April 22, 2025

Do you feel your age? Maybe you feel youthful and spry, or maybe your creaking joints make you feel like you’re older than you are. Exercise can help with that.

One study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health found a roughly 12-year reduction in biological age for those who ran or jogged a minimum of 75 minutes each week. The study’s authors looked at telomeres, which are the end caps of chromosomes. The longer the telomere, the better — these are associated with a longer and healthier life.

You likely don’t have easy access to a lab test to see how long your telomeres are. But with the Garmin fitness age feature, you can still put a number to just how fit you are compared to your actual age.

Here’s how it works.

How is fitness age calculated? 

Fitness age estimates your fitness compared to your actual age.

Your fitness age is an interpretation of your VO2 max estimate¹, a number that describes your cardiorespiratory fitness. That VO2 max number is the maximum volume of oxygen your body can bring in, move and use in 1 minute during intense activity. Fitness age compares your current VO2 max fitness level to the normal values of different ages of people (of the same gender).

As we age, we gradually experience a reduction in cardiorespiratory fitness. Regular physical activity can slow — or even reverse — this process (to a point).

How Garmin calculates your fitness age depends on your watch — select Garmin smartwatches measure your fitness age differently. Newer smartwatches account for your activity intensity, resting heart rate, and body fat percentage or body mass index (BMI). You’ll need a  Garmin Index^™ S2 smart scale for your body fat measurement.

With a compatible device — including smartwatches, dive computers and Edge^® cycling computers — you can see your fitness age on the Garmin Connect^™ app. If your fitness age is higher than your actual age, no need to panic. But it may be time to start taking small steps to improve your fitness.

How can you reduce your fitness age?

It’s all about improving your activity intensity, resting heart rate, and body fat percentage or BMI.

When exercising, you should strive for at least 5 vigorous intensity minutes — where it’s difficult to speak — within a 30-minute workout. Just take care not to overdo it, then give yourself enough time to recover. Garmin can also help you track how much time your body needs to recharge with the recovery time countdown.

To reduce your resting heart rate, you should prioritize regular exercise, maintain a healthy weight, avoid tobacco and reduce stress.

If building your own workout routine sounds tough, you can rely on Garmin Coach. Whether you want to build your fitness or train for a specific race, Garmin Coach can help. You can choose between running, cycling or strength training plans. Many Garmin Coach plans are adaptive as well, meaning your workouts adjust based on your performance.

We know reducing stress is easier said than done. All-day stress tracking on a compatible Garmin smartwatch can help provide insight into your stress levels.

Plus, with the Index S2 smart scale, you’ll be able to get a more holistic view of your health that can help you maintain your weight goals. To lower your body fat percentage or BMI (you can track both with Index S2), you’ll likely need to combine exercise with a change in diet.

If you’re ready to improve your Garmin fitness age — and maybe reduce some of that joint creaking — browse our fitness watches.

_{¹See Garmin.com/ataccuracy}