But maybe there is. At least that's what Liz Innvaer, a personal trainer at Life Time Fitness in Chanhassen, is telling me as she begins my BodyAge assessment.

"The bottom line," she says, "is your age is changeable."

I must admit, that sounds kind of nice. I try to stay in shape and eat right aside from the occasional crème brûlée and cream puff, but what effect does that have on my longevity? And can I actually get younger?

First, Innvaer takes my vitals -- height, weight, age, body mass index.

The skin-fold test comes next. Innvaer uses calipers to pinch-measure my abdomen, upper leg and triceps, and enters the numbers into a computer.

On to the cardio test. Members willing to fork out $132 can get a much better assessment of their cardiovascular health with a metabolic threshold test. But this is the free, quickie version, so Innvaer puts me on a treadmill and has me walk uphill for 5 minutes. My heart rate isn't high enough, so she has me jog. Still not high enough, so she fudges it. "We'll just estimate it's very good," she says.
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