Decaform
Truly measure where you stand physically — and track your progress every year.
24 events · 12 days · score out of 1000 · 8 qualities · dual scoring: general and age-adjusted scoring scale · ages 18 to 80.
We live longer. Not stronger.
We’ve never lived this long. And we’ve never been this physically incapable. This isn’t a “things were better back in the day” take: it’s measured, across millions of people, in dozens of countries.
Adults first. In 2016, American researchers repeated the 1985 grip strength measurements on young people aged 20 to 34. Result: a 20-24-year-old man now squeezes about 46 kg, versus 55 kg for his father at the same age. Women followed the same slope. Grip strength is not a lab detail: it’s a indicator of whole-body strength — and, as we’ll see, of life expectancy.
Children next. Their endurance drops by about 5% per decade since the 1970s. A child today is ~15 % lower endurance than their parents at the same age: over 1.6 km, that’s about 1 min 30 more. And in adolescence, the drop-off sets in: worldwide, 4 in 5 teens don’t get the recommended daily hour of activity — girls even more than boys.
And all over the world. Nearly 1 in 3 adults doesn’t reach the WHO minimum (150 min of moderate activity per week). Rich, urbanized countries are not spared, quite the opposite: in high-income Asia-Pacific (Japan, Korea, Singapore), it’s almost one adult in two. In India, the share of insufficiently active adults has more than doubled in 22 years (22% → 49%). In Kuwait, Saudi Arabia or Iraq, it’s more than one adult in two. Conversely, Germany stands out as an exception (12%), and Africa and Oceania remain the most active regions.
A very concrete consequence: in the United States, 77% of 17-24-year-olds couldn’t join the army without a waiver — overweight, fitness, health. Six points more than in 2017.
The worst part? We measure everything — weight, blood pressure, cholesterol — except our fitness. We don’t really know where we stand. Yet it’s what decides what comes next.
Sources and articles (13) ▾
- Fain & Weatherford, “Comparative study of millennials’ grip and lateral pinch with the norms”, Journal of Hand Therapy, 2016 (237 people aged 20-34) — wgbh.org
- Tomkinson et al., “Temporal trends in the cardiorespiratory fitness of children and adolescents”, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2019 (965,264 young people, 19 countries, 1981-2014) — bjsm.bmj.com
- Tomkinson — children have ~15% less endurance than their parents (University of South Australia) — unisa.edu.au
- Guthold et al., “Global trends in insufficient physical activity among adolescents”, Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 2019 (1.6 M students, 146 countries) — thelancet.com
- Strain et al., “National, regional, and global trends in insufficient physical activity among adults from 2000 to 2022”, Lancet Global Health, 2024 (507 surveys, 5.7 M people) — thelancet.com
- WHO — “Nearly 1.8 billion adults at risk of disease from not doing enough physical activity” (2022 regions), 26 June 2024 — who.int
- Guthold et al., “Worldwide trends in insufficient physical activity from 2001 to 2016”, Lancet Global Health, 2018 (168 countries — 2016 values) — thelancet.com
- India: 22.3% (2000) → 49.4% (2022), according to Strain 2024 — thesouthfirst.com
- Philippines: 46% (2022), according to Strain 2024 — tribune.net.ph
- Canada: 37.2% (2022), versus 25.6% in 2000 — globalnews.ca
- Germany: 12% (2022), one of the few countries on track — apotheken-umschau.de
- Africa (WHO region): 16% (2022) — africanews.com
- Pentagon, Qualified Military Available Study 2020: 77% of 17-24-year-olds unfit without a waiver — moaa.org
Physical fitness is measurable health.
Cardio and strength are among the best predictors of health, independence and longevity — often more than routine check-ups. And a few simple exercises are enough to read them.
Cardio, first. At the Cleveland Clinic, 122,007 patients took a stress test, then were followed for years. The least fit had 5 times higher risk of dying than the fittest — a gap comparable to, or even greater than, that of smoking, diabetes or coronary disease. Each fitness level gained (+1 MET) ≈ −13 % mortality. And there is no ceiling: the elite do better than the “good” ones.
The dose matters — but you don’t need to be a marathoner. Among 661,137 people, doing even just a little of activity already cuts the risk by 20%. Reaching the WHO minimum: −31%. The benefit levels off at around 3 to 5 times the minimum (−39%) — about 2 h 15 of running or 7 h of brisk walking per week. Beyond that, no danger, but no more gain.
Strength, next. In the PURE study (≈ 140,000 adults, 17 countries), every −5 kg of grip strength was associated with +16% mortality from all causes — a better predictor than blood pressure. And 30 to 60 minutes of strength training per week is enough to lower mortality by 10 to 20% ; combined with endurance, it’s even better.
Living-room tests that say a lot. Among 1,104 firefighters followed for 10 years, those who could chain together more than 40 push-ups had 96% fewer cardiovascular events than those who did fewer than 10. And the sit-to-stand test — sitting down on the floor and getting back up without support — predicts mortality in 51-80 year-olds: each point gained out of 10 ≈ −21% risk. Try it: move the slider to your score.
