体能是否符合年龄？26岁作者与64岁母亲实测 Super Age Games

What if you could predict your healthspan? That’s the idea behind the Super Age Games, which bills itself as “the world’s first live longevity fitness competition,” helping participants gauge how long they’ll live well.

The games (which took place this year in New York City on November 7) are centered around eight trials testing markers that predict longevity: grip strength, aerobic capacity, agility, balance, functional strength, memory, and relational capacity. Anyone could sign up and compete throughout the day with a thousand other athletes. There was an overall winner, a team competition winner, and winners within each age group for women and men. But also, all participants received a medal and a report outlining their strengths and areas of improvement, as well as personalized longevity training tips.

This fall, the creators behind the Super Age media brand hosted a practice day in NYC where anyone could attend and be the first to test-run the trials. My mom—who’s been interested in all things health and wellness since she was my age (I’m 26, she’s now 64). She happened to be visiting me in the city that weekend, so she signed us up.

Even as lifelong gym rats, after we experienced the tests, we both realized there are key areas of training that our workout routines are missing. Here’s what the competition taught us about our overall health—and what we can work on to live stronger for longer.

Our First Impressions of the Experience

As we walked into the venue, the Metropolitan Pavilion, we noticed cones, obstacles to jump over, balance beams, and air bikes sitting on hardwood floor spread throughout the room into different stations. I felt like I was right back in elementary school taking on a field-day-meets-presidential-physical-fitness-test challenge.

There appeared to be people of all ages there—people younger than me, up to those in their 70s—and an even split between women and men. Some people came to practice day because they got the invite from being on the Super Age newsletter mailing list and wanted to try it out, while others came because they were competing at the real event in November.

My mom and I didn’t train for the specific challenges beyond our general fitness routines (a few days a week of strength training and cardio), so we weren’t sure how we would fare. However, there was time to practice each station before the actual games started—so we explored the balance beam and obstacle course.

After all of the participants arrived and everyone settled in, we were split into groups and began each trial in a specific order. We had to wait a bit to begin, and there was also a bit of downtime in between each trial as we waited for room to open up on the equipment. While the trials themselves were timed, the time in between the trials wasn’t, so we could take our time a bit and catch our breath.

The goal of each trial was different: Some were to be completed as fast as possible, or as slow as possible, while some were based on data like getting your highest VO₂ max. After the practice day, we received an email of our scores, which were adjusted based on age and sex, and compared us against the other 50 athletes who participated. (During the actual Super Age Games, though, the data field was much larger.)

The email also included an action plan recommending how we could improve each of our scores. The feedback came from the work they’ve done with the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, performance coach Andy Walshe, PhD, and their head trainer, as well as longevity research and expert interviews, according to Heather Hurlock, founding editor at Super Age.

A Breakdown of Each Longevity Test at the Super Age Games

1. The Over Under

The challenge: Jump over and crawl under four gates set 10 meters apart as fast as possible to test agility, explosive movement, and gait speed, which research shows are predictors of how long you’ll live.

How we did:

At first glance, my mom and I were both intimidated by the plywood box (about 2.5 feet tall) we had to jump over. It took a second to figure out how to jump over the box because everyone did it differently, but eventually, we got into the swing of things. My mom and I took off in a running start, maintained our speed throughout as we jumped over the boxes and slid under the ropes, and agreed that the challenge wasn’t that hard, and in fact, we both really enjoyed it! (However, we did end up with a few bruises from hitting the boxes and floor pretty hard.)

I finished in 80 seconds, while my mom finished in 73. (Go, mom!) Our feedback—formed from the research that Super Age has done—told us that our agility is above average.

How you can build this skill:

To get better at moving quickly over and under obstacles, add in jumping exercises like directional hops and line drills, before more advanced exercises such as lateral shuffles and single-leg hop overs. These drills will help grow your coordination, balance, and power skills, as well as spatial awareness. Plus, these moves will increase your lateral quickness and help develop foot speed—all important for helping prevent falls as you grow older.

2. The Synapse

The challenge: Complete a six-minute memory game from NeuroTracker, a cognitive training tool, on computers to focus on cognitive capacity under load. Keep track of a specific set of balls moving across the screen and identify them seconds later as the speed of the balls increases.

How we did:

My mom and I found that the longer the game went on, the harder it was, because we’re so used to looking at short-form content all day, so it was hard to keep focus. We couldn’t take our eyes (or mind) off of the screen for even a second, or else we were screwed for that round. (But hey, at least I know it was good for my brain.) My mom got a near-perfect score, while I had some room to grow.

How you can build this skill:

Take your aerobic exercise seriously, which has been associated with improved cognitive function in older adults, suggests Aashaun Khedaru, exercise physiologist supervisor at the Sports Performance Center at NYU Langone Health. The Super Age feedback recommended walking briskly for 30 minutes, three to five times a week, to boost blood flow to the brain, and pairing it with memory or reaction games.

3. The Tightrope

The challenge: Walk forward and then backward on a 12-foot balance beam carrying a 10-lb hydro training tube filled with water, front-racked, in as few steps as possible—without stepping off—to gauge balance and stability.

