The 5 habits that contributed most to my 17-year biological age reversal

At 51, my biological age is 34.

Here's what I think contributed the most:

𝟭. BUILT A SOLID FITNESS BASE

I've always been active. Running, cycling, triathlon, HYROX (until everyone jumped on that bandwagon J).

Years of cardio has given me a VO₂ max of 53, which puts me in the ‘elite’ category for my age. I care about that because VO₂ max is one of the strongest predictors of how long I’m likely to live.

Most of the decline we see with age comes from inactivity, not ageing itself. So it's trainable at any age.

I also strength train 5x a week. You don’t need to do that much but research shows 90+ minutes weekly can reduce biological age by nearly 4 years.

But honestly, I do it because I want to stay strong and capable for the next 40 years.

𝟮. EATING CLEAN

My diet is mostly plant-based with fatty fish once or twice a week. Minimal processed foods.

I don't follow a strict protocol but I’m closest to the Mediterranean diet principles and have been for years.

I eat real food, mostly plants, and I've done it long enough that it's just how I eat now.

One study found a polyphenol-rich Mediterranean-style diet reduced biological age by nearly 5 years in just 8 weeks.

It's the overall pattern and consistency that matters though, not obsessing over specific diets or calories.

𝟯. SLEEP CONSISTENCY

I protect my sleep pretty militantly! Same wind-down routine. Same bedtime and wake-up times 7 days a week. 7-8 hours every night.

I wasn't always good at this. During my corporate days, sleep was the thing that got squeezed.

Now I treat sleep as non-negotiable as it's when my body repairs itself.

𝟰. DAILY BREATHWORK

This one surprises people, but it's been one of the most important habits I've maintained.

10 minutes twice a day with a few shorter resets sprinkled in. Slow, controlled resonance breathing. It activates my parasympathetic nervous system and shifts my body from stress mode into repair mode.

Chronic stress ages us faster through inflammation. Breathwork is the simplest way I've found to counteract that. It costs nothing, takes minutes, and the research on stress reduction and biological ageing is very strong and compelling.

𝟱. LIMITING ALCOHOL

I've hardly drunk for 15 years and I’ve been completely teetotal for long periods of that time and am currently.

This wasn't a dramatic decision as I’d easily go for months without a drink anyway. I just noticed I felt better without it.

Then the more research I did, I realised how toxic it is for the body and there was literally zero gain for me to drink.

I don’t intend to go back to it.

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So there it is. No longevity clinics or biohacking gadgets.

Of course, there’s many other habits I have, but these 5 habits, done consistently, for years are what I believe contribute the most to slowing the ageing process and most importantly, increased healthspan.