Season one · Open to everyone 35+

The Making Sense
Age Games

Own your age. Honor your body.

We don't ask how old you are.
We ask what you can do.

Simple tests that science links to a long, independent life. You are ranked against people your own age and sex, so a 72 year old in the top 5% of her age stands above a 40 year old in the middle of his.

Join the Games See the challenges
byMaking Sense
35 to no limitAge groups in 5 year bands. No upper age. Ever.
From anywhereFilm your attempt on a phone. One take, no edits.
Ranked by your yearsYour Age Percentile, not raw numbers.
01 · The idea

Age is not a handicap.
It is the scoreboard.

Most competitions quietly end at 35. Ours starts there.

  • Open to everyone 35 and over. No upper limit. If you are 104 and can stand up from a chair, there is a place on the board for you.
  • Age groups in 5 year bands. 35 to 39, 40 to 44, 45 to 49 and so on. Past 90 the bands get wider, so nobody competes alone.
  • Compete by video, from anywhere. Record each challenge on your phone, one continuous take, and submit it with your age, sex, height and weight.
  • One live final a year. The top of every age band meets in person at the annual live final.
Three smiling senior friends after an outdoor workout
A mature couple walking along a sunny beach
02 · How ranking works

Your result becomes your Age Percentile.

Every result is compared with published norms for your age and sex, and turned into one number: the share of people your age who cannot do what you just did. Top 5% means only 5 in 100 of your peers match you.

Example

Woman, 72
18 chair stands in 30 s

Top 10% · Gold
vs
Example

Man, 41
Average for his age

Top 50% · Bronze
  1. Top 1%LegendCalibrated from the Games' own data
  2. Top 5%Elite
  3. Top 10%Gold
  4. Top 25%Silver
  5. Top 50%Bronze

Why is Legend different? Published reference tables stop at the 90th or 95th percentile. The top 1% will be set from the results of the Games' own participants, and it will get sharper every season.

03 · The ranked challenges

Seven tests. Each one backed by science.

Every ranked challenge has published age norms and is linked in large studies to how long and how independently people live.

01

Sitting Rising Test

Sit down on the floor and stand up again, using as little support as you can. Scored 0 to 10.

Strength, flexibility and balance in one move. In 2,002 adults aged 51 to 80, each extra point meant 21% better survival.

02

30 Second Chair Stand

Stand up fully from a chair and sit back down, arms crossed, as many times as you can in 30 seconds.

The leg strength you need to live on your own. Linked to mortality across 28,036 people.

03

10 Second One Leg Stance

Stand on one leg for 10 seconds. Upper tiers go for time with eyes closed.

Static balance and fall risk. Failing 10 seconds meant 1.84 times the risk of death.

04

Grip Ratio

Grip strength on a hand dynamometer, divided by your body weight.

Whole body strength in one squeeze. A better predictor of mortality than systolic blood pressure.

05

Walking Speed & 6 Minute Walk

Your usual pace over 4 meters, and the distance you cover in 6 minutes.

Everyday mobility and endurance. Every 0.1 m/s faster meant 12% lower risk of death.

06

VO2max

Your aerobic capacity, from a lab test or a validated field estimate.

The strongest data of all: elite fitness carried 80% lower risk of death than low fitness.

An older man doing push ups at home
07

Max Push-ups

As many push-ups as you can, in one set. Women may use the knee version, as in the published norms.

Upper body strength and endurance. Men doing 40+ had 96% fewer cardiovascular events than those under 10.

Badge · Birthday Push-ups: as many push-ups as your age
04 · Fun challenges

Unranked.
Unforgettable.

No published norms yet, so no ranking. Just badges, bragging rights and data we collect together. Some may become ranked once enough of you have tried them.

A senior woman training with dumbbells
05 · The science

Simple tests. Serious evidence.

Grip strength, walking speed, rising from a chair, standing on one leg, getting up from the floor and aerobic fitness are simple measurements. Large studies with tens and hundreds of thousands of people link them to the risk of death and to staying independent. That is why we chose them.