How we did:

This trial was my personal favorite, and the one I felt most confident on (possibly due to six years of classical ballet training). There was a learning curve to just holding the tube—it could easily throw you off balance. But I just had to move slowly and keep my focus straight ahead and slightly down. I scored lower than I thought I would, though, with 49 steps, because I thought the goal was to just not fall off—not to take the smallest amount of steps possible.

For my mom, though, this one was more challenging, especially the part where we walked backward with the hydro tube. She said the level of coordination it required almost felt like trying to catch a ball while balancing on one leg. But when she engaged her core, walking the beam became easier. (She even scored better than me, finishing in 30 steps!)

How you can build this skill:

The Super Age Games feedback recommended standing on one leg for 30 seconds per side each day, then trying it with our eyes closed, and adding some lunges and single-leg deadlifts into our routines. (We already do!)

Lunges can improve muscle function and balance because they isolate the quads and work your range of motion, according to a small study that had middle-aged women do eight weeks of lunge exercises to better their lower extremity strength and balance. Single-leg deadlifts can increase muscular strength and balance since it puts you in an unstable position, per a 2026 study in Scientific Reports that had 30 men perform the exercise on unstable surfaces to see if it limited joint mobility and strength gains.

4. The Inferno

The challenge: Pedal at an all-out effort on an assault bike for four minutes to earn your highest VO₂ max, which is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can hold during exercise. The better your VO₂ max is, the more efficiently your body produces energy, which means better endurance and stamina.

How we did:

This trial carries the most weight in the overall score, Hurlock says—and the games’ creators warned it would be the toughest. My mom agreed: It was straight-up “just hard,” she said. After three grueling trials, the thought of going all out on the assault bike for four minutes was less than appealing. So, we both held back for most of it, though I kicked things into high gear for the final minute.

My score was pretty average, while my mom fared slightly better. But according to Khedaru, this four-minute challenge wasn't the most accurate way to measure VO₂ max. For a more precise reading, you'd typically undergo a longer, supervised treadmill test in a lab. Fitness wearables like Apple Watches and Fitbits can also estimate VO₂ max using workout data.

Your VO₂ max will depend on your age and workouts, but this chart depicts where you should aim to be, based on your age:

How you can build this skill:

My action plan said to do brisk walks or easy cycling to build toward HIIT, while my mom’s plan recommended adding one weekly 4x4 session to her routine: four minutes hard, then three easy, four times through. (I already run for about 90 minutes every week and do some light zone 2 work, so I feel pretty good in the cardio department.) But you can also walk or run on an incline and eventually do longer cardio sessions (45 minutes to an hour at a conversational pace) to improve your endurance. Aim for two to four cardio workouts per week.

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5. The Net

The challenge: Crawl across a 40-foot cargo net as fast as possible to gauge functional strength and coordination.

How we did:

We felt like little kids again, climbing over the net like we were back on an elementary school playground. It also tested the most aspects of longevity, in our opinion: coordination, core strength, upper-body strength, flexibility, mobility, and mental focus. I was feeling a bit lightheaded at this point in the trials (probably because it required me to be bent over crawling and I hadn’t eaten much that day), so it was harder than I thought it would be. It took my mom a second to get into a rhythm and figure out where to place her hands and feet, but once she did, she enjoyed it.

I completed the challenge in 69 seconds while my mom finished in 115 seconds (almost two minutes).

How you can build this skill:

To improve functional strength and coordination, Khedaru recommends targeting the posterior chain (the backside of your body) through a mix of upper- and lower-body compound movements, which work multiple muscles. Think shoulder presses, pull-ups, lateral pulldowns, and farmer’s carries, since most of your body weight will be on your arms and shoulders. But you can also add some step-ups into your routine as well since crawling involves some leg work too; other functional leg exercises include squats, deadlifts, lunges, and calf raises, WH previously wrote. All of these exercises will build strength in your hamstrings, glutes, quads, and calves.

6. The Hang

The challenge: Dead hang on a bar for as long as you can to test grip strength, one of the biggest predictors of longevity.

How we did:

I consider myself to have a decent amount of upper-body strength, but dead hangs are still challenging. On my mom’s part, she got a shoulder replacement two years ago, so she’s had to build her shoulder strength from the ground up, particularly with hangs. (Thankfully, they let us use chalk, which can absorb sweat and moisture and make it easier to grip the bar.)

We both hung for over a minute each, which was far longer than we’d hung in practice at the gym, so we were very happy with our times. According to Khedaru, that’s good too: He says women in their 20s and 30s should be able to hang for over 70 seconds, while those in their 40s to 60s should be able to hold 45 seconds.

How you can build this skill:

You can practice hanging, but also lean on farmer’s carries and kettlebell swings so your hands practice holding heavy weight and improving that grip strength.

