Age Isn’t a Number: How I Reduced My Biological Age by 7.7 Years

5 hours ago
3 min read

7.7 Years Younger: My Journey to Slowing Down Ageing

At the age of 37 I felt 75 years old!

On the first day of 2019, I was lying on my side on the sofa because sitting upright triggered sciatica so aggressively it felt like my legs were being tasered from the inside! I had been throwing up most mornings that week too thanks to a stomach ulcer. To top things off, my bank account was empty and the business venture I’d poured everything into had collapsed. Plus, the kids had just dropped cereal and milk down a suede wall — which, if you’ve ever tried cleaning milk out of suede, you’ll know is essentially a write-off!

I remember thinking: This is impressive. I’ve managed to be broke, injured and old-aged — at 37!

It Gets Better. Briefly.

My marriage ended and I moved back in with my parents. Shortly after that they then separated and sold the house. At one point, after a bed bug incident in a rented room, I threw away everything I owned and sat in my car questioning my life decisions. Not my finest hour!

What made it worse? I was a fitness professional. I had helped thousands of people transform their health over the last 25 years, and yet I couldn’t run next to my son while he learned to ride a bike. My back wouldn’t let me. That’s the moment that actually hurt.

The uncomfortable reality.

I've seen what happens when strength fades, when balance goes and when breathlessness becomes normal. I realised something slightly horrifying: I wasn’t heading toward decline; I was rehearsing it early. At 37, my biological markers came back at 49! 😲

I had a torn meniscus, chronic back pain and I was over 18 stone during the Covid lockdown. I looked like I needed advice from myself!

The Pact

A friend (Fabio) and I went for a walk. It was on flat ground and we went at a slow pace, yet both of us were mouth-breathing like Victorian chimney sweeps! And that was the moment that we made a pact to fix this. Properly. Not a 6-week shred. Not “start Monday.” Not punishment.

We would rebuild our physical age one driver at a time:

Body fat.
Muscle mass.
Cardio capacity.
Injuries.
Habits.

Small (and sometimes boring), consistent corrections. We failed constantly. We restarted constantly. But we didn’t quit. 💪

The happier, younger, healthier me.

Now at 44, I am leaner, stronger, fitter and more capable than I was at 37. When I dance, I can move for hours — no alcohol, no stimulants, just water and salt like a slightly unhinged wellness pirate! 🏴‍☠️

I recover faster too. I can move freely. I feel physically younger. Not in a “look at me” way, but in a “I can live properly again” way. I have managed to reverse my age by 7.7 years (so far!) and decreased my rate of ageing to just 0.1 (meaning I am currently adding only about 0.1 years of physiological age for every 1 year that passes) which I'm chuffed about!

Why This Matters

Most of the best experiences in my life have required physical capacity, whether it's climbing, surfing, dancing, playing or being strong enough to lift my children without calculating spinal risk! 🏄‍♂️

When your body declines, your world quietly shrinks. And decline doesn’t begin at 60. It compounds from your 30s and 40s — invisibly. That’s why I now run physical ageing assessments.

These are not vanity metrics or endless lab panels. I measure what actually determines how old you function:

Strength and power
Cardiovascular capacity
Muscle quality
Movement efficiency + balance

Because ageing isn’t dramatic. It’s gradual. Until it isn’t. And the good news? It’s far more reversible than most people realise.

Now I help others to be physically younger and significantly slow down their pace of ageing in a way that fits their lifestyle. If you want to chat, I'd really like to show you how.