These numbers don’t come out of nowhere: they follow the way the body ages — and above all, the order in which it gives out.
Sources and articles (9) ▾
- Mandsager et al., “Association of cardiorespiratory fitness with long-term mortality”, JAMA Network Open, 2018 (122,007 patients) — jamanetwork.com
- Leong et al., “Prognostic value of grip strength” (PURE study), The Lancet, 2015 (≈ 140,000 adults, 17 countries) — thelancet.com
- Yang et al., “Association between push-up exercise capacity and future cardiovascular events”, JAMA Network Open, 2019 (1,104 firefighters, 10 years) — hsph.harvard.edu
- Harvard Gazette — « Pushup capacity may be inexpensive way to assess cardiovascular disease risk » — content.news.harvard.edu
- Araújo et al., “Ability to sit and rise from the floor as a predictor of all-cause mortality”, European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (2,002 adults aged 51-80) — sciencedaily.com
- Arem et al., “Leisure time physical activity and mortality: a detailed pooled analysis of the dose-response relationship”, JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015 (661,137 people) — ascopost.com
- BMJ Heart blog — « Relationship between physical activity and mortality » (Arem 2015) — blogs.bmj.com
- Momma et al., “Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risk and mortality”, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2022 (meta-analysis) — bjsm.bmj.com
- WHO — Global Status Report on Physical Activity 2022: ~500 M new preventable cases by 2030, ~$27 bn per year — who.int
Your body has a peak. Then it declines.
VO₂max, muscle, hormones, bone, brain speed: each system peaks between 25 and 35, then declines. It’s unavoidable — but not at the same pace for everyone, nor for every quality.
Everything climbs until ~25-30, then comes back down — but not at the same pace. Power, speed and VO₂max are the first to go ; bone and coordination hold up longer. Hover over the curve to read each system at the age you want, and compare men / women.
The most deceptive part: until 40, you feel almost nothing. The decline is slow, silent, and cumulative. By the time you notice, you’ve often already lost 10 to 20% of what you had.
You don’t lose “a bit of muscle.” You lose, in this order: the ability to sprint to catch a bus, to jump an obstacle, to catch yourself when you trip, to climb stairs without getting out of breath, then to get up from the floor only
These are exactly the qualities measured by the tests in the previous act — push-ups, sit-to-stand, grip, cardio. And they are the ones modern daily life never calls on anymore.
In women, the drop in estrogen at menopause accelerates bone and muscle loss: strength work becomes even more decisive.
Sources and articles (4) ▾
- Why are masters sprinters slower than their younger counterparts? (sprint −5 to 6%/decade, ages 17-88) — pure.ul.ie
- 10-year longitudinal study of masters sprinters: jump power −9.5% (University of Jyväskylä) — jyx.jyu.fi
- VO₂max decline: masters athletes vs sedentary people (about twice as slow in the trained) — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Speed training for veterans — why speed and power go first — sportsperformancebulletin.com
The speed of decline isn’t inevitable.
A workout regular and structured — of cardio and muscle, repeated over time — slows this decline remarkably. You can’t eliminate decline: we can slow it down.
The question isn’t if we decline, but how fast. And there, we have real leverage. At 80, the trained person keeps the VO₂max that the sedentary person had ~20 years earlier : the gray area is these years gained — not on a single feat, but on consistency.
Sources and articles (2) ▾
- VO₂max declines about twice as slowly in masters athletes — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Duggal et al., Aging Cell, 2018 — cyclists aged 55-79 who have trained all their lives: immune system and profile of a young adult — doi.org
Consistency, for sixty years
Same age, same frame, same starting qualities. Just one detail sets them apart: consistency.
To make this concrete, let’s follow two opposite life paths — the same genes at the start, two ways of spending them.
Overall physical capacity, from age 5 to 80
The curves diverge early and never meet again. At 80, A has the capacity of a 60-year-old and lives independently; B has slipped into dependence. Same starting capital, two ways of spending it.
The difference wasn’t made at the gym on any given day, but over thousands of small sessions, repeated for sixty years.
The minimum to stay strong. The ideal to be in great shape.
You don’t need to train every day: 3 well-structured sessions cover the essentials; 5 to be in great shape. Four qualities to work on — then two supporting pillars.
Many do only one thing: running, or lift, or stretch. Yet each quality ages in its own way — and the ones you don’t train fade anyway. A body in great shape is a body strong, fast, enduring and mobile.
Strength
Two very basic strength sessions — to be customized.
- Upper: press, pull, rowing, pull-ups, push-ups, dips — heavy loads, or bodyweight with no equipment / for variety
- Legs: squat, deadlift, lunges, plank / core
- 3 to 5 sets of 5 to 12 reps, close to failure
Speed & explosiveness
In the quality run: go fast, change pace, jump.
- Jumps: bounds, feet-together jumps, box jumps
- Sprints: 6 to 10 × 10-30 m, full recovery
- Changes of pace (fartlek), short hills
Endurance
VO₂max work, intense finishers, then easy volume.
