[Assessment of biological age and body composition in people involved in hardening]

To assess the biological age of persons belonging to the group of the second mature age, who are engaged in different types of hardening, using the method of bioimpedance analysis, depending on gender, age and additional sports activities.

The study involved 36 women and 27 men of the second mature age involved in hardening. The division into groups took place taking into account gender and the presence/absence of any sports activities. Anthropometric and hemodynamic parameters were measured, the qualitative composition of the body was studied by the method of bioimpedance analysis, and the biological age was determined by the method of V. Sukhov.

The body mass index of the examined women and men was above the normal range. According to bioimpedance analysis, in men, the indicators of fat, lean, active cell and skeletal muscle mass, total water, waist/hip index had higher values than in women. In a comparative analysis of the calendar and biological age, it was found that the biological age in all the studied groups was reduced relative to the calendar. It should be noted that both in women and men in the «hardening» groups, the difference between biological and calendar age was more pronounced (p≤0.01) than in the «hardening-sport» groups (p≤0.05).

Despite the fact that hardening is associated with a high level of stress (both emotional and physical), it helps to slow down the rate of aging of the body and leads to a decrease in the wear and tear of the functioning of natural physiological processes. Due to hardening, a decrease in the biological age of a person is observed, which can be associated with both a high level of health and lifestyle.