7. The Sync

The challenge: Complete two exercises on an iPad game to test your emotional intelligence, as research shows that those with stronger social relationships live longer. First, stare at a neutral face, then identify an emotional face that flashes on screen for two-tenths of a second (anger, contempt, surprise, happiness, etc.); eventually the faces will be shown for a shorter period, one-tenth of a second. Next, choose how you’d respond to five real-life scenarios where conflict is involved. Example: “Someone cuts in front of you with the airport line and you're going to miss your flight. Do you call them out on it or do you let it go because it's not worth it?”

How we did:

The first exercise felt extremely difficult because we were already physically and mentally fatigued from the previous trials; the emotions blinked so quickly that you could barely tell which facial features had changed. So, I feel like I didn’t do as well as I wanted—especially because I was already so mentally fatigued. However, the second exercise went way better; it was pretty easy for us to pick which ones were the “correct” answers. (Honestly, it reminded me of those HR training situational videos that you have to complete for work every year.)

I didn’t get the best score on this one, which would’ve come with getting the most answers right, but my mom totally crushed it.

How you can build this skill:

For stronger social skills, don’t be afraid to practice making new friends. Reach out in a way that feels natural for you—in person, text, DM—then choose an activity that sounds fun, but simple, like coffee or lunch, WH previously reported. Feel free to reach out to mutual friends first, if speaking to a stranger feels a bit intimidating.

8. The Super Age 800

The challenge: Run (or walk) 800 meters (nearly half a mile) carrying a sandbag weighing 10, 25, 40, or 50 pounds to test both grip strength and the cardiovascular system.

How we did:

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try this one because it was rainy and slippery outside—but we weren’t too disappointed, because we were tired. Still, Khedaru says that for 20- and 30-year-olds, your goal should be to carry 25 percent of your total body weight and complete the challenge in under 5 minutes. Those who are older should be able to carry 15 to 25 percent of their body weight and finish in around 6 minutes.

How you can build this skill:

Khedaru says to regularly train your aerobic capacity and lift weights, specifically through exercises like farmer’s carries and walking lunges.

In fact, having a healthy balance of both aerobic and resistance training will help you in all of these challenges—which will translate to real-life longevity, Khedaru says. Make sure you’re regularly doing both low- and high-intensity cardiovascular work, as well as increasing reps, sets, and weight when you resistance train—a principle known as progressive overload.

What We Learned About Our Own Longevity

We were the most surprised at how every event took mental focus—not just physical ability.

The games were harder than we thought. Each activity by itself wasn’t too difficult, but by the time we completed all of them back to back and in a specific order, we were totally wiped out physically and mentally. For instance, the Over Under required a lot of energy and agility right off the bat, then we had to go right into the Synapse, which required a lot of mental focus. By the time we got to challenge number four—The Inferno—we both felt like we could’ve used a bit of a break. That’s why after The Sync, another challenge that used mental focus, we were fine to skip the last challenge, which required running with a heavy sandbag. It was clearly designed to be a total mental, emotional, and physical workout.

The brain challenges made me want to focus more on my brain health starting now.

In fact, my hardest events were The Synapse and The Sync—and they certainly weren’t made easier after completing serious physical challenges. On the flip side, my mom crushed both of those challenges at 64, and it makes sense: She’s whip-smart, regularly works out, and stays on top of her brain health.

That said, at 26, I want to start strengthening my cognitive abilities now. While I work out regularly—and that does help my brain health some—I could probably play more brain and memory games (even when I’m tired) and scroll a little bit less on Instagram to lengthen my attention span. (Something my mom doesn’t do.)

Even as lifelong exercisers, we realized our workout routines are missing a few key components.

Neither The Over Under nor The Net were our best events (especially the latter because it was one of the last events and we were tired). Both trials required mobility, agility, speed, and power in movements that we don’t really practice day to day: jumping and sliding over a high obstacle, and crawling over an unsteady net. But at 64, my mom was really happy that she could finish them (in great time, might I add!). For me, I’m a recreational runner and regularly do HIIT and speed work, so I felt good about my power and speed. But I could probably integrate more crawls and mobility work into my routine.

Ultimately, performing each of the eight challenges made us look differently at how we work out and live our day-to-day lives. Now, we have a good idea of our fitness and wellness strengths—and weaknesses—which will help inform our future workout and wellness habits.

In her 60s, my mom wants to do more agility, speed, and power work. As a kid, you run around, balance, hang, jump, and climb all the time, but as adults, you tend to stay more linear. Then, you naturally lose those skills because you’re not using them. So, completing this practice day made her want to try more of these challenges on a regular basis, instead of always taking the easy way through life.

For me, I’m much more motivated to be wary of and work on my long-term brain health and mental endurance. Maybe that looks like going for a run, and then playing brain and memory games instead of scrolling on Instagram.

 Addison Aloian is the associate health & fitness editor at Women’s Health, where she writes and edits across the health, weight loss, and fitness verticals. She’s also a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). In her free time, you can find her lifting weights at the gym, running on the West Side Highway in New York City—she recently completed her first marathon, the 2025 New York City Marathon—and watching (and critiquing!) the latest movies that have garnered Oscars buzz. In addition to Women's Health, she’s made an appearance on the Oprah Podcast and her work has also appeared in Allure, StyleCaster, L'Officiel USA, V Magazine, VMAN, and more.