Hierarchy of Functional Aging

If you’ve been following us for a while, then you know that we are Functional Aging Specialists and that we work with an aging (50+) population of men/women who want to live active, healthy lives into their 80s, 90s, and some of us may be looking at 100 years old in our rear view mirror!

We can all agree that we all go through a similar cycle of growth in early life, and then we all peak in our 30s.

After 30 it is a relatively slow and steady decline as we get older.

However, not everyone ages at the same rate.  In fact, we see significant differences in how people age, so that by the time we reach our 50s and 60s, there is a wide range of functional abilities.

Some are headed down a path to disease, disability, and early death.  They will likely need to be cared for during the last 5-10 years of their life.

Others, though, are on a path that will keep them healthy and functional for as long as possible.  These people will one day die, as we all will.  But they will be able to continue doing most of the things they want to do until very close to the end of their lives.  Maybe they are sick for a week or two before they pass. Perhaps they go to sleep one night and don’t wake up.

This is what we call Compression of Disability – dramatically shortening the time at the end of life where we are sick and need care.

So we ask, “Where are you on this Hierarchy of Functional Aging chart?”

Because people age so differently we recognize that older adults fall into a broad range of functional categories that isn’t really connected to their chronological age.

80-year-old men/women are competing in athletic events, playing sports, and trekking the world.

And some 60-year-olds struggle with activities of daily living.

Chronological age is not the issue.

Functional age is.

As Functional Aging Specialists, we are experts at meeting where YOU are in your ability to function. And, in most cases, we can do this in small groups of 4-8 people, so it’s affordable and still personal training.

Don’t even think about hiring us! 

​Did she really say that? Yes, unless your condition is poor to fair and your motivation is nearly a 10 (on a scale of 1 to 10), with 10 being VERY motivated. We take what we do seriously, and your mindset makes all the difference!

Stay tuned as I have a lot more to say about mindset over the upcoming weeks. Hey, I love you even if I don’t really know you yet ,’cause aging is not for wimps!