungs can work, how much force your body can produce and hold, and whether you can still get down to the floor and back up.
The stair test is a near-maximal cardiovascular effort. Do not do it, and speak to your doctor first, if you have known heart disease, chest pain on exertion, uncontrolled blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat, or you have been inactive for a long period.
Stop immediately, on any test, for chest pain or pressure, severe breathlessness, dizziness, or sharp joint pain. Have someone with you for the stairs and the hang if you are at all unsure.
This is a self-administered screening tool, not a medical assessment, and it does not diagnose anything.
Your band is set by your weakest of the three domains, not your average. A strong hang does not buy you out of a floor you cannot get up from.
These four carry published thresholds and the evidence behind them is set out here. The rest of the battery — the one-minute sit-to-stand, both balance tests, the side plank and waist-to-height — is described in full on each input in the calculator below, under “How to do this test”.
Climb sixty steps — about four flights — as fast as you safely can, without stopping. Then stop completely and count your pulse.
As many full press-ups as you can do in one continuous set — at whichever height lets you do them properly.
Hang from a bar, feet clear of the floor, for as long as you can hold on.
Sit down on the floor and stand back up, using as little support as you can.
Find your age and sex. Your band for each test is the column your result falls in. Work out a band for each of the three domains — cardiorespiratory, strength, movement — and your overall band is the lowest of the three. Under-30s share one column set: capacity is treated as flat from 18 to 30, so a 22-year-old and a 28-year-old face the same thresholds.
| Age | Reversing | Slipping | Holding | Resilient | Extending |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18–29 | <14 | 14–20 | 21–28 | 29–37 | ≥38 |
| 30–39 | <14 | 14–20 | 21–28 | 29–36 | ≥37 |
| 40–49 | <13 | 13–19 | 20–26 | 27–34 | ≥35 |
| 50–59 | <12 | 12–17 | 18–24 | 25–32 | ≥33 |
| 60–69 | <12 | 12–16 | 17–23 | 24–31 | ≥32 |
| 70+ | <11 | 11–15 | 16–21 | 22–29 | ≥30 |
| A self-counted pulse carries roughly ±8 beats of error. Treat anything smaller as no change. If you kept moving after the climb, the result is invalid — retest another day. | |||||
| Age | Sex | Reversing | Slipping | Holding | Resilient | Extending |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18–29 | Men | <11 | 11–20 | 21–33 | 34–46 | ≥47 |
| 18–29 | Women | <6 | 6–11 | 12–19 | 20–28 | ≥29 |
| 30–39 | Men | <10 | 10–19 | 20–31 | 32–44 | ≥45 |
| 30–39 | Women | <5 | 5–11 | 12–18 | 19–27 | ≥28 |
| 40–49 | Men | <9 | 9–17 | 18–28 | 29–40 | ≥41 |
| 40–49 | Women | <5 | 5–10 | 11–16 | 17–24 | ≥25 |
| 50–59 | Men | <8 | 8–15 | 16–25 | 26–35 | ≥36 |
| 50–59 | Women | <4 | 4–8 | 9–14 | 15–21 | ≥22 |
| 60–69 | Men | <8 | 8–14 | 15–23 | 24–31 | ≥32 |
| 60–69 | Women | <4 | 4–7 | 8–13 | 14–19 | ≥20 |
| 70+ | Men | <7 | 7–12 | 13–20 | 21–27 | ≥28 |
| 70+ | Women | <4 | 4–6 | 7–11 | 12–16 | ≥17 |
| These thresholds are for conventional press-ups on the floor, from a cohort of 1,104 men. Inclined press-ups are recorded with the position stated, but there are no thresholds for them yet, and the women's set is being rebuilt. Until those arrive, an inclined result and any result from a woman is kept and shown, not scored. We no longer convert one position into another: the factors that did it were constructed rather than measured. | ||||||
| Age | Reversing | Slipping | Holding | Resilient | Extending |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18–29 | ≤5 | 5.5–7 | 7.5–9 | 9.5 | 10 |
| 30–39 | ≤5 | 5.5–7 | 7.5–9 | 9.5 | 10 |
| 40–49 | ≤4.5 | 5–6.5 | 7–8.5 | 9–9.5 | 10 |
| 50–59 | ≤4 | 4.5–6 | 6.5–8 | 8.5–9 | ≥9.5 |
| 60–69 | ≤4 | 4.5–6 | 6.5–8 | 8.5–9 | ≥9.5 |
| 70+ | ≤3.5 | 4–5.5 | 6–7.5 | 8–8.5 | ≥9 |
Tables are rounded guides at each age-band midpoint; the calculator computes thresholds for your exact age and is definitive at boundaries.
This test needs only a staircase, a chair, a watch and a set of scales. The certified assessment measures VO₂ max, fat-free mass and movement directly, on calibrated equipment, and it is the number that tells you which single input to change first.
Free. You create an account, enter the measurements yourself, and get your Index, your Capacity Age and the twelve-week programme that matches the result. You will need numbers this test does not ask for — a VO₂ max estimate from a watch, grip, body composition — and it tells you how much each estimate widens the error.
Nine measures on calibrated equipment at 32 Grosvenor Square — one number, a Capacity Age, and the single intervention that moves it most.