5.44×

higher risk of death for a Sitting Rising score of 0 to 3 versus 8 to 10, in 2,002 adults aged 51 to 80.1

42.1% vs 3.7%

mortality over 12 years at Sitting Rising scores of 0 to 4 versus a perfect 10, in 4,282 people.2

1.84×

higher risk of death for people who could not stand on one leg for 10 seconds, adjusted for age, sex, BMI and disease (1,702 people, 7 years).3

16%

higher all cause mortality for every 5 kg of weaker grip, in 139,691 people aged 35 to 70 from 17 countries.4

1.96×

higher mortality for the slowest quarter at rising from a chair versus the fastest, in a meta analysis of 28,036 people.5

12%

lower risk of death for every 0.1 m/s faster walking speed, across 9 cohorts and 34,485 people over 65.6

80%

lower risk of death with elite versus low aerobic fitness, in 122,007 people, with no upper limit to the benefit.7

13%

lower risk of death for every extra 1 MET of fitness, in a meta analysis of 33 studies.8

96%

fewer cardiovascular events in men who could do over 40 push-ups versus under 10 (1,104 firefighters, 10 years).9

These studies show association, not cause. The tests are a mirror, not a medical diagnosis. If you have heart, joint or balance conditions, talk to your doctor before you start.

A group of smiling seniors with yoga mats outdoors
06 · Who is behind it

Made by Making Sense.

Health, longevity and human performance without the noise.

The Age Games come from Making Sense, the weekly newsletter by Doychin Karshovski, a performance and longevity coach with more than 35 years of practice. The idea is simple: make the tests that predict a long, capable life visible, measurable and fun to compete in, at any age.

Science advisors and partners will be announced before season one.

doychin.com Read Making Sense
07 · Join the Games

Your years are
your advantage.

Register your interest for season one. We will send the test protocols, the filming guide and the date the first challenge opens.

Registration opens soon.

Sources
  1. Brito, Araujo et al. 2014. Sitting rising test and all cause mortality. Eur J Prev Cardiol.
  2. Araujo et al. 2025. Sitting rising test and 12 year mortality. Eur J Prev Cardiol.
  3. Araujo et al. 2022. Successful 10 second one legged stance and survival. Br J Sports Med.
  4. Leong et al. 2015. Grip strength in 17 countries (PURE). The Lancet.
  5. Cooper et al. 2010. Grip, walking, chair rising, balance and mortality. BMJ.
  6. Studenski et al. 2011. Gait speed and survival in older adults. JAMA.
  7. Mandsager et al. 2018. Cardiorespiratory fitness and long term mortality. JAMA Netw Open.
  8. Kodama et al. 2009. Cardiorespiratory fitness and mortality, meta analysis. JAMA.
  9. Yang et al. 2019. Push-up capacity and cardiovascular events. JAMA Netw Open.
  10. Araujo et al. 2020. Sitting rising test reference scores from 6,141 adults. Eur J Prev Cardiol.
  11. Springer et al. 2007. Normative values for the one legged stance test. J Geriatr Phys Ther.
  12. Dodds et al. 2014. Grip strength centiles from 4 to 90 years. PLoS One.
  13. Peterson et al. 2015. Grip strength relative to body weight in NHANES. Am J Prev Med.
  14. Bohannon, Williams Andrews 2011. Normal walking speed. Physiotherapy.
  15. Newman et al. 2006. 400 meter walk and mortality. JAMA.
  16. Enright, Sherrill 1998. Reference equations for the 6 minute walk. Am J Respir Crit Care Med.
  17. Rikli, Jones. Senior Fitness Test normal values.
  18. Rikli, Jones 2013. Criterion standards for maintaining independence. The Gerontologist.
  19. CDC STEADI. 30 second chair stand.
  20. Kaminsky et al. 2015. VO2max reference values (FRIEND). Mayo Clin Proc.
  21. CSEP push-up norms, published by ACE.