Two men can both be 42, but their bodies may be travelling at very different speeds.
In support of Men’s Health Week, we’re listing five checks men can do at home in a few minutes.
They do not diagnose disease, but they can show whether your body is giving you green lights, amber lights, or something worth looking into.
In This Article
Why These Five Checks?
The idea behind “biological age” is simple: two men can be the same age on paper but have very different levels of fitness, strength, sleep quality, and overall health.
These five checks won’t tell you your biological age, but they can help you build a clearer picture of how your body is tracking right now.
Check 1: Waist-to-Height Ratio
You need a tape measure.
Measure your waist around the level of your belly button, then divide that number by your height. Use centimetres for both.
For example:
Waist 90 cm
Height 180 cm
90 divided by 180 = 0.5
As a general guide, keeping your waist measurement below half your height is a good target.
A result of 0.5 or above suggests more weight is being carried around the middle, which is linked with higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnoea, and joint strain.
What good results can offer
A healthy waist-to-height ratio is associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and sleep apnoea, while also making everyday movement feel easier.
How to improve your result
Reducing alcohol intake, increasing daily movement, and cutting back on highly processed foods are often the most effective ways to reduce waist circumference.
HSMC offers Diabetes Risk Assessments for patients 40-49.
Check 2: Resting Heart Rate
Do this before getting out of bed in the morning: Place two fingers on your wrist or neck, count your pulse for 30 seconds, then double it.
A resting heart rate between 60 and 100 beats per minute is generally considered normal for adults.
Many healthy adults sit closer to 55 to 85.
If your number is regularly high, or your rhythm feels irregular, it’s worth checking properly.
A higher resting heart rate can mean your body is working harder at rest, which may relate to fitness, stress, sleep, alcohol, medication, or cardiovascular health.
What good results can offer
A lower resting heart rate is often linked with better cardiovascular fitness, improved endurance, and faster recovery from physical activity.
How to improve your result
Regular aerobic exercise such as brisk walking, cycling, swimming, or running can gradually lower resting heart rate over time.
Check 3: Five Sit-to-Stands
Sit on a sturdy chair with your arms crossed over your chest.
Stand up fully and sit back down five times as quickly as you can, without using your hands. Time the whole set.
This checks leg strength, balance, and power, which affect far more than gym performance. They influence stairs, sport, carrying kids, injury risk, and how easily you move as you get older.
There is no perfect score for every age, but if five clean repetitions feel difficult, slow, painful, or leave you unusually breathless, that’s useful information.
What good results can offer
Better lower body strength and mobility can make everything from sport and hiking to carrying children and climbing stairs feel easier.
How to improve your result
Strength training, walking hills, cycling, and simple bodyweight exercises such as squats can improve lower body power and stability.
The BBC explored why chair-based strength tests are attracting attention from researchers studying healthy ageing here.
Check 4: Sleep Apnoea Risk
Use the STOP-Bang questionnaire, which you can find here.
It asks about snoring, tiredness, observed breathing pauses, blood pressure, body size, age, neck size, and sex.
A score of 3 or more suggests a higher likelihood of obstructive sleep apnoea. This matters because untreated sleep apnoea can affect energy, mood, concentration, blood pressure, and heart health.
This is one of the more useful checks for men who wake tired despite spending enough hours in bed.
What good results can offer
Better sleep quality is often linked with improved concentration, mood, energy levels, recovery, and blood pressure control.
How to improve your result
Maintaining a healthy weight, limiting alcohol before bed, and seeking assessment for persistent snoring can significantly improve sleep quality.
Check 5: Prostate Cancer Risk
For Men’s Health Week, the Walk For Him campaign is encouraging Australians to walk for zero deaths from prostate cancer.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia also has information to help men understand their risk, especially around age and family history. Find this here.
It’s about knowing whether your risk profile means a conversation about PSA testing makes sense.
What good results can offer
Understanding your risk can help you make more informed decisions about screening and avoid relying on guesswork.
How to improve your result
You cannot change factors such as age or family history, but knowing your risk allows earlier conversations about testing and monitoring when appropriate.
A Quick Dry July Check
If July usually starts with good intentions and ends with “just a few”, try the AUDIT-C alcohol screening tool before Dry July begins. It takes about a minute and gives a clearer picture of drinking patterns than memory alone.
What Did Your Results Tell You?
Did your results match how healthy you feel?
If your waist-to-height ratio is higher than expected, your morning pulse is regularly elevated, your sit-to-stand test felt harder than it should, or your sleep score raised a flag, there may be room to feel better day to day.
The doctors at High Street Medical Clinic in Prahran can help you interpret your results and decide whether a men’s health check, blood test, blood pressure review, or prostate discussion is the right next step.
