Start with your decade
In your 30s.
You're at or near your peak. This is the cheapest decade to build the reserve you'll spend later.
Find your weakest linkWhere you are on the curve
Most systems peak somewhere in your 20s or early 30s: muscle, bone, heart and lungs. From here the curve starts to slope. You won't feel it yet. That's the point. What you build now is reserve you get to keep.
Your likely weakest links
Sleep
Work, kids and screens cut it first.
Exercise
A desk job. Muscle you don't build now is harder to build later.
Blood pressure
Few people your age have ever checked it. It can rise for years with no symptoms.
What to fill first
Bucket 1. Strength training twice a week, while muscle and bone respond fastest. Protect seven hours of sleep. Cook most of your meals. Keep your friendships on the calendar.
At-home checks
Blood pressure
Home cuff, seated, after five minutes of rest.
Grip strength
A hand grip meter.
5× sit-to-stand
Five times, arms crossed. Time it.
Balance
One leg, eyes open. Count the seconds.
Weight & waist
Waist measured at the belly button.
Write the numbers down. This is your baseline. Every number you take later means more because of it.
Find out where you stand.
Ten minutes, free, and nothing you enter leaves your browser. Then fill the first bucket.