- VO₂max: short intervals in the quality run
- Intense 10-20 min finisher at the end of the strength session: rower, bike, run, elliptical, SkiErg
- Ideal: + 1 easy endurance run (you can talk) and the free session
Flexibility & mobility
Not an extra session: built into every session.
- 10 min of mobility warm-up at the start
- Cool-down stretches: 30-60 s per group
- Hips, shoulders, ankles, spine
How many sessions? Switch between the minimum week and the ideal week: number of sessions, total time and a sample week.
The benchmarks to aim for? You saw them above: more than 40 push-ups, 8 out of 10 or more in the sit-to-stand test, a grip that doesn’t drop from one year to the next. Decaform measures them all, with a detailed scoring scale for each event.
Sleep
7 to 9 h per night. Among 1.38 million people, regularly sleeping less than 6 h is associated with +12% mortality premature. Sleeping well over 9 h is too — often a sign of another health problem.
Muscle rebuilds and hormones rebalance at night: without sleep, training doesn’t “pay off”.
Nutrition
Protein: ~1.6 g/kg/day if you do strength training — beyond that, 49 trials found no additional gain in muscle or strength.
For the rest: minimally processed foods, vegetables and fruit at every meal, water. No miracle diet — consistency, just like training.
Sources and articles (7) ▾
- WHO — 2020 Guidelines: 150-300 min of moderate activity (or 75-150 min vigorous) + muscle strengthening ≥ 2 days/week — who.int
- Arem et al., JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015 — maximum benefit at 3-5× the minimum — blogs.bmj.com
- Momma et al., BJSM, 2022 — 30-60 min/week of strength training: −10 to −20% mortality; combining strength + endurance does better — bjsm.bmj.com
- Garber et al., ACSM Position Stand, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2011 — flexibility ≥ 2-3 days/week — pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Masters sprinters: speed and power go first — pure.ul.ie
- Cappuccio et al., “Sleep duration and all-cause mortality”, Sleep, 2010 (1.38 M people, 16 studies) — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Morton et al., “Protein supplementation and resistance training”, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2018 (49 trials, 1,863 participants) — bjsm.bmj.com
What you’ll do, and how.
24 events spread over 12 days to measure, always with the same protocol, 8 main physical qualities. Result: a score out of 1000 — and above all a benchmark you come back to year after year.
What it involves
24 events that cover the whole hybrid spectrum :
Each event earns points according to a scoring scale; the total gives your score out of 1000.
How it’s organized
8 event days and 4 rest days, in a fixed order. Each session starts with a suitable warm-up (Protocol tab).
How long
per event day, warm-up included — i.e. 10 to 13 h in total on the 12 days.
Who it’s for
Some regular exercisers who already have a certain level — this isn’t a test for beginners.
Ages 18 to 80, men and women, with a scoring scale overall or age-adjusted, your choice.
Equipment
You don’t need to have everything at home: a gym, a track, a pool.
- Olympic barbell + plates
- Rack
- Bench
- Pull-up bar + weight belt or weighted vest
- Box (60 cm M / 40 cm W)
- Rowing machine
- 400 m track
- Grass
- Cones
- Tape measure
- Timer (ideally timing gates)
- 25 or 50 m pool
- Bike or indoor trainer with a power meter
When and how often
Once a year — or twice a year, 6 months apart, for closer tracking.
And always at the same time of year : it’s the only way to compare like with like from one year to the next.
The best time
April, May, September and October : neither too hot nor too cold in general (depending on where you live). Heat and cold skew times, especially in running and sprints.
Qualities measured
The details (agility, strength endurance…) are in the Qualities tab.
The track and the grass
The outdoor events, where they happen: the runs on the track, the jumps, the agility drills and the out-and-backs on the grass — never on tarmac. Hover or tap an event to see its day and its points.
Pure acceleration (power and explosiveness).
On the track
On the grass
How to read your score
A score of 400 / 1000 may seem, at first glance, below average. It isn’t: with 400, you’re above the average physical level of the population — in France as elsewhere in the world.
Decaform doesn’t compare you to today’s average, because that average is poor — very poor — and that it deteriorates year after year. Soon, climbing 10 flights of stairs at 30 will be enough to be above average.
Decaform scores you against what a human being’s physical level should be.
The general population’s level today: around, or even below, the current world average. The body isn’t being challenged.
Regular exerciser, amateur athlete. Already above the world average — but still far from what the body can do.
Trained amateur athlete: solid foundations in most qualities, still a few weak points.
What the population’s level should be given human capabilities: strong, fast, enduring, mobile.
Athlete with exceptional physical abilities, at a very high level.
Beyond the scoring scale maximum across all qualities. Extremely rare: exceptional hybrid profiles.
Almost abnormal level: more than exceptional physical abilities.
To manage this, you have to measure.
You now know what to work on, and what the test involves. Decaform tells you where you stand on each of these qualities — and tells you again in 3 months, then every year: where you’re improving, where you’re declining, and how to slow the decline.
Your results at a glance
At the end: an overall score out of 1000 and a clear reading of each quality, on the general scoring scale or adjusted for age.
Breakdown of 1000 points per family
The weight of each event family in the overall score.